Today's Venture Capital Pulse
Sarvam secures $234M Series B, becoming India’s newest AI unicorn
Sarvam announced a $234 million Series B raise, valuing the Bengaluru‑based startup at $1.5 billion. The round was led by HCLTech, which contributed a $150 million strategic investment, and also included Bessemer Venture Partners, Khosla Ventures and Peak XV Partners. The funding will accelerate Sarvam’s full‑stack AI roadmap and cement its unicorn status.
Also developing:
By the numbers: Sygaldry Technologies raises $139M in seed and Series A round
I Wrote Off $4M to $0. My Co-Investor Marked Up the Same Deal to $30M. Here’s What Founders Need to...
The author wrote off a $4 million SaaStr Fund investment to zero, while a co‑investor marked the same deal up to $30 million. The divergence stems from the co‑investor’s need to showcase a strong TVPI while fundraising for a new fund, prompting an optimistic paper valuation of stock‑only acquisition. This illustrates how VC accounting choices can be driven by fundraising pressures rather than cash outcomes. The post warns founders that misaligned VC incentives can shape exit decisions and portfolio reporting.
Price SaaS Realistically: Focus on Profit, Not Hype
“I want to sell for 10x revenue because I heard that’s the average SaaS multiple.” That mindset usually leads to disappointment. Those outsized multiples exist, but they’re rare. They’re not the norm. And anchoring on them can stop you from selling at...
NIMBYism Costs U.S. Workers $8,775 Annually
I found a paper that actually quantifies the amount of money that is lost by society because NIMBYism prevents NY, SF Bay Area from building enough housing for their highly productive workers: $8,775 for every worker in America every year....
VC Roundup: Crypto Funding Rebounds as Institutions Test Onchain Finance
Venture capital and institutional investors poured $1.4 billion into digital‑asset companies in early 2026, highlighted by Visa‑linked stablecoin issuer Rain’s $250 million raise at a $1.9 billion valuation and BitGo’s $200 million‑plus NYSE IPO. On‑chain finance startups such as Bitway, Everything, Veera and Prometheum...
Join Airstreet AI Meetups in Munich, Zurich, Paris
swing by the @airstreet ai meetup in: - munich 17 feb - zurich 19 feb - paris 11 mar more on: luma(dot)com/airstreet https://t.co/9ZuRL4Kk0A
Unmasking EBITDA: From 1970s Cable to AI Era
EBITDA: the most quoted metric in finance… and the least understood. So we decided to make a mini documentary on its origins… yea, seriously. In our new segment, A CFO Explains, producer Ben Hillman and I try to “adjust” our...
Possible: Amjad Masad on Vibe Coding, AI Agents, and the End of Boilerplate
In this episode, Reid Hoffman and Aria Finger interview Amjad Masad, CEO of Replit, about how AI is democratizing software creation by turning natural language into functional code. Masad shares his journey from self‑teaching in Jordan to building a platform...
Early Hires Need Passion, Later Scaling Can Diversify
Not everyone on the team really needs to be on your mission But almost all the first 50 employees do Hire pirates and romantics at least until you are truly ready to scale
A Series of Webinars About How Venture Capital Works by a U.S. VC
In this three‑week webinar series launching on February 16, Denis Kalyshkin—a principal at a U.S. venture capital firm and former aerospace engineer—explains how VC funds operate, covering market analysis, deal terms, due diligence, and financial modeling for startups. He breaks...
Invest When Hype Fades; Real Builders Keep Building
Received 400 applications for Easy Residence (@Yzilabs) next season. Every season has about 20 projects, aiming for 4-6 season's per year. I find it easier to invest when the market is less hot. All the hype goes away. Real builders...
Invest Qatar Showcases Ecosystem Growth at Web Summit Qatar 2026 via Startup Qatar Pavilion
Invest Qatar will host the Startup Qatar Pavilion at Web Summit Qatar 2026, highlighting the nation’s fast‑growing entrepreneurial ecosystem. The pavilion will unite key agencies such as QFZ, QFC, MCIT, QDB and Media City Qatar to streamline setup, licensing, funding...
