Last month, of , the corporate venture arm it launched in 2016 and grew to more than $850 million across three funds. The company hired to explore selling portfolio stakes on the secondary market, putting positions in companies such as and in play. The news also arrived weeks after .

Two corporate venture programs shutting down inside six weeks invites speculation that corporations are retreating from venture capital, but in fact the opposite is true.

Measured in dollars, corporate venture has never been stronger. According to , corporate investors participated in 鈥� venture’s strongest funding year since 2021.

, , , , and all led billion-dollar rounds into AI companies last year, per 小蓝视频色情网页版 data. Nvidia by itself made more than 40 startup investments and appeared in. Meta paid $14.3 billion for its stake in Scale AI. 1听补苍诲 s venture arm backed Anthropic’s.

Amid this strength, though, corporate venture is also quietly splitting in two, and the proof is buried inside the record numbers. Bain attributes the elevated corporate participation , and the billion-dollar rounds trace back to the same short list of names.

Take that handful out of the data and the year looks very different. Venture capital itself went through the same sorting over the past decade, as mega-funds absorbed more and more of the capital while everyone else competed for allocation, and corporate venture is now following the same script. The people with the most at stake are the smaller funds and startups downstream.

And notice that the wind-downs are coming from serious programs. PayPal’s arm ran for a decade and , and Fidelity International manages hundreds of billions of dollars. Size never protected either one, and the dividing line runs through the mandate. For Nvidia, Alphabet, Salesforce and Cisco, startup investing is a core strategy, funded off enormous balance sheets, because their businesses depend on owning a position in the technology cycle. Nvidia backs the companies that build on its chips, and that commitment survives budget season. For most other corporations, venture is one strategic priority among several, competing for capital with the core business itself.

To be clear, there’s nothing wrong with that. When a new chief executive commits to finding , winding down even a well-run program can be the disciplined call, and disciplined capital allocation is what shareholders ask of public companies. Corporate venture has always moved in cycles, and the waves of closures after 2000 and 2008 said far more about parent balance sheets than about the returns on offer. Individual programs are mortal, but the asset class keeps growing.

When I started my career, technology drove roughly 2% of the American economy, and today it drives a double-digit share of GDP and nearly 40% of the stock market.

Who feels it first

For smaller funds and their portfolio companies, the split is already changing the math. ‘s finds corporate funds pursuing fewer, more targeted deals, and the share using the secondary market jumped from 15% in 2024 to 22% in 2025; PayPal’s Jefferies mandate takes that same path at the scale of an entire program.

When a corporate arm winds down mid-life, its portfolio companies lose a strategic backer and a source of follow-on capital at once, the smaller funds that syndicated alongside it lose their anchor for the next round, and a secondary sale replaces a committed partner with a financial buyer.

I spend my days working with early-stage venture funds, and I’m watching this pattern develop in real time: strong companies outside AI, with a departing corporate backer on the cap table, heading into rounds their existing syndicate can’t fill alone.

The lesson for startup management teams and VC fund managers is to plan for corporate capital to come and go. The pro rata rights that funds hold in their best companies become most valuable at exactly these moments, when a strategic investor steps back and ownership in a breakout company becomes available to whoever can fund it.

Smaller funds should line up committed follow-on capacity before their winners come back to market, so a corporate partner’s exit becomes a chance to buy more of a company they already know well. Founders should run the same exercise from the other side of the table and know today which investors on their cap table can carry the next round.

Corporate venture will keep growing because the forces behind it keep growing, and programs will open and close along the way, as they always have. What’s changed is the sorting: permanent capital consolidating at the top of the market, and everyone else learning to plan around that fact. The funds and founders who prepare for it will come out the other side owning more of the companies that matter.

is the founder and managing partner of , a growth-equity firm that co-invests in venture-backed companies by leveraging the unused pro-rata rights of more than 1,000 early-stage VC partners.

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Our inboxes overflowed with interesting deals in the past month, but we managed to sift through them all to find the five most intriguing ones.

They include a startup that鈥檚 simultaneously developing AI models for biology and trying to prevent the threats that stem from those types of advances, a company that says it wants to prevent modern day private markets from the kind of paperwork crisis that shut down Wall Street in the ’60s, and AI agents that can dispatch plumbers and electricians to your door.

$50M for ‘general biological intelligence’

AI has conquered text, images and code. Now one startup wants to do the same for DNA.

San Francisco-based last month emerged from stealth with a hefty $50 million seed round led by , with participation from , , and . The startup said it also received pre-seed backing from co-founder .

Radical Numerics was founded by the team behind , one of the first AI models capable of reading and generating DNA sequences at scale. The startup鈥檚 mission is even more ambitious: building what it calls 鈥済eneral biological intelligence,鈥� or multimodal AI models that can reason across DNA, RNA, proteins and other biological data to accelerate drug discovery, cancer diagnostics and biosecurity.

Alongside the funding, the company previewed Omnii, its next-generation genome language model.

The company’s dual focus on human health and biodefense reflects a growing theme in frontier AI investing. 小蓝视频色情网页版 data shows that as models become increasingly capable of designing biological systems, investors have poured tens of millions of dollars into startups that promise not only to accelerate scientific discovery, but also help detect and defend against AI-generated biological threats.

鈥淓vo showed that AI can generate DNA and whole genomes, the next generation of models will go further with the ability to control function, and eventually, create entirely new forms of life,鈥� Radical Numerics CEO said in a statement. 鈥淥ur multimodal models are already far more capable, and we understand the responsibility that comes with that. The same models that can help cure disease may also lower the barrier to designing harmful biology. These forces are inseparable. Biology will be the most consequential application of AI.鈥�

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$40M for AI that dispatches the plumber

The AI gold rush has reached an unlikely destination: your local plumber and HVAC company. New York-based said last month that it has raised $40 million in new funding: a $34 million Series A led by and a $6 million seed round led by , with Sequoia also participating in the Series A.

The startup is building what it calls an AI operating system for home service businesses, from plumbers and electricians to HVAC contractors. Rather than adding yet another AI chatbot or voice agent, Probook says it aims to replace the patchwork of software many contractors use with a single platform centered on dispatch, arguably the most critical function in the business.

Its software ties together customer intake, scheduling, messaging and outbound communications so technicians spend less time waiting for jobs and office staff spend less time coordinating them.

“I started Probook to solve a problem in my own business,” Probook CEO and co-founder said in a statement. “I grew up pressure washing in upstate New York with my dad. Six summers in the truck. I spent two to three hours of my day driving between jobs. I’d be up on a ladder washing a house and miss calls because I couldn’t hear my phone ringing.”

The company is tapping into a growing trend of vertical AI startups targeting industries that have historically lagged in software adoption, and they鈥檙e seeing keen enthusiasm from investors betting that trades such as plumbing, electrical and HVAC represent a massive opportunity to automate workflows and potentially boost profit margins for businesses that still run much of their operations by phone, clipboard and spreadsheet.

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$25M for subterranean warfare

Defense investors have poured billions into startups developing drones and missiles for the sky, tanks and other vehicles for land warfare, and autonomous military vessels for the water.

