Startups outside the artificial intelligence race landed two of the month's largest venture rounds. SendCutSend, a custom metal manufacturer based in Reno, raised $110 million in its first outside investment. Nourish, a New York metabolic health clinic, closed a $100 million Series C round.
Both deals signal that investors are backing companies tackling industrial and healthcare bottlenecks, even as AI continues to dominate headlines.
From Bootstrapped to Billion-Dollar Bet
SendCutSend, founded in 2018 by Jim Belosic, had long operated without venture capital. Belosic bootstrapped the company using personal savings, bank loans and credit cards. That changed after Sequoia Capital partner Andrew Reed flew to Reno to persuade him to take outside money.
The funding round is led by Stripe founders John and Patrick Collison, along with Sequoia and Paradigm. The company is valued at roughly $1 billion, according to reports.
The surge in orders from robotics, data center and defense customers pushed SendCutSend to seek capital. The company provides fast-turnaround sheet metal and custom parts for prototyping. Paradigm partner Matt Huang told the Wall Street Journal that demand for rapid, on-demand manufacturing is booming across electric car, rocket and robot companies.
The deal marks Paradigm's first investment in the manufacturing sector.
A GLP-1 Bet Beyond the Drug
Nourish raised $100 million in a Series C led by Menlo Ventures, with participation from Y Combinator, Thrive Capital and others. The company now has more than $213 million in total funding.
Founded in 2021, Nourish operates a dietitian-led metabolic health clinic with more than 10,000 registered dietitians. It combines AI coaching, lab testing and virtual care with GLP-1 medication management. The company says its services are covered by most health insurance plans.
The pitch is that weight-loss drugs alone are not enough to solve the chronic disease crisis. Many patients struggle to stay on GLP-1 drugs long term or maintain results after stopping. Nourish aims to provide nutrition counseling, behavior change support and ongoing clinical care alongside medication.
Menlo Ventures partner J.P. Sanday said the company has built a care model that bends the cost curve with strong clinical outcomes and deep payer relationships.
Why This Matters
These two rounds show that venture investors are willing to place large bets on companies solving physical-world problems, not just software or AI. For manufacturers, SendCutSend’s growth highlights a shift toward on-demand, rapid prototyping that serves the booming robotics and data center industries. For patients and employers, Nourish represents a potential alternative or complement to the GLP-1 drug boom, aiming to reduce long-term healthcare costs through dietitian-led care. Both startups address sectors where demand is high and competition is still forming, making them bellwethers for where venture capital may flow next.
