Today's Venture Capital Pulse
Anthropic files confidential IPO as it calls for global AI slowdown
Anthropic, valued at roughly $965 billion, filed a confidential IPO prospectus. The company urged a coordinated global slowdown of advanced AI development, citing societal risks. U.S. regulators ordered Anthropic to block foreign access to its most advanced models.
Also developing:
By the numbers: Sygaldry Technologies raises $139M in seed and Series A round
Nvidia, Amazon, and Microsoft Could Invest up to $60 Billion in OpenAI
OpenAI is negotiating a multi‑billion‑dollar funding round with Nvidia, Microsoft and Amazon that could total up to $60 billion. Nvidia may contribute as much as $30 billion, Amazon between $10 billion and $20 billion, and Microsoft less than $10 billion. Existing backer SoftBank could add another $30 billion, pushing the total toward the rumored $100 billion and valuing OpenAI around $730 billion. Analysts note the deals are unusually circular because the investors also supply the hardware and cloud services OpenAI relies on.
TetraxAI Raises Pre-Seed Funding for AI Risk Tools in Clean Energy
AI‑focused SaaS startup TetraxAI announced a €1.2 million pre‑seed round led by The Footprint Firm, bringing total funding to €1.5 million including a NEOTEC grant. The company’s platform automates due‑diligence and risk analysis for utility‑scale clean‑energy projects, cutting review times from weeks...
Doppler Raises $9M Led by Pantera Capital, Becomes the Default Launch Infrastructure for Onchain Assets
Doppler announced a $9 million financing round led by Pantera Capital, positioning the startup as the default launch infrastructure for on‑chain assets. The capital infusion will accelerate product development, expand its API suite, and broaden global node coverage. Doppler’s platform now...
How to Break Through a Fear of Failure, with Fawn Weaver & Van Jones
In this episode, Fawn Weaver, founder of Uncle Nearest Premium Whiskey, discusses how she overcame a fear of failure while scaling one of the fastest-growing spirit brands. She shares strategies for aligning business growth with personal purpose, emphasizing resilience, storytelling,...
What Helped Wild Rye Land 100+ Retailers and Raise $1 Million
In this episode, founder Cassie Abel discusses how Wild Rye transformed the outdoor apparel market by designing high‑performance gear specifically for women and embedding purpose into every decision, from sustainability certifications to social advocacy. She shares how building long‑term, trust‑based...
Northwood Space Raises $100M in Series B Funding
Northwood Space, a Los Angeles‑based ground‑infrastructure provider for space missions, secured $100 million in Series B financing. The round was led by Washington Harbour Partners and co‑led by Andreessen Horowitz, with participation from several space‑focused venture firms. The capital will fund accelerated...
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...
Master Your Pitch, Meet Top VCs, Secure Term Sheets
- Know your worth - Hone your pitch - Meet the best VCs - Collect term sheets That's SaaStr AI VC -> https://t.co/XzJ5d0OqGr https://t.co/qulPugatLR
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...
VCs Can't Fund Ex‑OpenAI Founders Indefinitely
“VCs can’t just keep giving OpenAI employees billions of dollars to start a new company forever” VCs: https://t.co/lVyo5wnDoI
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. 👇
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
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...