But a newly funded startup, , is betting the next battlefield is below the ground. The Austin-based startup emerged from stealth last month with a $25 million seed round led by , with participation from a long list of other investors including , , , and , and strategic angels including and founders from and .

Traysar calls itself the world’s first “subterra” defense tech company. Rather than building systems for the skies or seas, it’s developing autonomous platforms that can tunnel underground, map subterranean networks, breach hardened infrastructure and deliver payloads beneath the Earth’s surface. It鈥檚 there that it says modern warfare is increasingly being conducted in places like Iran, with its underground nuclear bunkers; Gaza, which has a vast Hamas-built subterranean tunnel network; and Ukraine, which has moved more of its military infrastructure beneath the surface to protect it from aerial drone threats.

The startup, whose founding team includes former engineers from and , is developing two autonomous underground systems. The first is an excavator-type robot designed to navigate, map and breach tunnels from within, giving military operators a way to explore or disable underground networks without sending in troops.

The second is a high-speed burrowing platform that drills new underground access points and can carry payloads 鈥� from explosives to sensing equipment 鈥� beneath the surface, bringing tunnel-boring technology to the battlefield.

Through the first half of 2026, defense-tech startups globally raised nearly $15.8 billion, by far the largest funding half-year for the sector on record, per 小蓝视频色情网页版 data. Of course, the vast majority of that has gone toward above-ground or marine technologies.

鈥淭he global defense industry has a vertical bias: hundreds of billions flow skyward into missiles, missile defense, drones, and counter-drone systems, while adversaries dig in building deeply buried facilities the U.S. cannot reliably strike, and cannot affordably keep disabled,鈥� Traysar in its funding announcement.

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$23.7M for AI growth tools for small businesses

Most AI startups chase large enterprise customers. is betting the neighborhood coffee shop and corner restaurant are the bigger opportunity.

The New York-based startup last month emerged from stealth with $23.7 million in funding, including a $19.5 million Series A led by . , ‘s , , , , and also participated.

Pie says it鈥檚 creating an AI-powered growth platform that helps local merchants get discovered聽 across AI search platforms like ChatGPT and Claude where customers increasingly begin their searches, as well as more traditional marketing channels like Maps, and .

The company also unveiled Front Desk, an AI agent that it says can answer calls around the clock, book appointments and handle customer inquiries when business owners can’t get to the phone.

Founded by former and executives, Pie says it has already reached thousands of businesses through partnerships with industry software providers while operating in stealth.

鈥淧ie is bringing AI to Main Street by starting with one of the biggest pain points for small business owners: finding new customers,鈥� , partner at Lightspeed, said in a statement. 鈥淐ustomer acquisition is a powerful entry point, but the broader vision is to build an AI platform that can support small businesses across more of their daily operations over time.鈥�

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$2M to tackle the private market paperwork crisis

Wall Street once got so buried in paperwork that the shut down every Wednesday . Six decades later, Berlin-based thinks private markets are headed toward a similar reckoning and just raised $2 million to stop it.

The company鈥檚 pre-seed round was led by , with participation from and individuals from firms including and .

Founded by two early employees of fund administration startup , Nomerra is building AI agents for the operational work that keeps private capital markets running behind the scenes.

While public markets rely on standardized infrastructure, private markets still depend heavily on emails, PDFs, spreadsheets and disconnected software, the company said. Its software plugs into existing ERP systems, banking platforms and document repositories, then uses AI agents to read documents, reconcile information across systems and complete workflows such as fund accounting, treasury operations and transfer agency work.

At the same time, private markets are expected to swell from roughly $13 trillion today to more than $30 trillion over the coming years, according to Nomerra, even as the industry faces a shortage of qualified accounting and operations professionals.

Rather than replacing existing software, the company says it aims to automate the manual tasks that have traditionally required growing back-office teams.

鈥淭hink of how telephone operators used to connect one caller to another by plugging cables into a switchboard,鈥� , Nomerra co-founder and CEO, said in a statement. 鈥淭oday, the idea that humans once routed every phone call manually seems absurd. Private market operations are at the same turning point. In a few years, people will look back and wonder how any of this was ever done by hand.鈥�

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Operating as an 鈥渁ll-in-one鈥� software ecosystem, Scotch provides liquor retailers with point-of-sale hardware, custom software, payment processing and a back-office suite to manage state-by-state regulatory complexities. Customers range from boutique single-register shops to enterprise stores running over a dozen lanes.

led Scotch鈥檚 Series A raise, which included participation from , and . The injection of capital comes on the heels of a growth spurt, with the Denver-based startup reporting greater than 500% year-over-year growth and surpassing $1 billion in processed payment volume.

While the company declined to reveal its valuation, co-founder and CEO said the funding marks 鈥渁 significant step-up鈥� from its $10 million seed round, raised in September 2024 and led by First Round Capital.

Old-school market

Formally incorporated in January 2024, Scotch was born out of a unique industry challenge encountered by Bolling and CRO during their previous venture, . A convenience-store software company that supported 15,000 stores across the U.S., Skupos attracted attention from major consumer packaged goods giants such as , and Budweiser owner .

鈥淏udweiser, in some way, shape, or form, tried to get us not only to continue to grow our C-store business, but to also expand into the liquor store industry,” Bolling told 小蓝视频色情网页版 News in an interview.

Market research conducted in 2022 revealed a striking contrast between the two sectors. While the $650 billion convenience store market is highly fragmented, its point-of-sale technology is heavily consolidated around four major players.

Conversely, the liquor-store industry proved to be an entirely different beast: highly fragmented, intensely regulated and flooded with more than 200 regional, legacy POS systems.

Recognizing that the Skupos business model didn’t align with that level of fragmentation, the founders held off. Following the acquisition of Skupos by in August 2023, the team revisited the concept.

Drawing inspiration from the business model of restaurant tech giant 鈥� with whom the founders frequently shared strategy notes in the mid-2010s 鈥� they recognized the potential to replicate that success in a highly specialized, nuanced retail market.

, former chief architect of (acquired by for more than $1 billion), serves as Scotch鈥檚 CTO.

鈥楤usiness in a box鈥� strategy

The platform鈥檚 business model scales directly with the merchant, driving revenue through a hybrid mix of SaaS fees, charged on a per-device, per-month basis; fintech monetization, or collecting standard interchange fees on its payment volume and hardware sales, providing the modern storefront terminals necessary to run the infrastructure.

While general retail giants like Lightspeed and exist, Scotch markets itself as the only player capable of handling the severe operational and compliance hurdles distinct to alcohol retail.

Customers include The Liquor Store of Jackson Hole, Big Bear Wine & Liquor, Corkdorks and Everest Spirits Superstore.

Eradicating the 鈥榯oil鈥� via AI

With inventory sizes ranging from 2,000 to 12,000 distinct products per store, manual inventory and vendor management can lead to miscalculated ordering and tied-up working capital, noted Bolling.

