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
Decagon AI Raises $250M at $4.5B Valuation to Scale AI Concierge Platform
Decagon AI announced a $250 million Series D round that lifts its valuation to $4.5 billion. The funding, led by Coatue Management and Index Ventures, will accelerate the rollout of its AI concierge platform, which leverages large‑language models across chat, email and voice channels. Decagon’s agents can navigate complex workflows, integrate with back‑office systems and automate tasks such as refunds and subscription changes. The company already serves marquee brands like Avis, Hertz, Block and Deutsche Telekom, reporting deflection rates above 80%.
Scaling AI Developer Infrastructure: Lessons From Meta’s Internal Agent
Office Hours: Building Developer Infrastructure at Scale with Jim Everingham In the world of AI, how do the very best companies build their developer infrastructure? To answer that question : On Tuesday, February 24, I’ll be hosting an in-person fireside...
Regulation Relief Fuels SaaS Boom in Cannabis Retail
Here’s how increased access to cannabis led to Sparkplug’s explosive growth… The startup — a LAUNCH portfolio company — offers a SaaS product that educates and rewards and benefits the dispensary clerks and “budtenders” who actually sell cannabis to clients,...
The SpaceX IPO Could Finally Happen (and It’s a Big Deal)
SpaceX is reportedly preparing a 2026 initial public offering, having engaged four major Wall Street banks to manage the process. The company recently completed a tender offer that placed its valuation at $800 billion, with market speculation that the IPO could...
Intercom's AI Pivot Redefines SaaS Economics
Intercom has pivoted from traditional SaaS to AI better than any company I can think of. I spoke to the CFO behind the customer support juggernaut, and the outcome based product Finn. Dan Griggs is mastering the new economics of...
Unbox Robotics Raises $28M to Scale Modular Warehouse Robots
Unbox Robotics announced a $28 million Series B round led by ICICI Venture, with participation from F‑Prime and other investors. The funding will fuel expansion of its engineering and leadership teams, accelerate development of its modular, swarm‑intelligence warehouse robots, and...
HeyMax Raises $11m Series A to Scale Travel Loyalty Across APAC
HeyMax, a Singapore‑based travel rewards platform, closed an $11 million Series A round led by Peak XV Partners, with participation from Betatron Venture Group and notable angels such as Agoda’s co‑founder. The capital will fund AI‑enhanced product features and accelerate expansion from its...
Checkbox Inks $23 Million Series A
Checkbox secured a $23 million Series A round led by Touring Capital, with participation from Peak XV, Conductive Ventures, Tidal Ventures, Five V Capital and notable angels such as Jerry Ting. The capital will fuel the rollout of the company’s AI Legal Front Door, a...
Outtake Raises $40M Series B
Outtake, a digital‑trust platform that safeguards organizations from AI‑driven impersonation, closed a $40 million Series B round. The financing was led by ICONIQ with participation from CRV, S32, and a roster of high‑profile tech and security executives, including Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and...
Elon Musk Reportedly Wants a June SpaceX IPO to Align with His Birthday, the Planets
Elon Musk is reportedly planning SpaceX’s initial public offering for June, aiming to sync the date with his June 28 birthday and a rare Mercury‑Venus‑Jupiter alignment. The Financial Times says the IPO could raise at least $50 billion, valuing the company at...
Cheering on Gabriel Stengel’s Next Move
Let's go Gabriel Stengel @rogoai...
Startups Should Ditch Annual Plans for Quarterly Reset
Annual planning is one of the most over-copied “big company” rituals in startups—and it quietly creates a lot of bad decisions. In large companies, annual planning makes sense. They’re hiring hundreds (sometimes thousands) of people, mobilizing new strategies, changing systems,...
Zocks Closes $45M Series B to Accelerate AI-Powered Automation for Financial Advisors
Zocks announced a $45 million Series B round co‑led by Lightspeed Venture Partners and QED Investors, lifting its total capital to $65 million since the March 2025 Series A. The funding will accelerate the rollout of its privacy‑first, agentic AI platform beyond routine admin automation...
