robotics Archives - 小蓝视频色情网页版 News /tag/robotics/ Data-driven reporting on private markets, startups, founders, and investors Thu, 09 Apr 2026 18:38:47 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.8.5 /wp-content/uploads/cb_news_favicon-150x150.png robotics Archives - 小蓝视频色情网页版 News /tag/robotics/ 32 32 China Leads Asia鈥檚 Startup Funding To Its Highest Level In More Than 3 Years /venture/china-leads-startup-funding-ai-seed-growth-asia-q1-2026/ Mon, 13 Apr 2026 11:00:30 +0000 /?p=93409 Asia鈥檚 startup funding swung higher in the first quarter of this year, boosted by a rebound in Chinese venture investment.

Overall, investors put $27.4 billion to work across seed- through growth-stage financings for Asian companies in Q1, per 小蓝视频色情网页版 data. That鈥檚 up about 20% from the prior quarter and nearly double year-ago levels.

Total funding also hit its highest level in more than three years, as charted below.

Funding went to bigger rounds, not more of them. Per 小蓝视频色情网页版 data, deal counts were flat with the prior quarter and up incrementally from prior year levels. In general, deal counts haven鈥檛 fluctuated widely from quarter to quarter over the past few years, as seen in the chart below.

Table of contents

Most gains go to China

An estimated $16.5 billion 鈥 or 60% of all Asian startup funding 鈥 went to China-based startups in Q1. It was also the third consecutive quarter for increased Chinese venture funding, which hit a multiyear low in the first half of 2025.

AI funding drove the gains in China. The quarter鈥檚 largest rounds all went to AI-focused companies, including foundational model startup , agentic AI company , and AI-enabled robot developer .

After China, the next-largest venture funding recipient in Asia was India, with $3.8 billion in reported Q1 investment, the highest number in the past four quarters. A big chunk of the funding went to the quarter鈥檚 largest equity round, a $600 million financing for AI systems developer .

Below, we chart out venture funding by country to seven leading investment hubs in Asia, showing how regional funding has trended since 2023.

Funding rose across stages, with most going to later stage

Later-stage, early-stage and seed funding all rose sequentially in the first quarter.

Of these, later-stage and technology-growth deals captured the highest share of funding, estimated at $11.7 billion in Q1. The quarter鈥檚 largest late-stage round by a long shot was a $2 billion Series C for Singapore-based data center company .

Overall, it was the largest later-stage tally in five quarters, as charted below.

Early stage was strong too

Early-stage investment also rose in Q1, hitting its highest point in two years.

Per 小蓝视频色情网页版 data, an estimated $11.2 billion went to Asian companies around Series A and Series B stages. That鈥檚 nearly double year-ago levels and up about 17% from the prior quarter, as charted below.

Seed also showed an upswing

Investors also poured more money into seed-stage companies, with AI as a core driver.

Around $3.6 billion went to reported seed and angel rounds in Q1, up 85% year over year and 45% quarter over quarter. Reported deal counts dipped a bit, indicating concentration of capital among a smaller subset of hot startups. However, we expect this number to rise over time, as seed deals are often added to the dataset weeks after they close.

A record quarter for AI

It would be remiss to close out a quarterly report these days without some mention of how much investment went to artificial intelligence.

For Q1, Asian startups in AI-related categories pulled in about $11.2 billion, per 小蓝视频色情网页版 data, the highest sum we鈥檝e tracked to date.

Looking up

Overall, the quarterly numbers show increasing momentum in China鈥檚 startup ecosystem, fueling much of the rising funding totals in Asia. Investment to startups in India, Singapore and South Korea also rose sequentially in Q1, while funding to Israel declined some.

In sum, it was a solid quarter, peppered with signs of optimism about the regional startup pipeline going forward.

Methodology

The data contained in this report comes directly from 小蓝视频色情网页版, and is based on reported data. Data is as of March 31, 2026.

Note that data lags are most pronounced at the earliest stages of venture activity, with seed funding amounts increasing significantly after the end of a quarter/year.

Please note that all funding values are given in U.S. dollars unless otherwise noted. 小蓝视频色情网页版 converts foreign currencies to U.S. dollars at the prevailing spot rate from the date funding rounds, acquisitions, IPOs and other financial events are reported. Even if those events were added to 小蓝视频色情网页版 long after the event was announced, foreign currency transactions are converted at the historic spot price.

Glossary of funding terms

Seed and angel consists of seed, pre-seed and angel rounds. 小蓝视频色情网页版 also includes venture rounds of unknown series, equity crowdfunding and convertible notes at $3 million (USD or as-converted USD equivalent) or less.

Early-stage consists of Series A and Series B rounds, as well as other round types. 小蓝视频色情网页版 includes venture rounds of unknown series, corporate venture and other rounds above $3 million, and those less than or equal to $15 million.

Late-stage consists of Series C, Series D, Series E and later-lettered venture rounds following the 鈥淪eries [Letter]鈥 naming convention. Also included are venture rounds of unknown series, corporate venture and other rounds above $15 million. Corporate rounds are only included if a company has raised an equity funding at seed through a venture series funding round.

Technology growth is a private-equity round raised by a company that has previously raised a 鈥渧enture鈥 round. (So basically, any round from the previously defined stages.)

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North America Q1 Funding Surges Across Stages To Record Level /venture/funding-surges-all-stages-ai-north-america-q1-2026/ Mon, 06 Apr 2026 11:00:14 +0000 /?p=93393 The first quarter was one for the North American venture capital record books.

U.S. and Canadian companies secured a staggering $252.6 billion in seed- through growth-stage funding rounds per 小蓝视频色情网页版 data. That鈥檚 more than 3x the total raised in the prior quarter, and the largest quarterly total of all time.

Predictably, artificial intelligence was the driver. More than 87% of Q1 investment went to companies in 小蓝视频色情网页版 AI-related categories.

To say these are record funding tallies is somewhat of an understatement. It鈥檚 more like Q1 smashed the prior quarterly record 鈥 $95.7 billion 鈥 set in Q3 2021.

Just a single financing for was bigger than the prior quarterly record for all startup funding rounds put together. And the four next-largest financings totaled almost as much as the prior quarter, which at the time we considered a very strong period for startup funding.