Scotch says it differentiates itself by building artificial intelligence directly into these back-office workflows. The platform uses AI to eliminate administrative friction, with the company claiming its offering can save business owners over a full day of work per week. It also saves them money by giving them, for example, a more accurate picture of their inventory, according to Bolling.

鈥淲e’ve really focused our AI workflows on the ‘toily’ aspects of running one of these businesses,鈥� Bolling said. “Some of our customers are sommeliers who opened a store because they are passionate about serving their community with the right wine curation. That鈥檚 their creative outlet. We try to take up the parts of the day that suck for these business owners.鈥�

By optimizing supply chains and automating store management, Bolling believes that Scotch鈥檚 AI native architecture is driving 鈥渕easurable鈥� gross margin expansion for its merchants.

Grassroots growth and word of mouth

Because it is targeting an industry historically dominated by 鈥渙ld-school,鈥� family-owned, mom-and-pop operations, Scotch has employed an unconventional go-to-market approach. The company relies on a dual strategy of targeted geographic inside and outside sales reps as well as localized trade association partnerships. The reasoning behind that approach, according to Bolling, is because liquor store owners rarely search for new POS hardware on a whim.

However, the startup’s fastest growth vector over the last six months has been organic word of mouth. Because many state laws cap the number of liquor licenses an individual can own, competitive hostility is low, creating tight-knit networks of friendly competitors.

“They go to the same industry events, they talk to each other, they are in study groups together,” Bolling noted. “When one of them adopts a system like Scotch, they refer a lot of other customers our way.”

Scotch currently has about 45 employees working out of its Denver headquarters. It plans to use its new capital in part to scale its engineering and sales operations across the United States in addition to accelerating product development.

Going after 鈥榯he hard part of the market first鈥�

, general partner at VMG Partners, believes that Scotch is modernizing 鈥渙ne of the last major categories of retail.鈥�

鈥淭he beverage alcohol market is nearly $250 billion and, despite that, is still operating on systems built in the 1970s with on-prem servers,鈥� he wrote via email. 鈥淚t isn鈥檛 an exaggeration to say Scotch is the only player that has solved enterprise-level complexity.鈥�

Most industry startups never moved beyond basic solutions for small businesses, believes Stenmark.

鈥淪cotch went after the hard part of the market first, solving for some of the largest and most complex retailers in the country,鈥� he wrote via email. 鈥淭his approach allowed them to harden their product early, and has translated to them having the only product that can actually solve every business operations and payments problem a retailer might have, whether they be a national brand or a beloved regional storefront.鈥�

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This is a weekly feature that runs down the week鈥檚 top 10 announced funding rounds in the U.S. Check out last week鈥檚 biggest funding deal roundup here.

Physical tech is back, at least judging by this week鈥檚 largest U.S. funding deals. The biggest of all was a $1.5 billion corporate round for a medical device company that develops implants and treatment systems for musculoskeletal disorders. It was followed by an enormous Series A round, backed by a bevy of big-name investors, for , a 1-year-old artificial intelligence startup that says it’s developing personalized AI devices. Along with the usual heavy dose of AI, this week鈥檚 list also includes large deals for aerospace and defense, fintech, and retail technology. Let鈥檚 dive in.

1. $1.5B, healthcare: MiRus raised a massive $1.5 billion corporate round led by as strategic investors continue betting on next-generation orthopedic and spinal technologies. The Marietta, Georgia-based company has now raised $1.6 billion to date, . The deal comes with a 34% equity stake for Boston Scientific.

2. , $700M, artificial intelligence: AI startup Hark landed a huge $700 million Series A led by, with participation from a of investors including chip giants , , and , as well as ,, , 1听补苍诲 . The San Jose, California-based company it鈥檚 building 鈥渁dvanced personalized intelligence and next-generation hardware鈥� and plans to release some kind of product later this summer.

3. , $355M, AI infrastructure and developer tools: New York-based Modal Labs raised $355 million in a Series C round led by and , with participation from and . The company provides serverless cloud computing tools and GPU access for running AI models and testing AI-generated code. Its latest round is at a $4.65 billion valuation. CEO 鈥媡old Reuters that Modal鈥檚 ARR has soared to $300 million, up from about $60 million in September, as enterprise AI coding becomes widespread.

4. (tied) , $300M, artificial intelligence: Frontier lab Decart raised $300 million in a round led by that reportedly values it at nearly $4 billion. The deal also received backing from including venture firms and, AI researcher and corporate investors Nvidia, and . The startup, based in San Francisco and Tel Aviv, develops generative AI models and infrastructure, and has now raised roughly $456 million to date as investors continue pouring capital into foundational AI technologies.

4. (tied) , $300M, aerospace and defense: El Segundo, California-based Amca raised $300 million in a Series B led by, alongside investors including and. The company focuses on aerospace manufacturing and supply-chain technologies, an area drawing increased venture interest amid renewed defense-tech spending. Amca has raised $376.5 million overall, . Its latest round reportedly comes at a $1 billion-plus valuation.

6. , $250M, search and generative AI: AI search startup Exa secured $250 million at a $2.2 billion valuation in a Series C round led by Andreessen Horowitz. Based in San Francisco, the company develops AI-native search infrastructure designed for agents and large language model applications. The latest raise brings Exa鈥檚 total funding to $357 million and comes as competition intensifies around AI retrieval and search tools.

7. , $230M, edge computing and AI infrastructure: Armada raised $230 million in fresh funding at a $2.2 billion valuation. The Series B deal was led by , and, with participation from other investors including and . The San Francisco-based company develops edge computing and AI infrastructure systems designed for remote and industrial environments. The round brings its total funding to $469 million, .

8. , $200M, fintech: Mercury raised $200 million at a $5.2 billion valuation in a Series D round led by . Returning backers Andreessen Horowitz, , , , and also participated. The San Francisco-based company provides banking and financial workflow software for companies and has now raised about $657 million to date. Its latest round comes amid a broader uptick in fintech funding, including strong investor interest in digital banking platforms serving startups and businesses.

9. , $170M, retail technology: New York-based Radar secured $170 million in funding at a $1 billion valuation. The Series B round was led by and, with participating. The company develops AI technology for brick-and-mortar stores that uses overhead RFID sensors, software and analytics to give retailers real-time inventory visibility with item-level tracking accuracy. The company said its platform is deployed in more than 1,400 stores for customers including and . It has raised nearly $310 million to date, .

10. , $150M, wealth management: Farther raised a $150 million Series D led by as investors continue backing platforms modernizing financial advisory services. The San Francisco-based company provides technology-enabled wealth management tools and has raised approximately $268 million to date. Farther didn鈥檛 reveal its valuation with the latest raise, only that it is 鈥渘ow a unicorn.鈥�

Methodology

We tracked the largest announced rounds in the 小蓝视频色情网页版 database that were raised by U.S.-based companies for the period of May 18-22. Although most announced rounds are represented in the database, there could be a small time lag as some rounds are reported late in the week.

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What is intriguing, however, is that while AI-enabled toys are gaining traction, we are simultaneously seeing renewed interest in older technologies, including analog toys and screen-free gadgets. There is also a movement toward toys that are more than mere playthings, but also models of cultural learning and identity.

