Today's Venture Capital Pulse
Clip secures $500M to accelerate consumer wallet rollout
Mexican fintech Clip raised $500 million, pushing its valuation above $2.5 billion. The new capital will fund the rollout of a consumer‑focused wallet and broaden its financial‑services platform. Investors were not disclosed and the round remains under review.
Also developing:
By the numbers: Francisco Partners raises $18B for new tech funds
Exclusive: Ecofy Set to Raise Rs 380 Cr Led by British International Investment
Ecofy Finance, a climate‑focused NBFC, is raising Rs 380 crore in a Series B equity round led by British International Investment. The round includes Rs 220 crore from BII, Rs 70.5 crore from Finnfund, and continued backing from FMO and Green Growth Equity Fund. Post‑allocation, Ecofy’s valuation is estimated at roughly Rs 800 crore, and the capital will bolster its working‑capital needs for financing EVs, solar, and other sustainable projects. The company reported a 4.8‑fold revenue surge to Rs 93.3 crore in FY25, albeit with a 15.6% rise in losses.
Vilnius-Based Food Supply Marketplace Saltz Raises €20 Million Series A, Plans 100+ Hires as It Expands Across Europe
Vilnius‑based Saltz secured a €20 million Series A round led by the EBRD, aiming to accelerate its pan‑European food‑supply marketplace. The funding will fund expansion into new markets, broaden supplier offerings, and support hiring over 100 staff by 2026. Saltz’s platform consolidates...
BuytoGive Launches £500,000 Funding Round
BuytoGive, a UK e‑commerce marketplace that converts regular online purchases into charitable donations, announced a £500,000 seed round, the first half of a £1 million raise at a £3 million pre‑money valuation. The company recently secured access to 1.2 million products via a...
Augur Raises $15m From Plural to Turn Existing Surveillance Infrastructure Into Real-Time Intelligence
London‑based Augur has closed a $15 million seed round led by Plural to turn Europe’s existing camera and sensor networks into real‑time threat intelligence. The startup’s AI platform ingests video and sensor feeds, delivering live situational awareness without requiring hardware replacement....
What’s Steering Toyota’s “Fund the Future” Mandate?
Toyota has dramatically expanded its venture arm, Toyota Ventures, to accelerate its shift from a traditional carmaker to a broader mobility provider. Since 2017 the unit’s assets under management have risen from $100 million to over $800 million across six funds, backing...
Germany’s Telura Exits Stealth with €4 Million Pre-Seed to Unlock Geothermal Energy with Electric Impulse Drilling
Munich‑based Telura announced a €4 million pre‑seed round led by Nucleus Capital, Possible Ventures and First Momentum, coupled with a validation pact with Germany’s SPRIND agency. The startup’s electric impulse drilling technology replaces mechanical bits with high‑voltage pulses to fracture rock,...
Last Week in Venture 3/8/2026
OpenAI announced a staggering $110 billion financing round, valuing the company at a pre‑money $730 billion, with Amazon, Nvidia and SoftBank as anchor investors. The size of the deal eclipses the GDP of many nations, redefining what a private‑company valuation can look...
Pac O'Shea & Hayyaan Ahmad Drive Round Treasury Conviction
Truth: Pac O'Shea and Hayyaan Ahmad were (and still are) the investment thesis behind our conviction in Round Treasury 🙌
DiligenceSquared Closes $5M in Funding to Bring AI-Driven Commercial Due Diligence to Private Equity
DiligenceSquared announced a $5 million seed round led by Relentless with participation from Y Combinator to scale its AI‑driven commercial due‑diligence platform. The solution combines AI voice agents, automated data synthesis, and interactive, source‑traceable reporting to replace traditional consulting projects that typically...
Hard Capital? Secondary Market Deals Thrive Amid Recession
Entrepreneurs: It's getting f*cking bad out here. Recession type bad. BlackRock just limited withdrawals from their private credit fund and their stock dropped 7% yesterday. If you're not generating revenue right now YOU are in trouble. Raising capital just got significantly harder...
