🎯Today's Venture Capital Pulse
Updated 1h agoWhat'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:
By the numbers: OpenAI secures $110B corporate funding round
News•Feb 20, 2026
DBA Secures $68 Million for Second Crypto Venture Fund
New York‑based venture firm DBA announced the close of its second crypto fund at $68 million, expanding on the $50 million raised for Fund I in 2023. The 10‑year closed‑end vehicle will invest across blockchain infrastructure, decentralized exchanges, stablecoins, ICO platforms and prediction markets, with the firm taking lead roles in early‑stage rounds while also holding public positions. Co‑founders Michael Jordan, former co‑head of investments at Galaxy Digital, and Ethereum specialist Jon Charbonneau steer the strategy, leveraging their track record in both private and public crypto assets. DBA’s diversified portfolio already includes base‑layer projects such as DoubleZero and Monad, as well as applications like Payy and MetaDAO.
By Ventureburn
Social•Feb 20, 2026
VC Valuations Driven by Fund Size, Not Market Reality
Most VC's price startups based primarily on their fund size, which drive their comfortable check size and target ownership. They then try to convince founders that a certain round size and valuation is "market" for their type of company and...
By Rob Go
News•Feb 20, 2026
Nvidia Deepens Early-Stage Push Into India’s AI Startup Ecosystem
Nvidia is intensifying its early‑stage outreach in India by partnering with venture firm Activate, which will back 25‑30 AI startups from a $75 million fund and grant them preferential access to Nvidia’s technical expertise. The chipmaker also deepened ties with AI...
By TechCrunch AI
Podcast•Feb 19, 2026•14 min
Hypersonic Hustle & Orbital Muscle.
The episode highlights three major developments in the defense and commercial space sector: Stratolaunch securing a $90.8 million Department of War contract for the MACH‑TB 2.0 air‑launched test vehicle program, Agile Space Industries closing a $17 million Series A round to expand its small‑sat...
By T-Minus Space Daily
News•Feb 19, 2026
Ownwell Raises $50M Series B Round
Ownwell announced a $50 million Series B financing, bringing its total capital to $74 million. The round includes $30 million in equity led by Alpha Edison and Mercato Partners, with participation from Intuit Ventures and other investors, plus $20 million in debt from Western Alliance...
By VC News Daily
News•Feb 19, 2026
LanzaJet Lands $135M Financing Round
LanzaJet announced a $135 million equity financing round, valuing the company at $650 million pre‑money. The round is co‑led by International Airlines Group (IAG) and Shell, with existing investors such as Groupe ADP, LanzaTech and Mitsui also participating. Proceeds will fund the expansion...
By VC News Daily
News•Feb 19, 2026
Cogent Security Banks $42M Series A
Cogent Security, a San Francisco‑based cybersecurity startup, closed a $42 million Series A round on February 19, 2026. The round was led by Bain Capital Ventures with participation from existing backer Greylock Partners, Definition, and personal investments from executives at OpenAI, Abnormal Security,...
By VC News Daily
News•Feb 19, 2026
Selector Scores $32 Million Funding
Selector, an AI‑driven observability and network intelligence firm, raised $32 million in a funding round led by AVP and other investors, doubling its valuation to $375 million. The capital will fund AI innovation, product development, global go‑to‑market expansion, and customer success. The...
By VC News Daily
News•Feb 19, 2026
What’s Behind a Big Jump in January Property Tech Funding
Property‑tech companies secured roughly $1.7 billion in January 2026, a 176 % jump from the same month a year earlier. The average deal size more than doubled to about $34 million, reflecting a shift toward larger, later‑stage rounds. Generative AI is identified as...
By CNBC – Markets
News•Feb 19, 2026
Grotto AI Secures $10M to Improve Leasing With AI
Grotto AI announced a $10 million seed round led by ICONIQ to tackle multifamily housing vacancy, a problem estimated to cost $500 billion in lost value. The startup’s AI platform provides real‑time coaching to leasing agents, analyzing conversations to improve rapport and...
By Just AI News
News•Feb 19, 2026
Jump Secures $80M to Expand AI for Financial Advisors
Jump secured $80 million in Series B funding, led by Insight Partners, to build an AI operating system for financial advisors. The round brings total capital to $105 million and reflects rapid adoption, with the platform now serving over 27,000 advisors and adding...
By Just AI News
News•Feb 19, 2026
Castelion
Castelion, founded in 2025, aims to restore America’s capacity to field advanced weapons quickly and at scale. The company leverages rapid iteration, vertical integration, and scalable manufacturing to deliver affordable, high‑performance defense systems. In 2024 it closed a Series A round...