While 小蓝视频色情网页版 data shows the toy industry overall doesn’t receive much in the way of venture dollars, there are some companies in the space getting investor cash, many with an AI angle. So as we head into the holiday season, we thought it would be fun to see what funded startups in the toy space are selling this year, and some of the trends catching investor attention. (I鈥檓 of the age where I mostly got Barbies and Play-Doh, so all of these cool new toys are extra fascinating to me.)

AI-enabled

It鈥檚 no surprise that artificial intelligence has made its way into the toy industry, as it is infiltrating seemingly every industry in one way or another. While there鈥檚 still plenty of debate about the potential risks and drawbacks of AI technologies aimed at children, the AI toys market is projected to nearly triple to $6.4 billion by 2032, up from $2.2 billion in 2024, according to a recent from .

One of the funded startups marketing an AI-enabled toy for youngsters this holiday season is . In early October, the company unveiled its AI-powered conversational companion in the form of a stuffed dinosaur. According to , the new toy is designed 鈥渢o help children learn, imagine, and grow through safe, interactive play.鈥� The startup has raised $5.3 million in a seed funding round led by with participation from , and

Bondu is not cheap. The toy costs $199.99, but hey, at least it comes in four different colors. Ironically, even though the toy is powered by AI, the company is

Some of the things Bondu can do, according to its manufacturer: help kids learn by having 鈥渃onversations鈥� in which it answers questions and teaches facts and can reply back to a child in 32 languages. Parents can even use the toy to set reminders in an effort to motivate their kids to do boring tasks such as brushing their teeth.

Another startup funded this year that offers a screenless, conversational, AI-powered toy is , a San Jose, California-based maker of a companion robot for young children. The company, which has raised $4.3 million to date, likewise touts a companion that it says can help young children with language development (English, Spanish, French and Mandarin), and math and science skills.

The funded companies are examples of growing investor interest in embedding conversational AI into physical toys.

More recently, another AI-enabled startup, New York-based , managed to raise $7 million in seed funding in just two months after co-founder 鈥檚 4-year-old son asked: 鈥淐an we make our own coloring sheets?鈥�

That question prompted Whitney, an alumnus of , to join co-founder and CEO (formerly of ) to start Stickerbox, a toy company that claims it has developed the first-ever voice-powered AI creativity tool for kids.

Investors such as , , and tennis legend 鈥� wrote checks into the startup to help it grow.

The Stickerbox is pretty much like what it sounds like: A cube that prints stickers. Children deliver prompts for images with their voices. Importantly, the company says, the box doesn鈥檛 collect voice data and doesn鈥檛 have a camera.

Like many other popular techie toys these days, including the and Toniebox audio players, Stickerbox also emphasizes that while it鈥檚 tech-enabled, it鈥檚 screen free, meaning it doesn鈥檛 come with many of the

What鈥檚 old is new again

The move away from screens is another trend that鈥檚 attracting investor interest.

Case in point: In September, , which has created a landline-style WiFi telephone for children, raised $3.5 million in funding. For those of us who remember the days of phones with actual cords, there is something nostalgic about the idea behind . Essentially, the Seattle-based startup is tapping into a trend where parents want simpler, more 鈥渁nalog鈥� devices for kids so they can slowly back away from the screens and participate in more direct communication.

, , and all felt compelled to fund the company.

, managing director at Seattle-based PSL, told that he believes Tin Can is 鈥渙ne of the fastest growing and most viral businesses鈥� he鈥檚 seen in over 25 years of investing.

Personally, I love the idea of these colorful phones that are shaped like, you guessed it, oversized tin cans. Kids can actually talk to each other without a screen or via text. One might argue that kids can talk to each other with cellular phones. But to that, I argue back, cellphones still have screens.

I鈥檓 rooting for this one.

Other trends: Subscriptions and cultural ties

Two other trends we鈥檝e spotted in our perusal of funded companies in the toy space: Those that tap into cultural heritage, and subscription offerings aimed at reducing clutter.

In October, , a toy brand offering handcrafted, eco-friendly toys inspired by Indian culture and heritage, raised an undisclosed amount of funding from . The nod to promoting culture is one to be applauded.

And last but not least: We all know how easily kids can get bored with toys. They鈥檒l play with one toy for two months straight, only to discard it with not so much as a glance at it again.

A startup called has the solution for frustrated parents who are tired of seeing discarded toys strewn all over the house, cluttering up rooms and taking up space 鈥� not to mention the money wasted on toys that are only played with for a short time before their child loses interest and moves on.

Started by mother of three , 鈥嬧�婳rbit Crates is a subscription toy-rental company designed for children aged newborn to 6. The startup, according to y, 鈥渉as almost 500 toys in stock, from classic wooden toys to Bluey and princesses.鈥� The startup participated in the in October, winning the $5,000 Mark and Jamie Summer Innovation Award.

In India, a similar toy rental startup called last month raised $1 million in pre-seed funding, per 小蓝视频色情网页版.

So if you鈥檙e struggling with shopping for kids this holiday season 鈥� whether they be your own or someone else鈥檚 鈥� hopefully this will give you some creative and fun ideas.

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While there鈥檚 no single explanation for the decline, it doesn鈥檛 help that this has been a tough area for returns. It鈥檚 a widespread trend, as we鈥檝e chronicled, affecting areas including fashion, consumer electronics and the once-burgeoning direct-to-consumer space.

All this is to say that, if one were perusing recently funded startups to find gift ideas, the options aren鈥檛 as broad as they used to be. No more $700 juicers or this holiday season.

That said, there are still intriguing options in the mix, particularly around wellness, customization and apparel. To illustrate, we used 小蓝视频色情网页版 to assemble a list of 24 companies funded this year with products on the market, ranging from libido-lifting kits to 3-D printers. We also dig into some of the more transparent trends.

Wellness is one of the top trends

Wellness was the standout focus area this year for consumer gadgets and products startups.

This includes the most heavily funded and best-known name on the list 鈥� , maker of smart rings that track over 20 biometrics to deliver wearers personalized and timely health metrics. The starting price is around $500.

We could all use a better night鈥檚 sleep, and startups are tackling this area as well. The top fundraiser here is , which picked up a $100 million Series D in August. It sells connected bed gear that can adjust to provide optimal temperature and support.

Getting older also brings its share of wellness needs, and startups are on this too. This includes San Francisco-based , which sells anti-aging skincare products and raised a $20 million round this summer. And for menopausal or post-menopausal women, there鈥檚 a Black Friday sale at , which sells 鈥渕enopause survival,鈥� libido-lifting and healthy aging kits, along with skincare and sexual wellness products.

Customization

Personalized gifts are also a popular offering, with several recently funded startups focused on customized products.

For artistic types, offers an AI-enabled platform for designing jewelry and home decor goods. The startup then works with a team of 鈥渧erified makers鈥� to turn the design into a finished product.

On the manicure front, is mixing up custom nail polish based on customer-submitted photos. The Tennessee startup snagged a $6 million Series A in May.