VC Money Shifts From Crypto to Faster‑Revenue AI
🚨 AI IS OVERTAKING CRYPTO VC FUNDING VC’s say investors are moving money toward AI startups with “faster revenue visibility.” Crypto startups raised just $135M in the first week of March, a slowdown after stronger funding earlier this year. https://t.co/qdcmjHWrgD
Robinhood’s Startup Fund Stumbles in NYSE Debut
Robinhood launched the Robinhood Ventures Fund I to let retail investors buy a basket of private startups, targeting a $1 billion raise. The fund secured eight companies, including Databricks and Stripe, and raised $658.4 million, but its shares fell 16% on debut,...
Greater Good Health Scores $20.5 Million Series B
Greater Good Health, a cost‑of‑care management platform for high‑risk organizations, secured $20.5 million in Series B financing. The round was led by Allumia Ventures and included a $12.5 million venture‑debt facility from HSBC Innovation Banking. New investors DaVita Venture Group and Granite Financial...
Monalee Rebrands as Artemis and Raises $6 Million
Artemis, previously known as Monalee, announced a rebrand alongside the close of a $6 million financing round. The round was co‑led by Long Journey and Copec WIND Ventures, with participation from Ludlow Ventures, Shrug Capital, Coalition Operators, Plug and Play Ventures, FJ...
DiligenceSquared Raises $5M Seed
DiligenceSquared announced a $5 million seed round led by Relentless, with participation from Y Combinator. The AI‑native platform streamlines commercial due diligence and market research for investment teams. The capital will fund rapid expansion to meet rising demand from private‑equity firms....
Fieldguide Snares $75M Series C
Fieldguide, an AI‑native audit and advisory platform, announced a $75 million Series C round led by Goldman Sachs Alternatives’ Growth Equity. New investor Geodesic joined existing backers Bessemer Venture Partners, 8VC, and Thomson Reuters. The financing brings total capital raised to $125 million...
Voomi Supply Raises $10 Million to Expand B2B Ecommerce Platform for HVAC
Voomi Supply announced a $10 million financing round led by Asymmetric Capital Partners, with participation from Highmount Capital, David Hawkins, and existing backer Operator Partners. The capital will accelerate development of its AI‑driven B2B ecommerce platform, broaden its supplier network, and...
Cicada Raises $13.5M Series A Round
Cicada, a US‑based fintech, closed a $13.5 million Series A round led by Citigroup, with participation from L4, Kaszek, Dila Capital and Crestone. The company runs an electronic trading platform that lets institutional investors buy and sell Mexican government and corporate bonds...
Cognito Raises $105M to Bring Alzheimer’s Treatment Device to Market
Cognito Therapeutics secured $105 million in Series C financing to advance its Spectris device, a non‑invasive light and sound system targeting Alzheimer’s disease. Early trials showed modest cognitive benefits despite no amyloid reduction, prompting a larger pivotal study with about...
ICYMI Fintech Funding Round-Up: Wealthyhood, Payr, Pluvo, and More
FinTech Futures’ ICYMI roundup highlights a wave of European‑focused funding, with Wealthyhood securing €6 million Series A, Pluvo raising $5 million seed, and TaxDown obtaining €4 million from BBVA Spark. Compliance‑focused AI startups Diligent AI and Vivox AI attracted $2.5 million and £1.3 million respectively, while proptech Payr...
Sell During Strong Growth, Not Market Uncertainty
We spend a lot of time at Vista Point walking founders through the considerations around WHEN to pursue a liquidity event. While external factors like the state of your vertical market are certainly important to consider, the first and foremost...
Value Shift: From Public IPO Gains to Private Pre‑IPO Stakes
2000-2015: most of the value in startups is captured by public investors post-IPO 2015-2025: most of the value in startups is captured by private investors pre-IPO 2026-…: public investors recapture value by investing in public VC firms holding private shares?
UK Tech Funding Roundup: This Week’s Deals From Oxa to Mutable Tactics
UK tech investment this week totalled £99.37 million, a 91% drop from the prior week, across five rounds. Autonomous‑vehicle specialist Oxa led the pack with a £77 million Series D, followed by biomaterials firm Shellworks raising £11 million Series A. Health‑tech Antiverse secured £7 million for...
The Rise of ‘Vibe Coding’ and What that Means for FreightTech
The logistics sector is entering a "vibe coding" era where elegant software is easy to build, shifting competitive advantage from pure code to technology‑native business models. Floating Point Advisors, led by former Oscar Health founder John Loser, is backing early‑stage...