Deepgram Raises $130 Million Series C at $1.3 Billion Valuation
Deepgram announced a $130 million Series C round that lifts its valuation to $1.3 billion, led by AVP and joined by strategic backers such as Twilio, ServiceNow Ventures, SAP and Citi Ventures. The capital will accelerate the expansion of its real‑time voice AI...
A16z Partner Kofi Ampadu to Leave Firm After TxO Program Pause
Kofi Ampadu, a partner who spearheaded Andreessen Horowitz’s Talent x Opportunity (TxO) fund, announced his departure in June 2026. The TxO program, launched in 2020 to back underserved founders through a donor‑advised fund, was placed on indefinite pause in November 2025 and...
ElevenLabs CEO on Building an "Omni" Audio AI and Funding Rumors
In this interview, ElevenLabs CEO and co‑founder Mati Staniszewski outlines the company’s rapid growth—now at $330 million ARR—and its upcoming funding round that could crown it Europe’s most valuable tech startup. He explains the vision behind ElevenLabs’ “omni” audio AI model, a...
Poetiq Nabs $45.8M in Seed Funding for Its LLM-Enhancing ‘Meta-System’
Poetiq Inc., founded by former Google DeepMind researchers, raised $45.8 million in a seed round led by FYRFLY Venture Partners and Surface Ventures. The startup’s meta‑system platform enhances large language models like Gemini and GPT‑5.2, improving output quality while lowering inference...
Competitors Using AI Cut Mortgage Costs 25%
“It’s not AI that’s your competition. It’s your competitors using AI.” A real-world example from mortgage origination 👇 The frustratingly high cost to originate a mortgage (>$10K!) has persisted for decades. Except for originators on Vesta . Powerful stats from...
Arlene Dickinson and Amber Mac Sever Ties with Gander Social
Arlene Dickinson and Amber Mac announced they are no longer advisors to Gander Social just one day before the company’s crowdfunding campaign was set to close. Both posted on LinkedIn, while Gander’s CEO Ben Waldman said neither had finalized an...
Accurate SaaS Gross Margin Is Critical for Valuation
Gross margin underscores the scalability of a business model and is therefore important for determining valuation. An unfortunate truth is that in SaaS, gross margin is almost never calculated or positioned correctly for investors/buyers. If you're talking to investors or...
Emobi Secures $3.4 Million in Seed Funding
Emobi, the leading EV charging roaming platform in North America, announced a $3.4 million seed round. The round was led by Florida Funders and included a slate of existing backers such as Y Combinator and Goodwater Capital. The capital will accelerate...
Mito AI Raises $4.5M to Empower Video Professionals with AI Tools
Mito AI, a collaborative platform that brings AI orchestration tools to video professionals, announced a $4.5 million Series A round led by Lightspeed Venture Partners, with participation from Kibo, Kfund, Sequoia, a16z scouts, LifeX and several high‑profile angels. The service lets filmmakers,...
Amazon in Talks To Invest Up To $50 Billion in OpenAI
Amazon is reportedly negotiating a multi‑billion‑dollar investment of up to $50 billion in OpenAI, the creator of ChatGPT. The funding round could total $100 billion, potentially valuing OpenAI at $830 billion. Amazon CEO Andy Jassy is leading talks with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman,...
Prepare Fully Before Listing, Don't Just Test Market
“I’m just going to go out and test the market” is usually a mistake. What works better is preparing properly, listing at a fair valuation, and going to market with the expectation that you’re actually going to close a deal. Selling a...
January 2026: Top Five Fintech Funding Stories of the Month
FinTech Futures takes a look back at five of the top fintech funding stories from January.