By Lightspeed » Ideas
Blog•Feb 19, 2026
Guest Post: Venture Capital, Startup Liability, and D&O Insurance
When a startup secures venture capital, its liability profile shifts dramatically as cash, fiduciary duties, and litigation exposure rise overnight. Without directors and officers (D&O) coverage, founders and executives can face personal financial loss from employment, equity, or disclosure disputes....
By The D&O Diary
Social•Feb 19, 2026
YC Backs 20% of $5B+ Startups Since 2012
New @ThePeelPod with @GarryTan YC has invested in 20% of all startups worth $5B+ started since 2012. We talked for 83 minutes on the past, present, and future of YC. Thanks @numeral and @FlexSuperApp for sponsoring this one Timestamps: 0:05 Moving from Winnipeg to...
By Turner Novak
News•Feb 19, 2026
Exclusive: Ownwell Lands $30M To Help Homeowners Lower Their Property Tax Bills
Ownwell, an AI‑driven property‑tax appeal startup, closed a $50 million Series B round—$30 million in equity and $20 million in debt—bringing its total equity funding to $54 million since 2020. The company now serves over 500,000 residential and commercial owners across 12 states, having processed...
By Crunchbase News AI
News•Feb 19, 2026
Investors Unfazed by Uncertainties Around Tariffs in Med Tech
Investors remain steady in the med‑tech sector despite lingering tariff uncertainties, signaling confidence in long‑term growth. At the same time, research updates highlight the SCAN circuit as a core driver of Parkinson’s disease, TL1A overexpression in hidradenitis suppurativa, and an...
By BioWorld (Citeline) – Featured Feeds
News•Feb 19, 2026
Adronite Secures $5M Series A to Scale AI Code Platform
Adronite announced a $5 million Series A round led by Gatemore Capital Management, appointing Gatemore’s Liad Meidar as board chair. The funding will accelerate development of its AI‑powered platform that scans entire software codebases across more than 20 languages, delivering deterministic, explainable...
By Just AI News
News•Feb 19, 2026
Czech Navigara Raises Over €2M With Support From CEE Funds
Czech startup Navigara secured a $2.5 million seed round, backed by Inovo VC, Rockaway Ventures and QQ Capital, to commercialise its AI‑driven engineering analytics platform. Founded in 2022, the company translates development‑stack data into clear performance indicators that quantify the impact...
By The Recursive
News•Feb 19, 2026
Rapidata Emerges to Shorten AI Model Development Cycles From Months to Days with Near Real-Time RLHF
Rapidata, a startup, has built a platform that crowdsources RLHF feedback through mobile app users, turning ad slots into short annotation tasks. By tapping 15‑20 million global users, it can deliver up to 1.5 million annotations per hour, shrinking feedback loops from...
By VentureBeat
News•Feb 19, 2026
Autotech Ventures Bets Big on Hard-to-Copy Logistics Startups
Autotech Ventures, a $600 million industrial‑focused VC, is targeting logistics startups that are hard to replicate, leveraging its deep network of global manufacturers and carriers. The firm highlighted investments in GenLogs, a data‑rich freight intelligence platform, and Augment, an end‑to‑end AI...
By FreightWaves
Podcast•Feb 19, 2026•5 min
VC10X Micro - Why Safety Is No Long a Priority for AI Giants
The episode examines how AI giants like Anthropic and OpenAI are deprioritizing safety as they chase trillion‑dollar valuations, highlighted by Anthropic’s safety lead quitting and a $20 billion funding round at a $350 billion valuation. It explores the tension between capital‑market incentives...
By VC10X
News•Feb 19, 2026
Treg Pioneer Bluestone Joins Vie Ventures as It Builds Autoimmune Portfolio
Vie Ventures has hired immunology veteran Jeff Bluestone to strengthen its autoimmune‑focused venture portfolio. Bluestone, founder of the Immune Tolerance Network and former CEO of the Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy, previously co‑founded Sonoma Biotherapeutics and created Tzield teplizumab, the...
By BioCentury
News•Feb 19, 2026
Giggle Raises Funding to Expand Flexible Staffing Platform
Budapest‑based Giggle, a mobile‑first staffing platform for blue‑collar shift work, has closed an undisclosed funding round led by OXO Labs and Catalyst NXT Ventures. The capital will fund Giggle’s entry into Romania and accelerate growth across its existing Central and...
By Tech.eu
News•Feb 19, 2026
Agentic Finance Platform Stacks Raises £17m
Fintech startup Stacks announced a £17 million ($23 million) Series A round, led by Lightspeed Ventures and joined by EQT Ventures, General Catalyst and S16VC. The company, which emerged from stealth after an £8.9 million seed, offers an AI‑ready data layer that consolidates fragmented...