So, in summary, it was a lot of money. For a more detailed picture, we drill down more deeply into how that largesse was distributed across stages and sectors. We also take a look at exits for the quarter, including both IPOs and acquisitions.

Table of contents

AI

We鈥檒l start with AI, since that鈥檚 where the overwhelming majority of the money went.

A staggering $221 billion went to North American companies in 小蓝视频色情网页版 AI-related categories in the first quarter. That鈥檚 about 6x the AI investment total from the prior quarter, which was itself no slacker on this front.

For perspective, we charted out AI-related funding over the past 13 quarters to compare.

A few megarounds for high-profile companies accounted for most of the quarter鈥檚 AI funding, led by OpenAI, , and .

Later stage and technology growth

These same names factor heavily in tallies for late-stage and technology-growth funding, which comprised the vast majority of total startup investment.

Per 小蓝视频色情网页版 data, $222.4 billion 鈥 or 88% of all North America startup investment 鈥 went to rounds at these stages. That鈥檚 more than 5x the prior quarter鈥檚 tally, and more than triple year-ago levels.

The gains were driven by bigger deals, not more of them. Later- and growth-stage round counts were actually down a smidge sequentially in Q1. For perspective, below we chart round counts and investment totals at this stage for the past five quarters.

Enormous rounds for AI companies accounted for a majority of the late- and growth-stage totals. The biggest of these was OpenAI鈥檚 record-setting $110 billion February financing led by , and . The generative AI giant topped it off with a raise in March.

Anthropic secured the quarter鈥檚 next-biggest late-stage financing 鈥 a $30 billion February Series G 鈥 followed by xAI, which announced a $20 billion Series E in January. landed another of the quarter鈥檚 very big deals, with a $16 billion February Series D.

Early stage

Early-stage investment was also running high in Q1, albeit not setting records.

Overall, investors put $25.1 billion into deals around Series A and Series B stage in the first quarter. That鈥檚 up 17% from the prior quarter and 56% from year-ago levels. It鈥檚 also the highest quarterly total in over three years, though still below peaks scaled in 2021.

Early-stage round counts, meanwhile, were down a bit, indicating investors鈥 increasingly concentrating their bets among perceived star performers.

As usual, a few jumbo-sized deals significantly boosted the early-stage totals. For Q1, this included four rounds of $500 million or more.

Of these, Austin-based humanoid robotics startup was the biggest fundraiser, pulling in $520 million in a February Series A. Three other companies secured $500 million financings: AI infrastructure developer , semiconductor startup , and industrial robotics-focused .

Seed

Seed-stage investment, meanwhile, did not show an upswing but remained at historically robust levels.

Per 小蓝视频色情网页版 data, an estimated $5.1 billion went to seed and pre-seed investments in Q1. That鈥檚 roughly flat with the prior quarter and up a bit from year-ago levels.

Seed round counts declined in Q1, both sequentially and year over year. However, we expect these tallies to rise some over time, along with investment totals, as seed deals commonly get added to the data set weeks after they close.

Exits

Exit activity was fairly staid in comparison to the high-rolling startup fundraising environment.

That said, the IPO market did boast a few sizable startup debuts. Of these, the largest was the January IPO of construction equipment rental marketplace , followed by space tech company , and crypto platform .

Below, we aggregated a list of 12 private, venture-backed companies that carried out IPOs on U.S. exchanges.

Acquirers also announced several large deals to purchase venture-backed private companies.

The priciest planned M&A deal was 鈥檚 agreement to purchase business credit card provider for $5.15 billion. Biotech also delivered some large outcomes, including 鈥檚 planned acquisition of RNA therapeutics startup , and 鈥 purchase of allergy treatment startup .

Below, we put together a list of five of the quarter鈥檚 biggest M&A deals.1

Big picture: A paradigm shift

Having written many of these funding reports over the years, it鈥檚 common for one quarter to quietly blur into another. Not so for Q1 of 2026.

The just-ended quarter cemented a notion that startup insiders have been circling for some time: Private markets now have the capital stores and appetite for ultra-high valuations to rival public markets. For evidence, look no further than OpenAI鈥檚 $122 billion raise at a valuation higher than all but a handful of the largest large-cap technology companies.

IPO enthusiasts may pine for a future period when these most sought-after foundational AI names finally do make it to public markets. But for now, they鈥檝e demonstrated there are plenty of investors willing to shell out billions in private offerings as well.

Related 小蓝视频色情网页版 queries:

Methodology

The data contained in this report comes directly from 小蓝视频色情网页版, and is based on reported data. Data is as of March 31, 2026.

Note that data lags are most pronounced at the earliest stages of venture activity, with seed funding amounts increasing significantly after the end of a quarter/year.

Please note that all funding values are given in U.S. dollars unless otherwise noted. 小蓝视频色情网页版 converts foreign currencies to U.S. dollars at the prevailing spot rate from the date funding rounds, acquisitions, IPOs and other financial events are reported. Even if those events were added to 小蓝视频色情网页版 long after the event was announced, foreign currency transactions are converted at the historic spot price.

Glossary of funding terms

Seed and angel consists of seed, pre-seed and angel rounds. 小蓝视频色情网页版 also includes venture rounds of unknown series, equity crowdfunding and convertible notes at $3 million (USD or as-converted USD equivalent) or less.

Early-stage consists of Series A and Series B rounds, as well as other round types. 小蓝视频色情网页版 includes venture rounds of unknown series, corporate venture and other rounds above $3 million, and those less than or equal to $15 million.

Late-stage consists of Series C, Series D, Series E and later-lettered venture rounds following the 鈥淪eries [Letter]鈥 naming convention. Also included are venture rounds of unknown series, corporate venture and other rounds above $15 million. Corporate rounds are only included if a company has raised an equity funding at seed through a venture series funding round.

Technology growth is a private-equity round raised by a company that has previously raised a 鈥渧enture鈥 round. (So basically, any round from the previously defined stages.)