For those seeking a pricey item to pre-order, meanwhile, crowdsource-backed wants to let you make your own custom creations with its personal, . One can currently pre-order a printer for $2,300.

Fashion鈥檚 still in style (somewhat)

We鈥檙e also still seeing some fashion startups raising good-sized rounds, although it鈥檚 admittedly not the most action-packed sector.

The biggest startup fundraiser in this niche for 2025 was Kim Kardashian鈥檚 . The shapewear and clothing brand closed on $225 million in a Series D this month.

, a subscription offering for luxury accessories, was another investor favorite, picking up a $62 million round this summer. It鈥檚 also running a Black Friday sale for those targeting fans of designer handbags.

Fun vs. fundable

Overall, there鈥檚 a lot of stuff to buy, even if VCs haven鈥檛 been heavy patrons of the consumer space.

This is pretty typical. As startup categories go, consumer products has always been one of the more fun ones to research. Offerings tend to be clever, quirky and nice-to-have, if not essential.

But while the category may be a startup reporter favorite, it鈥檚 not always venture investors鈥� top pick. This was apparent for 2025, as VCs poured record sums into AI deals and mostly ignored market-ready consumer products and gadget startups.

Still, I wouldn鈥檛 count this sector out. For one, while we didn鈥檛 see many market-ready consumer products unicorns, investors did put considerable cash into a number of robotics startups working on consumer products.

Bots for housework look particularly compelling. Two-year-old has raised $300 million to date to develop a robot for doing housework. And , a -backed startup building a household robot capable of doing everyday chores, introduced its first bot, , last week. Several others in the heavily funded space are working on both consumer and more specialized workplace bot offerings.

Perhaps these will be the hot holiday item in a couple years. If they work as well as early buzz hints, they might even be able to wrap themselves.

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• VCs No Longer Do DTC
• IPO Returns Show Fashion Startups Were Not Runway Ready
• Consumer Electronics Is A Bust That Never Boomed

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The broad trend: While investors are still backing some big rounds, overall funding to e-commerce startup categories has declined in 2025. Even so, we are seeing some bright spots, including quick delivery, livestream shopping and AI-enabled e-commerce.

The numbers: So far in this year, investors put around $7.3 billion into global e-commerce-related startup funding rounds. That puts 2025 on track to deliver the sector鈥檚 lowest investment tally in years.

Funding remains stuck at a fraction of its peak four years ago, and deal counts are also way down. To illustrate, we charted investment for the past six calendar years below.

U.S. e-commerce funding, by contrast, looks on track to be relatively flat year over year. Even so, investment is down more than 80% from the peak.

Noteworthy recent rounds: Food and grocery delivery continue to be major themes for e-commerce funding.

In the U.S., the largest financing along these lines went to New York-based , a food takeout and delivery startup that raised $600 million in May at a reported $7 billion valuation. A sort of modernized version of the food court, Wonder lets customers order a selection of different cuisines from a single location.

Indian e-commerce unicorn , which offers quick deliveries of groceries and household supplies, also did well, last month at a $7 billion valuation.

Live shopping platform was also a venture favorite, securing $225 million in an October Series F. The San Francisco-based company said it has surpassed $6 billion in live sales this year.

Below, we look at nine of the leading e-commerce fundraisers of 2025.

The broad takeaway: A mature space, but newcomers can still find niche markets.

Early adopters have been buying stuff online for roughly three decades now, and early entrant is now a $2.6 trillion company. Suffice it to say, e-commerce is a fairly mature space, leaving limited new addressable markets for startups.

That said, we haven鈥檛 reached the zenith of on-demand commerce, and, as Whatnot鈥檚 rise exemplifies, buyers are always looking for a compelling new shopping experience. As AI technology advances, we鈥檙e also likely to see more startups finding innovative ways to apply it to e-commerce.

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• Whatnot Lands $225M Series F, More Than Doubles Valuation to $11.5B Since January

To help answer that question, we used 颁谤耻苍肠丑产补蝉别鈥檚 to curate a list of 14 venture-backed companies in sectors ranging from AI to fintech to consumer goods that could be on tap as IPO candidates in the foreseeable future. Some of them are known IPO hopefuls; others, more under-the-radar picks that nonetheless have strong credentials for a public-market launch. Let鈥檚 take a closer look.

Fintech

There is perhaps no IPO more anticipated than that of payments giant Stripe. And, unsurprisingly, the fintech is 鈥渧ery likely鈥� to go public, according to 小蓝视频色情网页版 predictions.

However, Stripe seems to be doing so well as a private company that some people speculate it has no reason to take to the public markets. Stripe, which has dual headquarters in San Francisco and Ireland, is not only the most-valuable fintech in the world, it鈥檚 one of the most-valuable private companies, period. But instead of going public, it鈥檚 thus far been offering early investors and employees liquidity through secondary sales. In February, for example, Stripe announced in which investors would buy up shares from current and former employees at a valuation of $91.5 billion. Stripe passed the $1.4 trillion total payment volume threshold in 2024. Says : 鈥淭here are no perfectly reliable sources for Stripe鈥檚 revenue, but some sources estimate they surpassed $16B in 2023.鈥�

Since its 2010 inception, Stripe has from investors such as ,,, and . Whether it finally decides to take the plunge into the public markets remains to be seen, but if it does, there is no doubt its filing will be devoured by media and fintech enthusiasts alike.

Airwallex, a Singapore-based global payments and financial platform, is also 鈥渧ery likely鈥� to go public, per 小蓝视频色情网页版 predictions. CEO has stated that the plan is to have Airwallex make its public market debut by the end of 2026, although the company is reportedly 鈥溾�� to list. Interestingly, Airwallex rejected a $1.2 billion acquisition offer from Stripe in 2018. And that probably wasn鈥檛 a bad move. Founded in 2015 in Melbourne, Australia, the Stripe competitor has raised more than $1.2 billion in funding and was valued at over $6.2 billion as of its last raise 鈥� a in May 2025 that included $150 million in secondary share transfers. Investors include ,,, and 1, among others.

In August 2024, that Airwallex had reached an annual revenue run rate of $500 million after seeing major growth in its North American and European businesses. In announcing its Series F, the company that it was 鈥渙n track to hit $1 billion in annualized revenue in 2025, as businesses of all sizes look to expand globally without friction.鈥� That follows its achievement of $720 million in annualized revenue in March, up 90% year over year, according to the company. It touts more than 150,000 customers globally, including , , , , , , and .

鈥� Mary Ann Azevedo

Enterprise tech and AI

We know that AI chip company Cerebras, founded in 2016 by , has been gearing up to go public. The Sunnyvale, California-based company filed with the to go public at the end of 2024. It then delayed its offering due to regulatory scrutiny over its ties to UAE-based , which has since been cleared by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States. The company is considered a 鈥減robable鈥� IPO candidate by 小蓝视频色情网页版. In its filing, Cerebras noted its dependence on a single customer, Group 42, a subsidiary of its investor G42, responsible for more than 80% of revenue in 2023 and the first half of 2024. Cerebras has built a larger chip that is 10x faster for AI training and inference compared to leading GPU solutions, according to the . Its customers include , and the . Cerebras is reported to be raising which could delay its plans to go public. Still, the market conditions are good for an AI chip company. has topped $4 trillion in value and , which went public in March 2024 at $36 per share, has doubled its price from mid-July to mid-August to over $180.