Reed Jobs' Cancer Biotech Investment Firm Yosemite Eyes $350M Fund
Yosemite, the cancer‑research investment firm led by Reed Jobs, is seeking to raise a fund of up to $350 million. The capital target positions the firm among the largest early‑stage biotech funds currently forming. Jobs leverages his Silicon Valley connections and...
InsurTech Firm Sixfold Secures $30m to Advance AI Underwriting
Sixfold, a New York‑based InsurTech, closed a $30 million Series B round led by Brewer Lane with strategic participation from Guidewire. The funding will fuel development of its “AI Underwriter,” an autonomous system designed to handle end‑to‑end property and casualty underwriting. Sixfold’s...
Large Deals Rose by 3.9x QoQ in Q4 2025 Pushing European FinTech Funding to Reach Its Peak
European FinTech funding surged to $5.5 bn in Q4 2025, an 87% increase QoQ and the highest‑funded quarter on record. The number of deals stayed flat at 176, but large transactions exploded, with deals over $100 m rising 3.9 times QoQ to $4 bn. Zilch...
Adapt Raises $10M Seed to Become the AI Computer for Business
San Francisco AI startup Adapt announced a $10 million seed round co‑led by Activant Capital and Headline, positioning itself as the “AI computer” for enterprises. The capital backs a horizontal AI platform that embeds frontier models into any workflow via API...
Quiz Seeks New Financing After Disappointing Christmas Sales
Quiz, the UK‑based apparel retailer, is pursuing new financing after a disappointing Christmas period. The company, founded in Glasgow in 1993, now runs 40 stores and employs roughly 1,000 staff following a February pre‑pack closure of 23 loss‑making locations. Founders...
UK Private Capital Markets Surge Amid Economic Recovery : Research
PitchBook reports that the UK private‑capital market rebounded strongly in Q4 2025, driven by robust venture capital, private equity, and public‑market activity. Venture funding reached roughly $6.8 bn, highlighted by Revolut’s $3 bn round, the continent’s biggest deal of the year. Private‑equity...
California Risks Losing Future Startups to Austin, Miami
The Atlantic acknowledges the core risk: California could lose not just current billionaires, but the next generation of startups entirely. Austin and Miami are waiting. https://lnkd.in/gdwZ97WW
Larry’s Catch Draws Three Offers on CBC’s Dragons’ Den
Larry’s Catch, a Canadian direct‑to‑consumer seafood delivery startup, appeared on CBC’s Dragons’ Den and secured three investor offers during its national television debut. The founders used the platform to showcase a subscription model that sources wild‑caught fish from sustainable family fisheries...
Skip Intros—Email Your Results Directly to SaaStr Fund
If you happen to want me to invest in you via @saastrfund, and it's a fit ... 📨Just email. Email me everything -- all the good stuff. No need for a warm intro, or any sort of intro. They just waste...
Avoid the $50M ARR Plateau with Early Scaling Wisdom
I’ve talked about my CEO friend who raised $100M and got stuck at $50M ARR a lot. But if I could go back to 2019 when he was at $20M, and rockets were still firing, this is exactly what I...
Prenosis Raises $20M Series A Round
Prenosis, a biology‑based technology company, closed a $20 million Series A financing round. The round was led by PACE Healthcare Capital with co‑investors including UC Investments, Labcorp Venture Fund and state entities. Simultaneously, Prenosis secured a BARDA contract to commercialize Sepsis ImmunoScore®,...
Iceye Eyes $3B Valuation, $300M Revenue, No IPO
.@iceye_global: No IPO for now, $300M+ in 2025 rev, $3B valuation from latest funding round, wants @defis_eu & @esa to go faster in helping develop European space security network. #EuropeanSpaceConf.https://t.co/DM65XAjdCC
Early Private Deals Hide High Fees and Delayed Costs
Getting into hot companies before they go public sounds irresistible. But the fine print is brutal: high fees, opaque structures, long lockups, and risks most investors don’t see upfront. Access isn’t the same as advantage. Sometimes the real price of “early” is...