Illustration:


  1. Some purchase prices may include potential milestone-based payments.

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Exclusive: Anvil Robotics Raises $5.5M to Build 鈥楲egos for Robots鈥 Platform For Physical AI Teams /robotics/physical-ai-custom-robot-builder-seed-funding-anvil/ Thu, 02 Apr 2026 13:00:41 +0000 /?p=93379 , an eight-month-old startup that aims to be the 鈥淟egos for robots,鈥 has raised $5.5 million in a seed funding round, it tells 小蓝视频色情网页版 News exclusively.

and led the raise, which included participation from聽, founder , and . Anvil had previously raised $1 million in pre-seed capital from Matter in 2025.

The San Francisco-based startup builds custom robots for businesses and describes itself as a hardware, software and manufacturing platform.

Mike Xia (CEO) and Vijay Pradeep (CTO), co-founders of Anvil Robotics
Mike Xia and Vijay Pradeep, co-founders of Anvil Robotics. (Courtesy photo)

Before starting Anvil Robotics last July, , CEO, and CTO , spent six months talking to a variety of businesses. They concluded that physical AI teams in companies, big and small, were spending over six months piecing together various robot arms, cameras and open-source libraries 鈥渏ust to get a glued-together prototype.鈥

鈥淭his isn鈥檛 a problem if you鈥檙e , or have nine-figure R&D budgets, and you custom design and build everything, including hardware and software,鈥 Xia told 小蓝视频色情网页版 News in an interview. 鈥淏ut for many companies, even well-funded teams, standing up a robotic system with all the sensors and tools and controls you need is a huge challenge that costs you both time and money.鈥

So the pair started Anvil to fill that gap.

鈥淲e support physical AI teams who don鈥檛 have $100 million, to make this industry much more accessible,鈥 Xia said.

Customers can go on Anvil鈥檚 site and 鈥渆ssentially build out what they want,鈥 he added, using either prebuilt kits or customization.

鈥淭hey are very much like Legos,鈥 Xia said. Anvil then ships the robots within 1 to 2 days via 2-day air freight. The company is able to do so because it has a significant presence in Taiwan, and is its own manufacturer, he said. (But more on that later.)

Its robots are about the size of a middle-school-aged child, but big enough to do basic dextrous tasks. Anvil鈥檚 robots typically cost $5,000 to $10,000, but its least expensive model is just $1,900.

鈥淚 think the pricing is going down to a point where researchers and individuals are able to afford this,鈥 Xia said. 鈥淚 think it’s going to make a really big difference with the community and we鈥檒l see a lot more activity in people building physical AI applications.鈥

Anvil started shipping robots in September and has so far delivered over 100 of them to customers globally.

Open-platform approach

Anvil competes with the likes of and but claims that it鈥檚 different from other startups in the space in a couple of ways.

鈥淢ost are basically building toys for rich people,鈥 Xia said.

Anvil鈥檚 model stands out, he believes, because it鈥檚 an open platform, meaning that all of its robot designs are open-sourced. Most other startups, according to Xia, sell a proprietary design that gets customers 鈥渓ocked in hardware and software.鈥

鈥淚f you work with Anvil, you鈥檙e not locked into a single vendor, plus you have large communities behind you,鈥 he said.

Also, as mentioned above, Anvil is an actual manufacturer, and it 鈥渃ontrols the whole stack.鈥

鈥淲e don鈥檛 outsource 鈥 we do this hard part ourselves,鈥 he told 小蓝视频色情网页版 News. 鈥淲e buy each part and operate our own factory, which our customers can leverage.鈥

Further, Anvil customers can choose where their components come from and how many to build. Historically, if a U.S. company has wanted to deploy a robot, it鈥檚 largely been dependent on hardware built in China.

鈥淚f a business wants 10 robots made with Taiwanese or Japanese parts, we can do it,鈥 Xia said. 鈥淚 believe many companies will become more aware of supply chain risk and need this. Many robots today are made in China, and we鈥檙e not exactly on great terms [with the country].

Business growth

Anvil won鈥檛 disclose hard revenue figures, but Xia noted that it has reached seven figures and that it has over 50 customers. That revenue mostly comes from hardware today, but the company plans to release more software, data tools and services, which should diversify its revenue base.

Its customers are a varied bunch, with some 鈥渆xciting鈥 ones such as giant tech companies under NDA. Those they can talk about are a small chocolate factory based in Portland, Oregon; 鈥檚 GEAR lab, which is doing the humanoid research behind GR00T; and , which has raised more than $300 million to automate welding and industrial tasks.

So far, all of its customers have been inbound, according to Xia.

鈥淚t鈥檚 all been word-of-mouth, and a lot of it is community-driven,鈥 said Xia, who added that he previously co-founded another startup called and was formerly chief product officer at .

A 鈥榬obotics foundry鈥

, founding partner at Matter, told 小蓝视频色情网页版 News via email that his firm has been investing 鈥渁t the forefront鈥 of physical AI 鈥渇or some time.鈥

鈥淚t quickly became clear that innovation on the hardware 鈥 the motors, actuators, sensors, systems, etc. 鈥 hasn’t kept pace with the rapid improvement in AI. They are still stuck in the same paradigms that powered the industrial robotics of decades past.鈥

In his view, AI robots today are like 鈥渋ncredible brains trapped in weak, incapable bodies.鈥

That鈥檚 where Anvil comes in. His firm incubated the startup to create a robotics foundry that could 鈥渕ove many companies forward.鈥

鈥淏ehind great generations of products are foundational platform enablers,鈥 Huang said, 鈥渁nd we founded Anvil to be to physical AI what AWS () has been to SaaS and what TSMC () has been to chips.鈥

The hard part of hardware is less about creating a great robot once, and more about making many great robots 鈥渙ver and over again,鈥 Huang added.

Anvil’s founders, he said, will be able to produce and iterate on hardware at 鈥渟oftware-like speeds鈥 and then deliver it at scale in production.

Added Huang: 鈥淭his is something unmatched.鈥

Overall, robotics startup funding hit a record high last year, . Startups in the sector raised nearly $14 billion in funding in 2025, up from $8.2 billion in 2024, even topping the $13.1 billion raised in the peak venture funding year of 2021.