Databricks, at the center of AI and data, is a strong candidate to go public in the next year. The San Francisco-based company is one of the 10 most-valuable private companies in the world, with a in revenue run rate as of Jan. 31, and on track to deliver positive free cash flow. In December, Databricks raised a $10 billion funding, the largest round in 2024, which valued it at $62 billion. The 12-year-old company has also been on a buying spree, notably purchasing AI infrastructure builder in 2023, data management service in 2024, and sql database solution developer in 2025, each at $1 billion or more. 小蓝视频色情网页版 indicates it鈥檚 a 鈥減robable鈥� IPO candidate.

鈥� Gen茅 Teare

Clay sits at the red-hot intersection of AI and marketing and is a 鈥減robable鈥� IPO candidate, per 小蓝视频色情网页版 predictions. Its growth metrics and scale seem to support that outlook, with the company 鈥� triple its 2024 figure. It has likewise tripled its valuation in just over a year from $500 million to $3.1 billion in a $100 million Series C raise last month. The New York-based startup, founded in 2017, is reportedly nearing profitability. It鈥檚 backed by IPO-savvy investors including , and , further bolstering its public-market credentials. The company claims to have invented the 鈥�,鈥� which CEO and co-founder has described as 鈥渢he first true AI-native profession.鈥�

鈥� Marlize van Romburgh

Cybersecurity

Crypto wallet startup Ledger is 鈥渧ery likely鈥� to IPO, according to 小蓝视频色情网页版 predictions. That makes sense, as the French startup, founded in 2014, is well-positioned at the intersection of two currently hot industries: cybersecurity and blockchain. Paris-based Ledger offers a hardware wallet to secure crypto private keys. It has raised some $577 million from venture investors including and , per . CEO in June that Ledger is actively thinking about a U.S. stock market debut, likely within the next three years. It also has plans to expand beyond crypto security into cybersecurity more broadly. While he didn鈥檛 disclose revenue figures, Gauthier said Ledger has sold 8 million of its devices to date and estimated that 20% of the world鈥檚 crypto assets are protected via the company鈥檚 wallets. 鈥淥ur size is compatible with an IPO,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 a short-medium term vision.鈥�

It鈥檚 鈥減robable鈥� that security startup 1Password will go public, according to 颁谤耻苍肠丑产补蝉别鈥檚 prediction model. That makes sense, given the Toronto-based startup鈥檚 disclosed financials. The company was founded in 2005 and bootstrapped for its first 14 years before receiving its first outside investment from in 2019. It’s gone on to raise $920.1 million total from venture investors, per . Its most recent raise was in 2022, when it landed a $6.2 billion valuation in a $620 million -led round. While 1Password hasn’t raised since then, it likely hasn’t needed to: Co-CEO in February that the company has been profitable since the get-go and now has more than 150,000 customers, with 75% of its business selling to enterprises. While the company hasn’t made any formal moves toward an IPO, Faugno told CRN that 鈥渨e do believe that this platform and this company can be a very large, standalone business. And we do believe that public markets are a likely stop on that journey, and an accelerator of that journey.鈥�

Tanium, founded in 2007, is a frequent guest on IPO predictions lists, our own included. That’s likely because the endpoint management startup has raised a whopping $1 billion from private-market investors including ,, , and . It has also disclosed big revenue numbers to boot, that ARR topped $700 million in 2024 and that it had free cash flow margins north of 10%, making it profitable on an EBITDA basis. The company’s most recent funding-round valuation is $9 billion, though that dates to 2021. But trading on secondary-market platforms including has reportedly 鈥斅燼round $4 billion 鈥� more recently. Kirkland, Washington-based Tanium hasn’t disclosed going-public plans, and CEO 鈥� brought on last year to take over from co-founder 鈥� told Forbes 鈥渨e feel very comfortable as a private company.鈥� Still, if it were to pursue an IPO, Tanium may see a receptive market following data security platform 鈥檚 successful IPO last year.

鈥� Marlize van Romburgh

Consumer startups

Founded in 2013, hair-color brand Madison Reed has had quite some time to build up a following, and it continues to expand its reach. Launched as an online brand, it also currently sells in brick-and-mortar stores and operates a network of聽 hair color bars. Co-founded and led by , a longtime consumer-focused partner at VC firm , the San Francisco-headquartered company has raised over $220 million in equity funding as well as $50 million in debt financing. 小蓝视频色情网页版 grades it as a 鈥減robable鈥� IPO candidate.

Skims, the shapewear brand co-founded by in 2019, has expanded its way into a host of product lines including sleepwear and activewear in addition to its core shapewear offerings. Funding has followed. The company has raised more than $700 million in seed and venture investment and attracted a host of well-known backers, including and . It also has a knack for staying in the news, boosted of late by a controversial sculpting . Could an IPO be next? 小蓝视频色情网页版 predicts that move is 鈥減robable.鈥�

鈥� Joanna Glasner

It鈥檚 unusual, to say the least, for a D2C clothing retailer to land on an IPO watch list like this one in the year 2025, but Quince is the exception. The San Francisco-based startup is a 鈥減robable鈥� IPO candidate, per 小蓝视频色情网页版, a prediction likely fueled by its reportedly fast revenue growth, back-to-back funding deals, and strong brand appeal among Gen Z and millennials. The company has raised more than $260 million from investors to date, not yet including an in-the-works $200 million -led Series D that would reportedly value the company at more than $4.5 billion 鈥� double its year-earlier valuation. Quince bucks the trend when it comes to fashion startups, which have seen venture investment fall off precipitously since the peak year of 2023.

鈥� Marlize van Romburgh

Health/biotech

Mountain View, California-based Commure, a provider of AI-enabled software for health systems and clinicians, has raised more than $800 million in venture funding to date, including a led by , per 小蓝视频色情网页版 data. The company also that its ARR, in the hundreds of millions, has doubled for three consecutive years. Those sound like the kind of metrics that IPO investors like, and 小蓝视频色情网页版 says a listing is a probable outcome.

Inari is hoping to pioneer technology for seeds that will enable plants to make the most efficient use of land, water and fertilizer. Founded in 2016, the Cambridge, Massachusetts-based company has raised more than $720 million in equity funding to date, a $144 million January financing. In terms of IPO potential, it helps that the company is employing two hot technologies: AI-powered predictive design and . Inari is another probable IPO candidate according to 小蓝视频色情网页版.

鈥� Joanna Glasner

Defense/space tech

Sierra Space is firmly on the IPO radar. The company, named a 鈥渧ery likely鈥� IPO candidate by 小蓝视频色情网页版, (including with ) and has raised $1.7 billion in total venture investment at a $5.3 billion valuation from heavyweights including and . The company has several marquee projects advancing, which include its Dream Chaser spaceplane and Orbital Reef commercial station. It also enjoys the benefit of an increasingly bullish market for space and defense startups, which have raised robust venture investment this year. The sector has already seen a successful 2025 IPO in the form of 鈥檚 August public-market debut 鈥� could Sierra be next?