Yozo.ai Raises $1.7M to Build AI Revenue Engine
Yozo.ai, a UAE‑based e‑commerce AI startup, secured $1.7 million in pre‑seed funding. The round was co‑led by Access Bridge Ventures and Disruptech Ventures, with participation from Arzan VC and Suhail Ventures. The capital will fund engineering expansion and international market entry...
B2B AI Teams Achieve 5× Productivity as New Standard
The most impressive B2B + AI companies I'm seeing right now have 8 people doing the work of 40. That's not a flex—it's the new baseline. SaaStr AI 2026 is where you learn how they're doing it. May 12-14. SF Bay....
Arkero Pulls In $6M Pre-Seed Round
Arkero announced a $6 million pre‑seed round led by Game Changers Ventures, with participation from high‑profile investors such as Alexis Ohanian and David Tisch. The Seattle‑based startup is building an AI platform that sits atop existing sports‑team tools to automate operations, from match‑day...
Vast VC‑LP Matching Opportunities Revealed in New List
Wow - that's a lot of opportunities for VCs and LPs to find each other...👇 🙏 Pavel Prata for collecting this list
AI Secretly Powering Darren Aronofsky's Latest Film
My friend Darren Aronofsky texted me this earlier and my draw dropped. He told me it was AI. Lux is deeply invested in AI (esp @runwayml) but had he not told me I would have thought he made the movie...
Indigo Grabs $50M Series B Round
Indigo, an AI‑driven medical professional liability platform, closed a $50 million Series B financing round. The round was led by existing backer Rubicon Founders and introduced new investor Town Hall Ventures, with participation from Optum Ventures and other strategic partners. Indigo’s Vertical AI technology reshapes underwriting, distribution,...
Anthropic Chosen by 75% of New Startups
Insane data from @Mercury. Anthropic has quickly become the first model of choice for 75% of newly formed startups.
Even Industry Titans Can't Guarantee Startup Success
In 2020, Jeffrey Katzenberg raised $1.75 billion for Quibi. At CES, he faced a skeptical crowd and said: "I've been doing this before you all were f*&king born." Eight months after launch, Quibi was dead. Reality doesn't care about your résumé. https://t.co/ZYMpP1jLFX
Breakthru Medicine Raises $60M in Series A Funding
Breakthru Medicine, a Phoenix‑based oncology startup, announced a $60 million Series A round led by a board of seasoned investors including Dave Morehead, Fred Eshelman and Mark Gergen. The capital will fund expansion of its precision‑therapy platform targeting solid tumors deemed “undruggable.” Breakthru’s pipeline...
Five Centuries of Venture Capital: A Visual Evolution
Cool graphic on how the venture industry has evolved over the past 500 years. h/t @pavelprata https://t.co/2CL76j0nvR
Keep Re‑incorporating Daily Until Your Funding Closes
if you don't close your round in the first day just re-incorporate every day until you close
Biotech’s Next Chapter: Asset-Centric Deals and Shifting Alpha at JPM 2026
Biotech is emerging from a multi‑year slump into a new cycle driven by late‑stage, asset‑centric deals, as highlighted at JPM 2026. While headline megadeals were scarce, rumors around Revolution Medicines and Abivax and announced transactions such as Eli Lilly‑Ventyx and GSK‑RAPT underscored...
Wrong Leaders Cost Years of Lost Potential
Picking the wrong VP reverberates for 2+ years Picking the wrong cofounder reverberates for 10+ years You don’t fail, it’s just you could have done so much more. And that compounds, too.
Mesh Security Raises $12 Million Series A
Mesh Security announced a $12 million Series A round led by Lobby Capital, with participation from S Ventures and Bright Pixel Capital. The Palo Alto‑based startup claims to deliver the world’s first Cybersecurity Mesh Architecture (CSMA) platform, an execution layer that unifies...