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Q1 2026 Shatters Venture Funding Records As AI Boom Pushes Startup Investment To $300B聽 /venture/record-breaking-funding-ai-global-q1-2026/ Wed, 01 Apr 2026 11:00:06 +0000 /?p=93307 Update: The data and charts in this report were updated at 11:30 a.m. PT on April 1, 2026, to reflect the latest data in 小蓝视频色情网页版 for Q1 2026.

The first quarter of 2026 was unlike any other for venture investment, driven by unprecedented spending on AI compute and frontier labs. 小蓝视频色情网页版 data shows investors poured $300 billion into 6,000 startups globally in the quarter, up over 150% quarter over quarter and year over year.

That marks an all-time high for global venture investment not approached by any other quarter on record. In fact, startup investment in the first quarter of 2026 alone totaled close to 70% of all venture capital spending in 2025. The quarterly sum also tops all full-year investment totals prior to 2018.

Q1’s startup investment largely went to AI startups and disproportionately to a handful of U.S.-based companies in record-setting deals. Four of the five largest venture rounds ever recorded were closed in Q1 2026, with frontier labs ($122 billion), ($30 billion), ($20 billion) and self-driving company ($16 billion) collectively raising $188 billion, or 65% of global venture investment in the quarter.

Overall, AI shattered records last quarter, with $242 billion 鈥 80% of total global venture funding in Q1鈥 going to companies in the sector. The previous record was set in Q1 2025, when AI accounted for 55% of global venture funding.

Table of Contents

Valuation surge, capital concentration

Along with the three major frontier labs and Waymo, another 10 companies raised funding rounds of $1 billion or more in Q1, in sectors spanning generative and physical AI, autonomous vehicles, semiconductors, data centers, robotics, defense and prediction markets.

Those outsized rounds pushed overall startup valuations higher in Q1. The 小蓝视频色情网页版 Unicorn Board added $900 billion in value during the quarter, marking the largest valuation bump in a single quarter.

US above 80%

U.S.-based companies raised $250 billion, or 83% of global venture capital in Q1, 小蓝视频色情网页版 data shows. That鈥檚 up significantly from 71% in Q1 2025, which was already well above historical averages in the decade before 2024.

The second-largest market globally for venture funding in Q1 was China, with $16.1 billion invested. The U.K. followed, with $7.4 billion invested. Both countries were up quarter over quarter and even more significantly year over year.

Late-stage hike

The Q1 funding surge was concentrated in late-stage funding, which reached $246.6 billion 鈥 up 205% year over year 鈥 across 584 deals. A total of $235 billion was invested in 158 late-stage companies that raised rounds of $100 million and more.

Early stage up over 40%

Early-stage funding totaled $41.3 billion across 1,800 deals, 小蓝视频色情网页版 data shows.

Funding was up marginally quarter over quarter but up 41% year over year from $29.4 billion. Much of that increase went to Series A rounds, 小蓝视频色情网页版 data shows. Series B deals were down quarter over quarter but still up year over year.

Seed funding up over 30%

Seed funding totaled $12 billion, up 31% year over year, though the increase was entirely due to larger rounds, with deal counts falling 30% year over year to 3,800.

IPO slowdown, M&A pick up

Record venture investment in U.S. companies did not translate into a stronger IPO market in Q1.

In fact, the U.S. market for new listings slowed in Q1 amid a broader stock market selloff in software, although China鈥檚 IPO market picked up.

A total of 21 venture-backed companies exited globally above $1 billion in Q1. Thirteen of those were from China, four more from elsewhere in Asia, and four from the U.S.

The largest IPO in Q1 was Japan-based , a fintech for mobile payments valued at $10 billion upon listing.聽 Two foundation lab companies from China 鈥 and 鈥 debuted on the , each valued at more than $6 billion.

While the IPO market was somewhat lackluster, startup M&A was strong in Q1 with exits cumulatively valued north of $56.6 billion, 小蓝视频色情网页版 data shows. That marked the third-highest startup M&A quarter since the downturn of 2022.

The largest M&A deals in Q1 were 鈥檚 $6 billion planned acquisition of 鈥檚 gaming platform , and 鈥檚 planned $5.15 billion acquisition of fintech startup .

Public pressure

While frontier lab megarounds defined Q1 2026, a closer look at the data shows every startup funding stage grew last quarter, as did round sizes across the board.

And unlike the cloud and mobile era, this cycle is also being built in the physical world, with massive capital flowing not just into software, but infrastructure, autonomous vehicles, robotics and manufacturing.

Now, with startup valuations surging and a backlog of companies with unprecedented sums of private capital behind them, pressure is intensifying on the IPO markets to reopen in 2026.

Related 小蓝视频色情网页版 queries:

Methodology

The data contained in this report comes directly from 小蓝视频色情网页版, and is based on reported data. Data is as of March 31, 2026.

Note that data lags are most pronounced at the earliest stages of venture activity, with seed funding amounts increasing significantly after the end of a quarter/year.

Please note that all funding values are given in U.S. dollars unless otherwise noted. 小蓝视频色情网页版 converts foreign currencies to U.S. dollars at the prevailing spot rate from the date funding rounds, acquisitions, IPOs and other financial events are reported. Even if those events were added to 小蓝视频色情网页版 long after the event was announced, foreign currency transactions are converted at the historic spot price.

Glossary of funding terms

Seed and angel consists of seed, pre-seed and angel rounds. 小蓝视频色情网页版 also includes venture rounds of unknown series, equity crowdfunding and convertible notes at $3 million (USD or as-converted USD equivalent) or less.

Early-stage consists of Series A and Series B rounds, as well as other round types. 小蓝视频色情网页版 includes venture rounds of unknown series, corporate venture and other rounds above $3 million, and those less than or equal to $15 million.

Late-stage consists of Series C, Series D, Series E and later-lettered venture rounds following the 鈥淪eries [Letter]鈥 naming convention. Also included are venture rounds of unknown series, corporate venture and other rounds above $15 million. Corporate rounds are only included if a company has raised an equity funding at seed through a venture series funding round.

Technology growth is a private-equity round raised by a company that has previously raised a 鈥渧enture鈥 round. (So basically, any round from the previously defined stages.)