Origin Raises Series B Funding
Origin, a Los Angeles‑based pelvic floor and musculoskeletal care provider for women, announced a Series B financing round led by SJF Ventures with participation from Blue Venture Fund, Gratitude Railroad, the California IBank and several high‑profile angels. The undisclosed amount will accelerate...
Curate Raises $10M in New Funding
Curate, a Los Angeles‑based hospitality platform, announced a $10 million funding round led by ZoomInfo co‑founder Kirk Brown, with participation from K5 Global, NFL star Amon‑Ra St. Brown, and Pieology founder Carl Cheng. The capital will fuel operational expansion and accelerate product development....
BoldVoice Raises $21M in Series A Funding
BoldVoice, a New York‑based AI voice‑coaching startup, closed a $21 million Series A round led by Matrix with participation from Flybridge, Xfund, Corazon Capital, Alumni Ventures, Umami Capital and Y Combinator. The funding will accelerate its global rollout and the development of proprietary...
Rogo Raises $75M in Series C Funding
Rogo, a New York‑based AI platform built specifically for finance, announced a $75 million Series C round. The financing was led by Sequoia Capital and featured participation from Henry Kravis, Wells Fargo, and existing backers such as Thrive Capital, Khosla Ventures, Tiger Global...
Cellares Raises $257M in Series D Funding
Cellares, a San Francisco‑based Integrated Development and Manufacturing Organization, secured $257 million in Series D financing. The round was led by BlackRock and Eclipse, with participation from T. Rowe Price, Baillie Gifford, and other institutional investors. The new capital lifts total funding to $612 million...
AI for Wealth Management Firm Zocks Lands $45 Million Investtment
Zocks, a privacy‑first artificial‑intelligence platform for wealth‑management advisors, announced a $45 million Series B round. The round was co‑led by Lightspeed Venture Partners and QED Investors, with participation from Illuminate Financial and existing backers such as Motive Partners, Expanse Venture Partners, Entrée...
Acquiring Existing Startups Cuts Risk, Boosts Execution
One of the reasons people are successful acquiring startups is simple: they’re not starting from zero. Zach Simmons is a good example of this. Instead of building something new from scratch, he acquired Appraiva (@appraiva) on @acquiredotcom which already had real...
Don't Mistake High Volume for Real Market Size
Related, and also worth remembering: make sure you aren't chasing a small market masquerading as a large market. Big transaction volume doesn’t always translate to real market opportunity for startups.
Gotham Growth
Gotham announced the Gotham Growth Project, a cohort‑based accelerator aimed at Black‑owned cannabis consumer‑product businesses operating in New York. The program provides structured mentorship, peer learning, and strategic guidance to help founders move from early traction to scalable, sustainable operations....
AI Revolutionizes Enterprise Sales and Organizational Structure
New @ThePeelPod with @JacquelineSYC19 How AI is changing data, getting enterprise customers from cold emails during YC, building an AI BDR in-house, why most functions at @artie_labs report to the CTO (not CEO), and what it's like raising a Series...
Waabi Raises $1B From Uber and VCs
The episode examines Waabi, an autonomous trucking startup that just raised a $1 billion funding round, including a $250 million investment from Uber. It highlights Waabi's AI‑first strategy, which relies on advanced simulation to enable rapid learning and generalization across vehicle platforms...
Factify Gets $73M in Seed Funding to Replace Antiquated PDF Files with Intelligent Documents
Factify Technologies announced a $73 million seed round, led by Valley Capital Partners and backed by AI veterans and finance leaders. The startup aims to replace static PDFs with "Factified" documents that carry unique identities, version histories, access controls, and programmable...
Pace Raises $10m to Automate Insurance Operations
Agentic AI startup Pace announced a $10 million Series A round led by Sequoia Capital to accelerate automation of insurance operations. The funding will be used to replace traditional business process outsourcing with AI systems that handle submissions, claims processing and other...