By UKTN (UK Tech News)
News•Feb 19, 2026
Freeform Raises $67M Series B to Scale up Laser AI Manufacturing
Freeform announced a $67 million Series B round to accelerate its metal 3D‑printing platform. The capital will fund the upgrade from the GoldenEye system to the AI‑native Skyfall printer, which will employ hundreds of lasers to produce thousands of kilograms of parts...
By TechCrunch AI
News•Feb 19, 2026
This VC’s Best Advice for Building a Founding Team
In a Build Mode podcast, General Catalyst MD Yuri Sagalov shares practical guidance for founders assembling their first team. He warns against micromanaging investors, recommends partnering with hands‑on VCs, and stresses vetting them through portfolio references. Sagalov also advises a...
By TechCrunch Venture Feed
News•Feb 19, 2026
Innovation Is A Game Of Two Halves
The article argues that innovation historically relied on public markets, not just private venture capital, citing Amazon, Microsoft, Cisco and Nvidia as examples that scaled after early IPOs. It highlights a shift toward “private‑for‑longer” financing, with the median age of...
By Crunchbase News
Podcast•Feb 19, 2026•34 min
Can an AI PMS Run Your Short-Term Rental Portfolio?, With Boom Co-Founder & CEO Shahar Goldboim
In this episode, Shahar Goldboim, co‑founder and CEO of Boom, explains why short‑term rentals (STRs) are the most complex asset class and how fragmented software tools trap hosts in a review‑driven revenue loop. He describes the genesis of Boom—a Business‑as‑Software...
By Tangent – Proptech
News•Feb 19, 2026
Uganda Overtakes Rwanda, Tanzania in Startup Funding
Uganda attracted $30 million in venture capital in 2025, surpassing Rwanda ($12 million) and Tanzania ($5 million). The number of Ugandan deals doubled to 22, marking a seven‑fold increase from the previous year. Local financing from Uganda Development Bank and supportive tax incentives...
By The East African
News•Feb 19, 2026
San Francisco–Based Venture University Launches UK Investor Accelerator
Venture University, a San Francisco‑based investor accelerator, has launched VU UK, an innovation hub delivering a hands‑on VC, PE and angel investing program in the United Kingdom. The cohort‑based accelerator blends a rigorous education curriculum with an apprenticeship that lets participants...
By Startups Magazine
News•Feb 19, 2026
Plato Closes $14.5M to Bring AI Automation to Wholesale Trade
Plato, a Berlin‑based startup, secured a $14.5 million seed round led by Atomico to embed generative AI into wholesale distribution. The company links AI directly to legacy ERP systems, turning historical sales data into automated quotes, revenue alerts, and risk flags....
By The Next Web (TNW)
News•Feb 19, 2026
Emergent Launches Vibe Coding App, Reaches $100M ARR in 8 Months
Emergent announced its AI‑powered mobile app, Emergent AI, as the company hit a $100 million annual run‑rate in just eight months, doubling from $50 million in a single month. The platform now supports over six million builders across 190+ countries who have created...
By Startups Magazine
News•Feb 19, 2026
Swedish CubaseBio Emerges From Stealth with €5.9 Million to Scale Volumetric DNA Microscopy
Swedish startup CubaseBio has emerged from stealth after raising €5.9 million in blended financing – a €2 million European Innovation Council grant plus €3.9 million from Voima Ventures, Nordic Science Investments, Illumina Ventures and other life‑science investors. The capital will accelerate development of...
By ArcticStartup
News•Feb 19, 2026
Taylor Wessing Hunts for Investors to Back Start-Up Funding Platform Outpace
Taylor Wessing is actively courting investors to fund Outpace, a new start‑up financing platform it helped launch. The firm aims to leverage its legal expertise and client network to accelerate capital access for early‑stage companies. Outpace will provide a tech‑driven...
By The Lawyer (UK)
News•Feb 19, 2026
Phoenix Tailings Completes $40.2M Series B-3
Phoenix Tailings closed an oversubscribed $40.2 million B‑3 amplification round, lifting total Series B capital to $116.6 million. The financing comprised $30.2 million in equity and $10 million of venture debt supplied by Nomura. New strategic partners such as Traxys, Eni Next and Geodesic Alliance Fund...
By VC News Daily
News•Feb 19, 2026
‘What We Don’t Want Are Bad Apples,’ DCALTA Founder Says
Jonathan Epstein, founder of DCALTA, has spent over a decade lobbying for retirement savers to gain access to private‑fund investments. He argues that broader participation can boost portfolio diversification and returns for workers. On the brink of a major regulatory...