Illustration:

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The Largest Recent Seed Rounds Are All For AI Companies /venture/data-largest-seed-rounds-ai-startups/ Tue, 31 Mar 2026 11:00:33 +0000 /?p=93357 The stereotypical seed-funded company may be a scrappy startup with a shoestring budget. But in the age of AI, that鈥檚 not where investors are concentrating their bets.

Instead, recent months have served as a busy period for big commitments to seed-stage companies that are short on operating history and long on ambition.

To illustrate, we used 小蓝视频色情网页版 to cull a list of the largest seed rounds of the past six months 1. Globally, at least 12 companies within these parameters pulled in rounds of $100 million or more.

Physical AI is leading theme

A majority of top seed funding recipients operate at the intersection of AI and the physical world.

This includes the largest recent fundraiser, Paris-based , which raised $1.03 billion in a March seed round backed by a long list of prominent venture firms, individual investors and strategic backers. The startup is developing AI models that learn abstract representations of real-world sensor data and make predictions.

, meanwhile, is operating at the intersection of AI and energy. The San Francisco company secured a $475 million seed round in December to develop energy-efficient silicon circuits that demonstrate similar non-linear dynamics to biological neurons.

Also up there is , which is applying AI to science and experimentation, with goals including automating materials design in areas like semiconductor manufacturing, transportation and power grid engineering. The San Francisco company raised $300 million six months ago.

China-based startups have also recently landed large seed rounds tied to physical AI. This includes , developer of an AI platform for robotic device development that simulates physical world environments, and , a developer of AI robotic technology.

Humans and AI

AI startups haven鈥檛 forgotten about humans either.

One example is , a startup co-founded by that raised $252 million in an -led financing earlier this year. The San Francisco company is focused on applying AI advancements to brain-computer interfaces,

, the second-largest seed recipient, is a bit harder to categorize. The Silicon Valley startup, which raised $480 million in January, is focused on foundational models 鈥渃entering around people and their relationships with each other.鈥

A new era for seed

In addition to spotlighting investors鈥 growing enthusiasm for AI, the latest batch of jumbo seed round recipients also demonstrate changing dynamics around how capital is allocated at the earliest stage of company formation.

The general trend points to fewer deals and larger average seed round sizes. While the majority of seed-stage deal counts still occur for rounds $5 million and under, that percentage has trended down over time.

Meanwhile, larger and outlier seed rounds of $10 million and above have climbed from 2% of deals in 2018 to 9% over that time. Seed rounds of over $100 million 鈥 once exceedingly rare 鈥 are also more commonplace, with 27 such deals announced globally since the beginning of 2025, per 小蓝视频色情网页版 data.

Of course, it鈥檚 too soon to say if such large checks written at such a nascent startup stage will prove worth it in hindsight. For now, it鈥檚 certainly at least a boon to the seed-stage companies at the receiving end, which have the rare opportunity to iterate highly ambitious missions without the added burden of having to do it all on a shoestring budget.

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  1. Includes companies founded in 2023 or later.

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Austin’s Star Is Still Shining Bright: Venture Funding To City’s Startups Hits All-Time High /venture/all-time-high-funding-to-austin-startups-2025-ai-robotics-manufacturing/ Fri, 27 Mar 2026 11:00:26 +0000 /?p=93352 At the height of the pandemic and the global shift to remote work, tech founders and investors alike flocked to Austin, Texas, drawn to a more business-friendly environment, relatively lower housing costs, and the city鈥檚 hip reputation.

Venture firms that set up shop in the Texas capital city included , , and 1, among others. famously moved 鈥檚 headquarters to Austin in 2021, while also purchasing a house and establishing a residence there.

But as more employees returned to in-office work, Austin slowly seemed to fall out of favor with the tech community, some of whom said it had been overhyped as a startup hub.

There were reports of tech workers who had moved to the city during the pandemic and , saying they were going back to places like the Bay Area. Musk back to California in 2023.

Funding tops pandemic peak

Undeterred by the 鈥渢ourists,鈥 the startup and venture community in Austin kept plugging away. And those efforts are reflected in a surge in funding to startups headquartered there last year, with 2025 posting an all-time high for Austin venture investment, 小蓝视频色情网页版 data shows.

Investment into Austin-based startups spiked 64.8% to $7.19 billion in 2025 as more investors poured money into companies based in the region, according to 小蓝视频色情网页版 . That鈥檚 compared with the $4.37 billion raised by Austin-area startups in 2024 and tops even the $6.1 billion raised in 2021, at the height of the venture funding frenzy.

Notably, deal counts actually decreased from 312 in 2024 to 272 year over year, signaling an increase in later-stage deals. Indeed, the data corroborates that with $4 billion of the total raised in 2025 classified as late-stage rounds.

Last year鈥檚 totals were also more than double 鈥 130% higher 鈥 than the $3.1 billion raised in 2023. That money was raised across 403 deals, signaling much smaller round sizes at the time and a more mature market.

A tech scene decades in the making

, managing partner of , doesn鈥檛 believe that the Austin funding performance in 2025 was anomalous.

Rather, he calls it 鈥渢he payoff from decades of compounding.鈥

鈥淭alent density in venture categories such as software, fintech, health tech, defense and聽 robotics has reached a critical mass, driven by waves of Bay Area relocations, both full HQ moves and satellite offices, that brought technical, product and operational talent into the market,鈥 Flager said.

That talent eventually left to build new companies, he said, and the cycle repeated.

鈥淥n the capital side, the stack has matured across all stages, from pre-seed through growth, with local firms that have now cycled through multiple funds and understand the market deeply,鈥 Flager said. 鈥淟ayer in a business-friendly regulatory environment, a relatively lower cost of living, as well as a lower effective tax rate, and Austin becomes an attractive place to start and scale a company.鈥

Former Austin Mayor saw so much potential in the city鈥檚 startup scene that he began a career in venture investing after his tenure ended in early 2023. (He now works for New York-based ).

Part of the city’s success as a startup hub stems from its reputation as a haven for mavericks and risk-takers, Adler has said.