Waabi Raises $1B and Expands Into Robotaxis with Uber
Waabi announced a $1 billion financing round, including a $750 million Series C led by Khosla Ventures and G2 Venture Partners and $250 million milestone‑based capital from Uber. The funding fuels a partnership that will place more than 25,000 Waabi‑powered robotaxis on Uber’s ride‑hailing...
What Messy Finance Stacks Signal to Investors – and How to Fix Them Before Series B
Venture capitalists are now treating operational discipline as a core due‑diligence criterion, especially as startups approach Series B. Investors from Accel, Octopus, Cherry, Firstminute and 13books warn that messy finance stacks, inflated ARR figures, and disorganized bookkeeping are strong red flags....
Pallma AI Closes $1.6M Pre-Seed Round for AI Agent Security
London‑based Pallma AI announced a $1.6 million pre‑seed round led by Marathon Venture Capital, with participation from tech leaders at AWS, Meta, and Google. The startup offers an AI‑native security platform that monitors, detects, and mitigates risks such as prompt injection...
PitchBook Forecasts Cautious Improvement for Venture-Backed IPOs in 2026
PitchBook’s 2025 report sees a cautiously optimistic outlook for U.S. venture‑backed IPOs in 2026, noting that the IPO window has reopened but remains thin. Only 48 companies went public last year, delivering modest exit value while more than $4.3 trillion stays...
Software and AI Profit From Margins, Not Price
Jeff Bezos said, "Your margin is my opportunity." Does this apply in software & AI? Yes—but not on price. 🧵
Founders Reveal Real AI Metrics, Pricing, GTM Strategies
At SaaStr AI 2026, no vanity metrics Founders are sharing real numbers: What AI features actually convert. What pricing actually works. What GTM motions actually scale. May 12-14. SF Bay Bring your Granola. Or even a notebook. https://t.co/BCPo2TiqOt
A Coxswain on Your Shoulder
Tom Tunguz created an AI meeting‑review agent that acts like a coxswain, silently analyzing recordings of pitch meetings, one‑on‑ones and investor calls. The system scores each conversation on a five‑point rubric—active listening, empathy, questioning, clarity and technical depth—providing concrete feedback...
Northwood Space Raises $100M in Series B and Works With Space Force on Satellite Control Network
Ground‑tech startup Northwood Space announced a $100 million Series B round, co‑led by Washington Harbour Partners and Andreessen Horowitz, and disclosed a $49.8 million contract from the U.S. Space Force to bolster the Satellite Control Network. The financing follows a $30 million Series A and...
Early‑Stage Investors Wanted: Join Katie Jacobs Stanton’s Team
📣 Calling early stage, early career investors looking for a GREAT team to work with. Katie Jacobs Stanton and Moxxie Ventures is hiring. See posting below. 👇
Memcyco Receives $37M Series A Financing
Memcyco announced a $37 million Series A round, bringing its total funding to $47 million. The oversubscribed round was led by NAventures, E. León Jimenes, and PagsGroup, with existing backers Capri Ventures and Venture Guides participating. Memcyco’s real‑time, agentless platform protects enterprises from phishing,...
Republic Europe Promotes Later Stage Investments
Republic Europe has launched the R Access series, a platform that gives individual investors direct exposure to later‑stage private companies. The first offering, a Kraken special‑purpose vehicle, aggregates existing private shares ahead of the crypto exchange’s anticipated 2026 IPO. By...
Concourse Raises $12 Million Series A to Build AI for Finance Teams
Concourse announced the general availability of its enterprise‑grade AI agent platform for finance teams and closed a $12 million Series A round led by Standard Capital, with participation from Andreessen Horowitz, CRV and Y Combinator. The platform now lets any finance team connect...