鈥� Marlize van Romburgh

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Related reading:

• 30 Startups We Think Could Go Public In 2022
• Quince, A Bright Spot In Struggling D2C Fashion Space, More Than Doubles Valuation To $4.5B With Second Raise In 6 Months

Methodology

颁谤耻苍肠丑产补蝉别鈥檚 utilize 小蓝视频色情网页版 data 鈥� including funding and valuation, and milestones such as financial growth, key leadership hires, market share expansion and headcount growth 鈥� to forecast the likelihood of a private company launching an IPO, providing a probability score and its supporting evidence. Read more about 颁谤耻苍肠丑产补蝉别鈥檚 Predictions & Insights and its methodology for IPO predictions .

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AI was yet again an inescapable theme this month as we looked for interesting startups that landed fresh investment. From a company using AI to help Alzheimer鈥檚 patients and their families better manage care, to another promising to streamline clothing production in the U.S. through advanced robotics, startups scooped up cash around a variety of AI-related businesses in August.

Sewing robots stitch up new funding

Atlanta-based 鈥� the company behind the Sewbot autonomous sewing robot 鈥� this month said it has raised $20 million in a Series B1 round.

use machine vision, AI and machine learning to produce apparel that SoftWear claims is cost-competitive with importing garments to the U.S. from low-wage countries.

The company says its robots support local production and allow garments to be made more efficiently, closer to their final destination and with less human labor. Its Sewbots also enable faster manufacturing, it says, meaning clothes are produced more in line with current fashion trends and demand.

鈥淪oftWear Automation is helping address some of the key challenges we face across the industry 鈥� from speed and flexibility to lowering environmental impact. We’re pleased to support their development and explore how this technology can help us move forward,鈥� said , CFO at Danish fashion company , which led the round as a strategic investment through its Invest FWD arm.

Current investors including , and also participated in the round. SoftWear has now raised $45.6 million total, per .

Startups that incorporate artificial intelligence into the fashion industry have seen strong investor interest, 小蓝视频色情网页版 data shows, raising around $100 million globally per year. Funded companies include those working on more efficient garment manufacturing, and others that aim to help consumers more easily shop for clothing online.

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Better advocacy for rare disease patients

A rare disease 鈥� one that affects only a small number of people relative to the general population 鈥� by definition doesn’t necessarily represent a massive addressable market for companies or health providers. But there are thousands of such diseases. Although each affects 200,000 or fewer Americans, altogether to live with one of those conditions.

For those diagnosed with conditions such as sickle cell disease 鈥� which affects around 200,000 Americans and is most prevalent among Black and Hispanic people 鈥� accessing the care and information they need can represent a major challenge.

With that in mind, San Mateo, California-based this month raised a $30 million Series A. The startup aims to use a personalized 鈥淎I advocate鈥� to help folks living with rare diseases better navigate the care and management of those conditions themselves.

The company says its platform combines AI with community and longitudinal data 鈥渢o help patients interpret medical records, track symptoms, learn from peers, manage appointments, and connect to the next best step in their health journey.鈥�

Its newest round was led by 1聽, with participation from and . Citizen Health has raised $44 million since its December 2023 launch, per the company.

The startup aims to launch the first version of its AI Advocate tool to select communities this quarter, along with a new product for patient advocacy groups. It says it will use the new capital to expand its AI engineering and product teams.

鈥淭oday鈥檚 patients aren鈥檛 waiting 鈥� they鈥檙e searching, deciding, and expecting more,鈥� Citizen Health CEO and co-founder , said in a statement. 鈥淭hey deserve the same clarity, personalization, and intelligence in healthcare that they get in every other part of their lives.鈥�

Notably, Citizen Health is a relaunch of , the startup where Vij and co-founder met. Ciitizen had been acquired by genetic testing company in 2021, then sold off before Invitae filed for bankruptcy protection in early 2024.

Delivering better Alzheimer鈥檚 care

Of course, it鈥檚 not just people dealing with rare diseases who might struggle to navigate a complex and costly healthcare system.

An Americans suffer from Alzheimer’s disease, a figure that鈥檚 only slated to grow as the population ages further. At the same time, patients for Alzheimer鈥檚 care appointments.

New York-based startup sees a gap to provide better preventative care for cognitive decline. The company this month raised $10.5 million in a -led Series A round for its platform, which offers AI screening technologies it says can help detect, diagnose and manage dementia from home.

The company says its 鈥減redictive machine learning can quickly identify patients with different cognitive and brain health conditions and pair them with a team of specialists that offers center-of-excellence level care, resulting in 73 percent of patients with improved neurocognitive function over the course of six months, and an improvement against cognitive goals in only three weeks for 92 percent of patients.鈥�

New investors and , as well as investors , and , participated in the round for Isaac Health, which says it has raised $16.3 million to date.

Overall, startups working on both healthcare and AI-related technologies attract strong investor interest, 小蓝视频色情网页版 data shows, raising $5 billion globally last year, the highest total since 2021. Through the first half of 2025, such companies raised around $3.9 billion, a slight uptick compared to H1 2024.

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Slashing vendor costs

鈥淪orry, our AI says your product is too expensive.鈥�

That might just be the conversation many businesses are having soon with their vendors, as companies increasingly turn to AI tools to help them track, manage and even renegotiate expenses and contracts.

Providing those tools is New York-based , which this month raised a $5 million seed round for its AI-powered vendor contract management platform.

The company says its platform is designed to replace the methods many enterprise teams use to manage their vendor spend 鈥� legacy tools such as spreadsheets and outside consultants 鈥� with AI-powered tools that 鈥済rade existing and proposed contracts, flag underperforming terms, and recommend specific, data-backed negotiation strategies tailored to each vendor and deal.鈥�

Every company using its platform has seen at least 12% in annual savings, according to Infinity Loop.

The company鈥檚 seed round was led by and , with participation from , and unnamed angel investors.

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Using AI to sniff out fraud

Handling credit card and banking disputes is an increasingly costly part of doing business for banks and credit card companies.

To help tackle the problem, New York-based this month closed a $25 million Series鈥� A that brings its total funding to $33.6 million, . The round was led by , with participation from , , and others.

Notably, Casap鈥檚 customers are the financial institutions themselves, and its product aims to eliminate what鈥檚 known in the industry as 鈥渇irst-party fraud鈥� 鈥� that is, when a bank or credit card company鈥檚 own customers fraudulently dispute legitimate transactions.

Casap said its AI鈥憄owered platform manages the entire dispute process 鈥� from intake to chargeback filing to customer communication 鈥� which can otherwise take as long as three months.

Its AI agents evaluate evidence, forecast outcomes and automate steps such as issuing credits or responding to merchants. The company says it also has a proprietary fraud鈥憇coring engine that flags sketchy activity before it becomes a problem.