鈥淢ost cities in the world, you try something, you fail; it’s hard to have access to the capital the second time,” he told co-founder in a in 2022. “In Austin, the civic folk heroes are the people that tried something and it didn’t quite work out and they worked on it until it did.鈥

 

, founder of , a solo GP venture firm based in nearby San Antonio, said that it feels like Texas and the Austin metro area specifically are becoming more attractive to manufacturing- and engineering-heavy businesses.

 

鈥淪ome of that may be thanks to Tesla, and some of it may simply reflect the physical advantages of the state,鈥 he told 小蓝视频色情网页版 News. 鈥淓ither way, this [surge in financing] feels less like hype returning and more like capital concentrating around a narrower set of serious, technically differentiated companies.鈥

Deal sizes grow

That diversity among funded startups is reflected in last year鈥檚 investment totals for Austin, which were boosted by several large, late-stage deals across a broad range of industries.

 

The largest was a $1 billion Series C round for energy provider in October. New York-based led that financing, which valued the 2-year-old company at $4 billion.

 

Looking back, February in particular was a busy month for venture funding. That month alone saw the second-, third- and fourth-largest rounds in Austin for the year. They included:

 

  • A February Series C round in which autonomous surface vessels maker raised $600 million at a $4 billion valuation. led the round for the defense tech startup.
  • Also in February, , which provides endpoint management, security and monitoring, raised $500 million in Series C extensions at a $5 billion valuation 鈥 more than doubling its value from just 12 months prior. The funding came in separate tranches led by and 鈥檚 , with participation from other investors.
  • Robotics company in February raised $415 million in Series A financing led by聽 and accelerator (A $520 million extension to that Series A was raised in February 2026, taking the total round to over $935 million.)

 

The findings correspond with Flager鈥檚 observations.

 

鈥淎 good chunk of the capital raised in Austin was driven by several large deals. Similar to what we saw across the U.S. in 2025, venture funding in Austin was more concentrated than it has been in the past,鈥 he told 小蓝视频色情网页版 News. 鈥淩oughly 38% of the capital deployed went to the top five venture financings in Austin. I believe the top 10 deals nationally accounted for more than 40% of the capital raised last year. We’ll see if this trend continues into 2026 and beyond. The start of the year suggests it will.鈥

 

, founding partner of , agrees, noting that from a dollars perspective, the surge in financings was driven by a handful of outsized capital-intensive deals in newer categories such as defense and deep tech.

 

鈥淭hese companies require a combination of technology, land for manufacturing facilities, and talent for manufacturing tasks. Austin has unique skillsets for that,鈥 he said. 鈥淚t has a density of three things: talent in deep tech with , and many others moving to Texas in light of favorable business conditions with expertise in these industries; expansive land around Central Texas that is inexpensive, especially compared to California; and lower cost manufacturing-related labor especially given the surge in manufacturing jobs such as at Tesla in recent times.鈥

Burgeoning industries

Once upon a time, Austin was better known as home to software and CPG companies. And while those types of companies certainly still exist, a number of other industries are growing increasingly robust, as the local investors have pointed out.

 

As with many top tech markets, Flager said Austin has long been strong for application and infrastructure software, which is currently being challenged by AI. In his view, that talent has migrated to building 鈥渜uality鈥 vertical agentic software and AI-native businesses.

 

鈥淲e are seeing these companies grow quickly and build scale, while using less capital 鈥 which is exciting,鈥 he added. 鈥淭he domain experts who built and scaled application software companies here over the last two decades are spinning out to build the next generation of native AI businesses.鈥

 

The market overall is also broadening in interesting ways. Defense and autonomy have emerged as breakout categories, with Austin becoming one of the stronger markets in the country for dual-use and autonomous systems companies, noted Flager.

 

鈥淭he combination of software and hardware skills now in Texas, along with a business-friendly regulatory environment, has allowed Austin to take a leadership position in these important and developing markets,鈥 he said. 鈥淓nergy tech is also a natural fit given Texas’ grid scale and the surging power demands of AI infrastructure.鈥

 

Finally, robotics and advanced manufacturing are also gaining momentum, driven by deep engineering talent and the ability to scale manufacturing near Austin cost-effectively, allowing engineers, executives and other factory employees to coexist and collaborate in close proximity.

 

Srinivasan noted that his firm is seeing strong activity in vertical AI companies, or companies that serve vertical markets with AI that is tuned on specialized proprietary vertical data, often targeting the services and labor expenditures by their customers.

 

鈥淭hese companies deliver 鈥楽ervices as Software鈥 with close to software gross margins and pricing models that are based more on usage and outcomes as opposed to the traditional seat-based models,鈥 he said.

 

Srinivasan also expects the city to continue to see large funding deals in defense and deep tech, given the combination of local strengths and robust global demand for such products.

 

Continued momentum

Investors and companies continue to be drawn to Austin. In late December, San Francisco-based venture firm in the city. One of the firm鈥檚 founders, , also announced that he had personally moved to Austin. The firm鈥檚 other founder, , had lived and worked in the city since 2022.

 

In late March of this year, Musk to build two semiconductor factories totaling 100 million square feet in Austin to supply advanced chips for and Tesla. The venture, known as Terafab, aims to manufacture 1 trillion watts of computing power per year, he said. Media outlets valued the initiative at nearly

 

Also this week, Barcelona-based AI health tech startup announced it will open an office and hire in Austin.

 

CEO told 小蓝视频色情网页版 News that with the company鈥檚 New York office already established, the next step was not just expansion, 鈥渂ut choosing the right place to build.鈥

 

鈥淎nd we chose Austin for one reason above all: talent,鈥 he said. 鈥淎s an AI health tech company, our success depends on attracting exceptional people across engineering, data and life sciences. Austin has rapidly become one of the most competitive talent markets. The city is one of the fastest-growing in the United States. This brings together deep tech expertise, entrepreneurial energy and a growing concentration of healthcare innovation. Ideal for our goal of building an R&D hub. 鈥

 

Coelho also points out that Biorce has witnessed a 鈥渢rend鈥 of people moving from the Bay Area to Austin, noting that 鈥渢he quality of life has gained notoriety.鈥

 

鈥淏ut for us, this isn鈥檛 about following a trend,鈥 he added. 鈥淚t鈥檚 about building where the best people are 鈥 and where they want to be.鈥

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  1. 8VC is an investor in 小蓝视频色情网页版. They have no say in our editorial process. For more, head here.

