Startups / Funding
Following the money and the vision. Insights into early-stage startups, major funding rounds, VC ecosystem shifts and tech-driven industry disruption.
166 articles
Stripe to Acquire AI Startup OpenRouter in $7 Billion Deal
Stripe has agreed to acquire AI firm OpenRouter for over $7 billion, marking a significant bet on AI-powered payment infrastructure.
Heart Aerospace Electric Plane Test Flight Costs $5 in Electricity
Heart Aerospace's X1 demonstrator, the world's largest all-electric aircraft, completed its first flight costing just $5 in electricity, highlighting a cost advantage over volatile jet fuel prices.
Databricks Raises $5B as AI Infrastructure and Defense Rounds Lead Venture Surge
Databricks raises $5B at $190B valuation. River AI, Form Energy and Neros Technologies also close big rounds in AI, defense and energy storage.
Startup Founder Defends Getting Company Logo Tattoo During Job Interview
LemonLime cofounder Jordan Zietz explains his controversial tattoo during a job interview, addressing backlash and defending his commitment to the startup.
Hedge Fund Situational Awareness Pours $400M Into AI Chip Startup Source Foundry
Embattled hedge fund Situational Awareness invests $400 million in chip startup Source Foundry, signaling confidence in specialized AI hardware despite the fund’s recent struggles.
Global Venture Funding Surges Past $65 Billion as Billion-Dollar Rounds Hit Record
Venture capital reached $65 billion in July, a 100% year-over-year surge. A record 14 billion-dollar rounds closed, with AI companies absorbing over half the capital.
Defense Startup Hadrian Lands $1.37 Billion in Record Funding Round
Hadrian, a defense tech startup building automated factories for military parts, raised $1.37B at an $8B valuation. The funding signals surging investor interest in modernizing the U.S. defense industrial base.
AI Startup Naïve Raises $28.5M to Automate Company Setup
Naïve raised $28.5 million to automate business formation and compliance. The AI platform aims to cut setup time from weeks to hours for solo founders.
Anthropic Inks $10B Deal With AI Cloud Startup Volta
Anthropic has signed a $10 billion deal with AI cloud startup Volta, expanding its infrastructure partnerships. The agreement signals growing demand for dedicated AI compute capacity.
Space Lasers Could Replace Undersea Fiber for Global Data Transmission
Endeavour Optical Networks plans to launch the fastest space laser communications system, potentially disrupting the undersea fiber cable industry.
Base Power Raises $1 Billion to Scale Home Battery Grid Network
Base Power secures $1B to ramp backyard battery production for grid stabilization, marking a major bet on distributed storage.
June Emerges With $20M to Solve AI Deployment Problem
A Marc Benioff-backed startup, June, raised $20M pre-seed to simplify AI deployment, addressing a critical industry bottleneck.
Floating Nuclear Data Centers: Startup Atomarine Targets Offshore Solution
Atomarine plans nuclear-powered data center barges at sea to bypass land-based opposition and permitting delays. The modular design could enable faster deployment but faces engineering and regulatory hurdles.
Smallest.ai Lands $13M to Make AI Phone Calls Indistinguishable From Human Speech
Smallest.ai raised $13 million to build ultra-fast voice AI capable of natural phone conversations. The funding signals growing investor interest in realistic voice synthesis for business applications.
Thermal Battery Startup Antora Raises $550M to Power AI Data Centers
Antora Energy closes $550M Series C, one of the largest cleantech rounds this year, to deploy thermal batteries for AI data centers and industrial use.
Enterprise AI Startup Freehand Lands $75M Series B to Automate Supply Chain Spend
Freehand raised $75M in Series B funding led by Battery Ventures to deploy autonomous AI agents for Fortune 500 supply chain and back-office operations. The round comes amid a surge in supply chain tech funding and shifting trade policies.
Toilet Camera Startup Throne Science Lands $10M Series A for Gut Health Monitoring
Throne Science raised $10M in Series A funding led by Will Ventures for its AI-powered toilet camera that tracks gut health and hydration. Founded by former Whoop CTO John Capodilupo and CEO Scott Hickle, the startup has now raised nearly $18M.
For Deep-Tech Startups, Dell Technologies Capital Prioritizes People Over Market Timing
Dell Technologies Capital's Daniel Docter on deep-tech investing: bet on founders, leverage Dell's network, and don't count out SaaS. The firm invested $1.8B and had six exits in 2025.
General Catalyst Surpasses Y Combinator in $5M+ Fintech Deals in Q2 2026
General Catalyst overtook Y Combinator in fintech deals of $5M or more in Q2 2026, per Crunchbase. The firm participated in 12 such rounds, its busiest quarter since 2021.