InsurTech Funding Tops $1bn in February as AI Investment Surges
Global InsurTech funding topped $1 billion in February, propelled by a $703 million debt raise from Howden Group. Excluding Howden, venture‑backed firms secured roughly $376 million across 11 deals, keeping pace with January’s activity. AI‑centric companies dominated the venture pool, with notable rounds...
Roboze Receives Investment From Rule 1 Ventures Et Al
Italian manufacturing‑technology firm Roboze announced a new financing round backed by Rule 1 Ventures, Privcorp Ventures, Heather Podesta, Gary Ang, Tholus Capital and the Ferrari Family Office, alongside existing shareholders such as Federico Faggin and Rialto Venture Capital. The amount remains undisclosed. The...
NoblQ Receives Majority Investment From Yellow Stripes Capital
Plano‑based IT services firm NoblQ announced that Yellow Stripes Capital has acquired a majority stake, though the transaction value was not disclosed. The capital infusion will fund NoblQ’s expansion of operations and accelerate its AI‑driven engineering and enterprise platform development....
Litigation Startup Advocacy Announces $3.5M Investment, With Backing From Fenwick & West, Relativity Labs
Litigation startup Advocacy announced a $3.5 million seed investment backed by law firm Fenwick & West, legal‑tech pioneer Relativity Labs, and a consortium of Big Law, boutique firms, and law‑school investors. The capital will accelerate development of its cloud‑based platform that...
From Idea to Investment: What Venture Capital Actually Sees in AI Startups
Artificial intelligence has transitioned from a novelty to core infrastructure, reshaping venture capital allocations. In early 2026, Fei‑Fei Li’s World Labs secured a $1 billion round and Saudi sovereign fund Humain pledged $3 billion to xAI, while Nvidia pledged support for up...
How Robinhood’s Venture Fund Listing Could Impact Fundrise Venture
Robinhood is launching Robinhood Venture Fund I (RVI) on the NYSE with an anticipated $25 share price, offering retail investors a closed‑end fund that mirrors private‑market exposure. The fund will charge a 2% annual management fee, reduced to 1% for...
Sierra Space Closes $550M Series C Funding Round, at $8 Billion Valuation
Defense‑tech firm Sierra Space secured $550 million in a Series C round, valuing the company at $8 billion post‑money. The financing was led by LuminArx Capital Management with participation from General Atlantic, Coatue, Moore Strategic Ventures and others. Sierra Space plans to channel...
Vor Systems Raises $3M Pre-Seed Funding
Vor Systems, a San Francisco AI‑enabled transaction platform for energy deals, secured $3 million in pre‑seed financing. The round was led by Gigascale Capital with participation from Virta Ventures and several angel investors. The capital will accelerate product development and forge...
Science Closes $230M Series C Funding
Science, the Alameda‑based neural engineering firm, closed a $230 million Series C round, raising its total capital to roughly $490 million since 2021. The financing will accelerate commercialization of its brain‑computer interface retinal implant, PRIMA, and expand research, manufacturing, and bio‑hybrid neural platforms....
Axiom Partners Launches with $52M Fund I to Back “AI for the Real World”
Axiom Partners, led by former Khosla Ventures partner Sandhya Venkatachalam, closed an oversubscribed $52 million inaugural fund focused on “AI for the Real World.” The seed‑stage firm aims to back startups that use artificial intelligence to alleviate the global “capacity crunch”...
Science Secures $230M Series C for Longevity Tech
Exciting news in the world of longevity via deep technology. Congratulations to @khoslaventures and @lightspeedvp on this historic investment. IMHO, Science may be bigger than OpenAI
D2C Brand Bonkers Corner Raises $10.5 Mn at $48 Mn Valuation
Omnichannel streetwear label Bonkers Corner announced a Rs 95 crore ($10.5 million) Series A round, led by India SME Investment Fund and joined by Radhakrishna Ramnarain, Namita Thapar and over 20 angels. The funding values the company at roughly Rs 430 crore ($48 million) post‑money. For FY 2025 the...