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The Week鈥檚 10 Biggest Funding Rounds: Investment Slows, But Security And AI Remain Top Picks /venture/biggest-funding-rounds-security-ai-cloaked-frore/ Fri, 20 Mar 2026 18:30:08 +0000 /?p=93269 Want to keep track of the largest startup funding deals in 2025 with our curated list of $100 million-plus venture deals to U.S.-based companies? Check out The 小蓝视频色情网页版 Megadeals Board.

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.

In insecure times, security looks like an appealing sector for investment. That鈥檚 one interpretation of this week鈥檚 tally of the largest startup funding rounds.

The size of the largest U.S. deals was smaller than in recent weeks, and heavily featured cybersecurity- and privacy-focused startups. This includes the week鈥檚 biggest round 鈥 a $375 million Series B for consumer privacy and security platform . Other areas that attracted good-sized financings included AI infrastructure, biotech, healthcare, and robotics.

1. , $375M, privacy: Cloaked, a provider of consumer privacy and security tools, raised $375 million in Series B funding led by and . Founded in 2020, the Massachusetts-based company sells monthly subscriptions for individuals and families.

2. , $143M, AI infrastructure: Frore Systems, a developer of integrated cooling architecture for AI computing and networking hardware, announced that it closed on $143 million in Series D funding. led the financing, which set a $1.64 billion valuation for the 8-year-old, San Jose-based company.

3. (tied) , $120M, cybersecurity: Seattle-based XBow, a provider of autonomous security testing technology, picked up $120 million in Series C funding. and led the round, which values the 2-year-old company at over $1 billion.

3. (tied) , $120M, cybersecurity: Oasis Security, a developer of identify security tools with a focus on AI agents, secured $120 million in a funding round backed by , , and . The 4-year-old company, which is headquartered in聽 New York and has a presence in Israel, has raised $195 million to date, per 小蓝视频色情网页版 data.

5. (tied) , $100M, medical devices: Imperative Care, a medical device company focused on treatment for stroke and vascular diseases caused by blood clot formation, secured $100 million in convertible note financing. and led the investment for the Campbell, California-based company.

5. (tied) , $100M, social media: Seattle-based social network Bluesky this week that it raised a previously unannounced $100 million Series B round that closed last spring, led by .

5. (tied) , $100M, privacy and security: Cape, a recently launched privacy-focused mobile network, landed $100 million in Series C funding. and led the financing, which set a $900 million valuation for the Arlington, Virginia-based company.

8. , $80M, healthcare AI: Latent, an AI platform aimed at helping move patients from clinical decision to therapy, picked up $80 million in a Series A round. and led the financing for the San Francisco-based company.

9. , $77M, biotech: Cambridge, Massachusetts-based Crossbow Therapeutics, a biotech startup focused on developing new antibody therapies to treat a broad range of cancers, raised $77 million in Series B funding. and led the round, which will support a Phase 1 clinical trial of the company鈥檚 lead program.

10. , $52M, robotics: RoboForce, a startup focused on developing AI-enabled robot labor for industrial environments, said it $52 million in fresh funding, bringing its total raise to $67 million. led the financing for the Milpitas, California-based company.

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 March 14-20. 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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Small And Mid-Sized Startup Purchases Are Still Well Below The 2021 Peak /ma/data-small-midsized-venture-backed-startup-acquisitions/ Mon, 16 Mar 2026 11:00:57 +0000 /?p=93236 When startups get acquired, the deal is either a home run for investors, a money-losing distress sale, or something in-between.

These in-between exits don鈥檛 generate a lot of buzz, but collectively they add up to a tidy sum. Last year, for instance, U.S. startup purchases under $300 million聽1 brought in about $8.7 billion altogether, 小蓝视频色情网页版 data shows.

These small and mid-sized deals are not a long-term growth area for M&A, by many measures. The total deal value of purchases between $100 million and $300 million last year was still below levels routinely reached nearly a decade ago, as charted below.

Moreover, the total value can add up to just a fraction of a single, larger exit. 鈥檚 $32 billion purchase of , for instance, is worth more than 4x all these sub-$300 million deals put together.

Even so, we鈥檙e up from prior lows. Startup purchases in this range hit a low point a couple years ago and have rebounded since, with this year off to a brisk start as well.

Smaller deals shrink more

Smaller disclosed-price acquisitions of under $100 million are also well below peak. The volume and value of these deals hit a low in 2024 and has made somewhat of a comeback since, as charted below.

These sub-$100 million purchases are a mixed bag for returns. Investors might recoup solid profits from companies that raised a few million in seed funding and sold for prices in the tens of millions.

In other cases, startups sold for considerably less than the sums they raised in venture investment. Using 小蓝视频色情网页版 data, we aggregated a few examples of such deals from the past year. It includes companies with known struggles, such as , which filed for bankruptcy before selling to an acquirer this month.

No power buyers

Notably, there is no 鈥減ower acquirer鈥 for small and mid-sized startup purchases. Out of 181 sub-$300 million startup acquisitions since 2024 there was no buyer with more than two such deals, per 小蓝视频色情网页版 data.

That said, there are companies with a larger number of funded startup purchases, just without reported prices for all or most. Examples include , , , , , and , among others.

When price isn鈥檛 disclosed, it鈥檚 hard to gauge how founders and investors fared on the deal. That said, most of the more active buyers can certainly afford to pay well. Whether they choose to do so is another matter.

*This is only disclosed-price purchases. Most startup acquisitions do not have a disclosed price.

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  1. This is only disclosed-price purchases. Most startup acquisitions do not have a disclosed price.

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The Week鈥檚 10 Biggest Funding Rounds: AI, Robotics And E-Commerce Top The Ranks /venture/biggest-funding-rounds-ai-robotics-ecommerce-quince/ Fri, 13 Mar 2026 18:20:26 +0000 /?p=93239 Want to keep track of the largest startup funding deals in 2025 with our curated list of $100 million-plus venture deals to U.S.-based companies? Check out The 小蓝视频色情网页版 Megadeals Board.