By Private Funds CFO
News•Feb 19, 2026
Extending Scientific Rigor From Bench to Boardroom
Researchers who launch biotech startups often abandon evidence‑based decision‑making once they enter the boardroom, falling prey to technology myopia, base‑rate neglect, and confirmation bias. Their lack of formal training in commercialization, financial modeling, and competitive analysis amplifies these pitfalls, leading...
By BioSpace
News•Feb 19, 2026
On Its 15th Anniversary, Foresite Capital Looks Ahead
Foresite Capital marked its 15th anniversary by projecting a resurgence in biopharma venture capital, anticipating a year‑over‑year rise in financings and IPOs starting in 2026. The firm highlighted a surge to $149 billion in biopharma VC dollars in 2025 and a...
By GEN (Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News)
Blog•Feb 19, 2026
🦾 Robotics Funding Rounds by Month - December 2025
The episode reviews December 2025 robotics funding, highlighting 127 rounds that raised $2.74 billion, bringing the year’s total to roughly $35 billion. It notes a healthy volume of deals despite lower individual round sizes, with notable activity among humanoid, biotech‑robotics, construction, and...
By Robots & Startups (Substack)
Social•Feb 19, 2026
Momentum.io Showcases Enterprise AI's True Work System
Congratulations to Santiago Suarez Ordoñez , Ashley Wilson , Moiz Virani , and the entire Momentum.io team. It’s been a privilege to support you on this journey. Momentum embodied several themes we consistently look for in native AI companies: --> Replacing the...
By Mark Roberge
Social•Feb 19, 2026
Fintech Team @Fintechaaron Gains On‑Chain Momentum
This is a team to watch. I have to say, after some initial skepticism, the drive and vision of @fintechaaron and the @rhythmic_io team won me over. Financial services are coming onchain. Excited for @thefintechfund to invest alongside @dragonfly_xyz and @deptvc. 🚀 https://t.co/YWI00yxELS
By Nik Milanovic
Podcast•Feb 18, 2026•27 min
China’s Record-Breaking Investment in a Private Rocket Company.
In this episode, host T‑Minus chats with Michelle Lucas, CEO of Higher Orbits, about China’s surge in private‑sector space funding, highlighting iSpace’s $730 million raise to develop reusable rockets, Space Epoch’s new capital for a 2026 launch and sea‑recovery test, and...
By T-Minus Space Daily
Social•Feb 19, 2026
Founders Mistake Product Flaws for Growth Issues
lesson from 20+ years working in startups: most founders don’t have a growth problem. they have a product problem disguised as a growth problem
By Andrew Chen
Social•Feb 19, 2026
AI Agents Personalize Customers, Flag Churn and Upsell
.@pollen_cx is building AI agents that make every customer feel like they’re your first. They surface churn risk and upsell signals, then prepare what to do next — no more scaling headcount just to keep relationships alive. Congrats on the launch...
By YCombinator
Social•Feb 19, 2026
Altesa Secures $75M for Lung Drug, Led by Ex‑Trump Official
Altesa, run by former Trump official, raises $75M for well-traveled lung drug https://t.co/bUx5dcvNJy by @gwendolynawu #biotech #startups
By Ben Fidler
Social•Feb 19, 2026
Technical Founder‑Led Pre‑AI Software Firms Are Grossly Undervalued
Scaled pre-AI software companies led by technical founders that are still very engaged in the business are probably some of the most undervalued companies in the world right now
By Turner Novak
Social•Feb 19, 2026
Master SPV Terms: Build Trust & Clear Fee Communication
Chatting all things SPVs today with @JuliaGKrieger and the @sydecario team. Join us in a few hours as we discuss: - How LPs evaluate SPV terms - What builds trust (vs raises red flags) - How managers communicate fees clearly and credibly. -...
By Dave Sachse
Social•Feb 18, 2026
Entrepreneurial Mindset Now Essential for Venture Capital Success
Thrive just announced a new $10B fund. “[early on] a very prominent endowment passed on Thrive because they thought I was too much of an entrepreneur.” — @JoshuaKushner via @patrick_oshag’s pod I’m biased but believe an entrepreneurial mindset is increasingly important in...
By Ryan Hoover
Social•Feb 18, 2026
Finalizing Top 100 Biotech VCs, Join 2026 Webinar
We're wrapping up the fact checking process for our annual Top 100 biotech VCs list and prepping for our companion webinar on VC investing in 2026. If this is a topic near and dear to your heart, be sure to...
By John Carroll
Social•Feb 18, 2026
Ebay Sale Sparked Creation of Twitch and Cruise
From tomorrow's @ThePeelPod with @garrytan: A startup in the very first YC batch sold itself on Ebay. This got the attention of Kyle Vogt, who ended up joining them to start their next company, Twitch. Kyle then went on to then...
By Turner Novak