Data Quality Automation Startup Validio Raises $30M
Validio, a Stockholm‑based data‑quality automation startup, secured $30 million in Series A funding, bringing its total capital to $47 million after an 800 % ARR surge last year. The round was led by Plural with participation from Lakestar, J12 and several angels. Validio’s AI‑driven...
Cancer Medtech Tops up Series B to $28 Million
Sydney‑based Lumonus secured an additional $3 million, raising its Series B to $28 million. The AI‑powered platform automates radiation‑oncology workflows, already supporting over 280,000 cancer treatments and 75,000 treatment plans across the US, Australia and Europe. Funds will expand U.S. go‑to‑market teams, boost...
Cognito Therapeutics Raises $105M for Neurotechnology Platform for Alzheimer's
Cognito Therapeutics closed an oversubscribed $105 million Series C round, led by Morningside Ventures with new investors such as Apollo Health Ventures. The capital will fund the readout of its HOPE pivotal study, FDA submission preparation, and commercialization of its Spectris neurostimulation...
Sierra Space and Vast Detail Their Series C Investment Rounds
Sierra Space closed a $550 million Series C round, lifting its valuation to roughly $8 billion and marking a strategic pivot toward national‑security satellite programs. The funding will support new product development and expanded production capacity, including contracts worth up to $1.19 billion with...
Fashion Startup Founder Pleads Guilty in $300 Million Fraud
Christine Hunsicker, founder of fashion‑rental tech firm CaaStle, pleaded guilty to securities fraud for inflating the company’s revenue and cash position. Over six years she misrepresented financials, showing a $24 million operating profit that was actually under $30,000 and a $50 million...
Incumbents Must Pursue Big AI Acquisitions to Stay Competitive
New @ThePeelPod with @chetanp We talk Manus, the history + future of software, why incumbents should make big AI acquisitions, why investors are begging for AI companies to go public, and inside @Benchmark’s latest investing strategy. Thanks @Numeral and @FlexSuperApp for sponsoring...
NFL Veteran Nets 10x Return on Oura Exit
NFL veteran @thejaylonsmith recently exited his investment in Oura, making a 10x return, his best ever.https://t.co/xHbeBAUc4s
GenFlux Closes $4.2M as Brands Race to Own the AI Answer
GenFlux announced a $4.2 million seed round led by Symbolic Capital to scale its AI‑search optimization platform. The startup monitors brand visibility across eight generative answer engines, including ChatGPT, Gemini, and Claude, and provides tools for Answer Engine Optimization (AEO) and...
From Zero to $1B in 3.5 Years: Lux‑Backed Success
From ZERO to $1B in 3.5 years. We wrote their first check at Lux… Here’s how they did it.
Learning Co‑Investing Secrets by Watching Benchmark’s Five Partners
In 1999-2000 Craig McCaw asked me to spend a lot of time working in the Benchmark offices on Sand Hill Road to find areas where co-investment was possible. I never learned so much, as Yogi Berra famously said, "just by...
Psychedelics Are Placeholders for More Traditional Depression Therapies: Analysts
Psychedelic antidepressants are poised for FDA review this year, driven by strong investor and patient interest. William Blair analysts note that while Johnson & Johnson’s Spravato generated $1.7 billion in 2025 sales, psychedelics are unlikely to capture the entire treatment‑resistant depression market. Companies...
Inside a Startup Building Tools for AI Agents
Circuit & Chisel, a New York startup founded by former Stripe crypto executives, raised $19.2 million to launch ATXP, an agent transaction protocol that enables AI agents to navigate and execute payments autonomously. The company’s backers include Stripe, Polygon Labs, and Samsung Next, signaling strong...
Validio Closes $30M Series A to Address Enterprise Data Quality Challenges
Validio secured a $30 million Series A round led by Plural, bringing total funding to $47 million, to scale its AI‑focused data‑quality platform. The solution automates monitoring, anomaly detection, and lineage cataloguing, replacing thousands of manual checks for enterprises in regulated sectors. Customers...
SaaSpocalypse: What’s Next for Europe’s SaaS Scaleups and Investors?
A new Claude AI tool for the legal sector triggered a sell‑off in major SaaS stocks, reviving fears that AI‑native startups could displace traditional software giants. The Sifted podcast examines whether Europe’s VC‑backed SaaS scale‑ups can survive this “SaaSpocalypse” and...