鈥淒isputes are one of the most broken and expensive workflows in financial services. What should be a simple resolution often turns into a slow, manual process 鈥� frustrating consumers, overloading teams, and bleeding revenue along the way,鈥� Casap CEO and co-founder wrote in a announcing the funding.

The company says its Series A is the largest investment for a startup catering to the issuer 鈥� rather than the consumer 鈥� side of the business. With the fresh capital, it plans to grow its engineering, GTM and product teams.

Startups at the intersection of financial services and AI raised about $2 billion in venture funding in each of the past two years, 小蓝视频色情网页版 data shows. Through the first half of 2025, such startups raised about $1.4 billion, up notably compared to the $907 million raised in H1 2024.

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• 鈥嬧��5 Interesting Startup Deals You May Have Missed In July: Universal Flu Vaccine Candidate, AI Legal Matchmaker And Seeing Underground
• 5 Interesting Startup Deals You May Have Missed In June: Drug Discovery Without Animal Trials, Better Nuclear Fuel, And Software For Military Planning
• 5 Interesting Startup Deals You May Have Missed In May: AI Shoplifting Prevention, Smart Irrigation And Helping Startups Shut Down

Illustration:

We thought we might be able to write this column and include some startups not related to AI, but that turned out to be too difficult.

Every under-the-radar funded company that caught our eye in May relied heavily on artificial intelligence, whether that was to help farms reduce water usage, trucking companies deploy fleets more efficiently, or retailers catch would-be shoplifters before the act. Let鈥檚 take a look.

Startup raises VC to help other VC-backed startups shut down

You know we鈥檙e not in the 2021 boom times anymore when a startup that helps other startups shut down raises a decent chunk of funding from venture investors.

That鈥檚 the case with , a platform that helps startups close up shop. The Los Angeles-based startup this month raised a $15 million Series A led by . Existing investors , , , along with new investors and , and undisclosed angel investors also participated.

SimpleClosure launched in late 2023. To date, it says it has helped more than 1,500 startup founders dissolve their companies and move on to their next ventures. Its platform uses AI to help founders automate the requisite regulatory paperwork, legal filings, compliance and investor communications to shut down their businesses.

鈥淭he reality is that 90% of startups don鈥檛 make it, and shutting down remains the unspoken but necessary part of entrepreneurship. We hope companies never need us, but if they do, we鈥檙e here to help them do it the right way,鈥� CEO and founder said in a statement.

SimpleClosure鈥檚 new funding comes as startup funding remains challenging, especially for seed- and early-stage startups. While global venture funding jumped to $113 billion in Q1, a whopping third of that went to a single company, . Graduation rates from seed to Series A have also declined significantly, 小蓝视频色情网页版 data shows, raising the risk of failure for many seed-stage startups.

That more challenging environment 鈥斅爓hich also includes delayed IPOs and an only modest uptick in startup M&A this year 鈥� no doubt helped SimpleClosure raise its latest round, which comes just over a year after its February 2024 seed round.

AI automation for truckers hauls in $40M

If you thought truckers 鈥� like plumbers, nurses, electricians or wildlife biologists 鈥� were among the professions least likely to be affected by AI, you might have to think again. New York-based startup , which makes AI decision-making software for trucking fleets, raised a $40 million Series C financing round led by .

Enterprise fleets and logistics companies including , and reportedly use Optimal Dynamics’ platform for proactive load planning and dynamic dispatching.

The software optimizes trucking routes by considering factors such as driver fatigue, fuel consumption, load capacity and customer demand to streamline deliveries and reduce manual planning effort by more than 80%, according to the company.

Optimal Dynamics was spun out of and co-founded by Princeton professor聽 , who taught operations research and financial engineering at the school for nearly 40 years.

The company, founded in 2017, has now raised $95.8 million, per . Previous investors include , and .

Money flows to smart irrigation

If you鈥檝e been reading this column for a while, you know that startups tackling water-related issues often catch our attention.

This month, it was , an agtech startup that鈥檚 combatting water scarcity with its AI-powered, retrofittable smart irrigation systems. It says the process brings the precision of indoor farming watering systems to outdoor fields, orchards and vineyards.

The Vancouver, British Columbia-based startup raised a $4.7 million seed round led by .

The company, which counts wineries, berry farms, orchards and cannabis producers among its customers, said it saved more than $1 million in labor costs and 100 million liters of water in 2024 across 5,000-plus acres in the U.S. and Canada.

Its patented smart watering devices are fitted to existing irrigation infrastructure 鈥斅爓hich reduces rollout costs 鈥斅燽ringing features such as remote leak detection and row-level watering control to farming operations. Verdi said its technology can reduce labor costs by up to 90% and water usage by 70% while increasing yields by as much as 20%.

Verdi has now raised $9.5 million in total investment, per the company.

Doji tries on $14M for size

Hate going into fitting rooms to try on new outfits, or worse, buying clothes online only to find they don鈥檛 fit at all? There鈥檚 a new app for you.

Fashion tech startup raised $14 million in seed funding this month for its app that lets users try on clothing virtually with their phones. The round was led by with participation from .

The Doji app has users upload selfies and full-body images of themselves to generate a personalized AI avatar that can try on different outfits. Currently, the app is by invitation only, and users can鈥檛 buy clothing in-platform yet, but Doji presumably plans to change that.

鈥淕oing around the web to hundreds of click links to shop is laborious,鈥� Thrive Capital partner . 鈥淒oji has an opportunity to make shopping fun as it puts me at the center of the experience. The app also has a social aspect of making me want to share different looks [with friends and family].鈥�

Doji launched publicly this month and was founded by and , whose combined tech resume includes stints at , , and .

Caught AI-handed

AI to detect would-be criminals? No, this isn鈥檛 鈥淢inority Report.鈥�

Paris-based security startup raised a $43 million Series B for its software that uses AI to 鈥渄etect suspicious movements in real time so retailers can prevent theft.鈥� The company plans to use the new funding for a major U.S. expansion push.

led the recent round with participation from and . Existing investors, and also participated. The company said that in addition to its equity funding, it also secured $17 million in non-dilutive financing.

Veesion said the U.S. currently accounts for about 10% of its revenue. Existing customers include , and .

The new funding will help it to invest in R&D, establish a subsidiary in the U.S., hire local commercial and technical talent, and build partnerships with U.S. retail chains. Veesion co-founder is moving to the U.S. to lead the expansion. The startup says it plans to hire about 100 new employees in the next 18 months, with about half of them based in the U.S.

According to statistics from the cited by the company, U.S. retailers suffered $50 billion in shoplifting losses last year.

鈥淣early half of global shoplifting losses now happen in the U.S. Our AI is already delivering results worldwide, and this funding gives us the resources to bring those results to American retailers at scale,鈥� Veesion CEO and co-founder said in a statement. 鈥淲ith rising theft and violence in stores, businesses need smarter tools to protect staff, inventory, and margins.鈥�

Along with shoplifting prevention, Veesion said its technology can also help with other store operations, such as identifying spill risks or assisting with crowd management.

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