Institutional Capital and the Next Phase of On-Chain Finance with Andy Kangpan of Metalayer
In this episode, Andy Kangpan, Partner at Metalayer, discusses how institutional capital is shaping the next phase of on‑chain finance, emphasizing the need for robust, regulated‑grade infrastructure. He explains Metalayer’s investment thesis, focusing on seed and early‑stage companies that bridge...
Nerd Apply Raises $3.2M in Seed Funding
NYC‑based Nerd Apply, a privacy‑first college counseling platform, announced a $3.2 million seed round. The round was led by Riverpark Ventures and featured investors such as Alumni Ventures, 1.61 Ventures, Google Ventures CEO David Krane, and others. Nerd Apply currently supports...
AI Dominant Theme in Forge Q1 2026 Investment Outlook
Forge’s Q1 2026 Investment Outlook shows AI cementing its dominance across private‑market capital flows, with mid‑ and late‑stage companies raising $154.9 billion in 2025—more than double 2024’s total. AI‑focused firms alone attracted $56.7 billion, highlighted by OpenAI’s $40 billion round and Anthropic’s $16.7 billion, while...
Customer Success Compensation Lacks True Variable Incentives
How are Customer Success team's incentivized? Despite WHERE we tend to put CS on the P&L, they are NOT paid like sales I surveyed 132 companies on their CS compensation structures. And the VAST majority of CSMs are on plans...
Nvidia Fuels Europe's AI Stack with Massive 2025 Investments
Nvidia quietly went on a European shopping spree in 2025. 14 funding rounds, double the year before, backing names like Mistral, Revolut and Lovable. Excess cash recycled straight into the AI ecosystem. This looks less like opportunistic VC and more like long-term...
Fiddler AI Raises $30M in Series C Funding
Fiddler AI announced a $30 million Series C round led by RPS Ventures, bringing its total funding to $100 million. The Palo Alto‑based AI observability and security platform plans to use the capital to scale across regulated sectors such as healthcare, financial services,...
OpenAI Turns Into Venture Hub, Monetizing Research Tools
>be openai >announce plans to take a cut of openai-aided discoveries >release prism, free tool for research teams >rate limit prism >announce prism+, more free credits, latest models >just promise small equity if you build co >openai becomes next yc >sama used to run yc
Vention Raises $110M to Accelerate Physical AI Deployments in Manufacturing
Vention Inc., a Montreal‑based industrial automation firm, announced a $110 million Series D round to accelerate its “physical AI” strategy. The funding will expand its Zero‑Shot Automation platform, add AI‑driven tools, and support a four‑playbook growth plan focused on enterprise customers, AI...
Why Owning the Learning Loop Matters More Than Owning the Lab
Nimbus Therapeutics, founded in 2009, has built a successful small‑molecule drug engine without owning any laboratories, relying on a Design‑Make‑Test‑Analyze (DMTA) learning loop executed through CRO partners. By keeping hypothesis generation, molecular design, data integration and decision‑making in‑house, the company...
Symbiotic Security Raises $10M in Seed Funding
Symbiotic Security, a Paris‑based AI‑first customer research firm, announced a $10 million seed round. The round was led by Alven and Drysdale with participation from Lerer Hippeau, Axeleo, Factorial Cap and angels from Hugging Face and Adaptive ML. The capital will fund rapid product...
Healthier Capital Closes $220M Oversubscribed Fund 1
Healthier Capital announced the closing of its oversubscribed $220 million inaugural fund, attracting universities, endowments, family offices, and healthcare organizations. Led by former Amazon One Medical CEO Amir Dan Rubin, the fund targets early‑stage health‑tech innovators that blend AI, genomics, and...
VC10X - Engineering Liquidity in Deeptech - Brad Harrison, Founder, Scout Ventures
In this 45‑minute episode, West Point graduate and former Airborne Ranger Brad Harrison explains how Scout Ventures applies military‑grade SOPs and a 40‑revision investment process to back frontier deep‑tech startups at the nexus of national security and innovation. He details...