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.

Busy week, big checks, lots of AI and robotics. That, in ultra-brief synopsis form, characterized the general startup fundraising environment this week. Notably, the two largest global rounds were U.K.-based and Paris-based , which raised $2 billion and $1.03 billion, respectively.

In the U.S., meanwhile, e-commerce platform , AI networking developer and industrial automation startup each picked up $500 million.

1. (tied) , $500M, e-commerce: Quince, an online fashion and home goods retailer with an affordable luxury theme, said it secured $500 million in Series E financing led by . The round sets a $10.1 billion post-money valuation for the 8-year-old, San Francisco-based company.

1. (tied) , $500M, AI infrastructure: AI networking startup Nexthop AI raised $500 million in Series B funding led by , with joining as a major investor alongside other backers. The Santa Clara, California-based company develops switching technology built on open-source operating systems for AI and cloud networking.

1. (tied) , $500M, robotics: spin-out Mind Robotics closed on a $500 million Series A round, co-led by and Andreessen Horowitz. The Palo Alto, California-based company is developing an AI-enabled industrial robotics platform, with a focus on automating industrial and manufacturing tasks at scale.

4. , $450M, robotics: Palo Alto, California-based robotics startup Rhoda AI emerged from stealth with $450 million in Series A funding reportedly led by . The startup trains robots using hundreds of millions of videos to develop intelligent models for operating in complex and changing environments.

5. , $400M, AI software creation: Replit, an agentic AI software creation platform, picked up $400 million in Series D funding at a $9 billion valuation, up from $3 billion just six months ago. led the financing for the Foster City, California-based company, joined by a long list of venture and celebrity investors.

6. (tied) , $200M, AI networking: AI startup Eridu emerged from stealth with over $200 million in a newly announced Series A round led by , , , and . Saratoga, California-based Eridu develops a high-performance network switch for AI data centers.

6. (tied) , $200M, artificial intelligence: Palo Alto, California-based Axiom Math AI, a developer of AI systems that can perform automated verification of computer code, $200 million in Series A funding at a $1.6 billion valuation. led the round, joined by , , and .

8. , $165M, robotics: Sunday, a startup planning a beta launch for a household robot called Memo later this year, raised $165 million in Series B funding. led the financing, which set a $1.15 billion valuation for the Mountain View, California-based company.

9. , $125M, cybersecurity: San Jose, California-based Kai, developer of an agentic AI cybersecurity platform, announced that it secured $125 million in funding led by .

10. , $100M, procurement: Oro Labs, developer of a procurement platform for enterprise customers, raised $100 million in Series C funding. and led the financing, which the company said follows a year of 300% revenue growth.

Global financings

The week鈥檚 largest rounds went to European startups.

, $2B, AI infrastructure: Nscale, an AI infrastructure hyperscaler, secured聽 $2 billion in Series C funding. and led the financing, which set a $14.6 billion valuation for the London-based company.

, $1.03B, artificial intelligence: Advanced Machine Intelligence, a startup co-founded by computer science pioneer and former AI chief , said it has raised $1.03 billion to develop 鈥渨orld models,鈥 or AI designed to learn from and interact with the physical world. The funding for the Paris-based company represents the largest seed round ever for a European startup.

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 March 7-13. 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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5 Interesting Startup Deals You May Have Missed: Blood-Drawing Robots, Inboxes For AI Agents, Franchised Defense Manufacturing, And More /venture/interesting-startup-deals-robots-ai-agent-inboxes-defense-space-tech/ Fri, 13 Mar 2026 11:00:00 +0000 /?p=93232 This is a monthly column that runs down five interesting startup funding deals every month that may have flown under the radar. Check out our latest entry here.

February was the biggest month on record for venture funding. And while the vast majority of that capital went to just three companies 鈥 , and 鈥 a whole host of under-the-radar startups also drew investor checks.

Among those that most piqued our interest: A phlebotomy robot, a company that aims to revive precision manufacturing in the U.S. and Europe with a small-business franchise model, and a health beverage made from seaweed. Let鈥檚 dive in.

$70M for robotic blood draws

If you鈥檙e squeamish about needles or blood, you might want to stop reading now.

This week, Dutch startup raised $70 million in Series B funding for its phlebotomy robots, which are designed to autonomously perform diagnostic blood draws.

Vitestro was founded in 2017 and has raised more than $104 million to date, . Its Series B investors include , and , among others.

The new funding will be used to advance its Autonomous Robotic Phlebotomy Device, to seek regulatory approvals in the U.S. and to scale commercialization.

Blood draws are one of the most routine and important processes in healthcare, investors noted, but have undergone little to no technical innovation, despite chronic industry staffing shortages.

Vitestro鈥檚 device is designed to be installed in phlebotomy departments and combines imaging technology, AI and advanced robotics to identify suitable veins for a blood draw, guide needle insertion and collect blood samples, according to the company.

鈥淰itestro is redefining one of the largest and most under innovated clinical workflows with a first-of-its-kind autonomous robotic platform for diagnostic blood collection addressing an enormous unmet global market need,鈥 Dr. , co-founder and partner at Sonder Capital and former co-founder and CEO of and , said in a statement. “I believe this technology has the potential to establish a new standard of care, much as robotic surgery did in its early days.”

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$50M for a franchise model for precision manufacturing

Two of the hottest startup industries right now are defense and space tech. At the same time, domestic manufacturing in the U.S. and Europe, particularly for military and defense applications, has come under renewed focus amid global trade tensions and intensifying wars.

Against that backdrop, manufacturing startup said earlier this week that it raised a $50 million Series A, less than a year after its seed round. The London-based company says it plans to open 25 factories by the end of 2026 and launch into Germany, France and Ukraine.

Isembard makes technology to manufacture precision components that are used in the defense, aerospace, energy and robotics sectors. Interestingly, it operates as a franchise model that lets existing machine shops and new businesses use its proprietary software and AI system.

It noted that component manufacturing is a $1.8 trillion a year industry. Yet, 95% of production is done by small businesses. The typical owner of one of those small machine shops is more than 65 years old and 40% plan to retire within five years, according to the company.

led Isembard鈥檚 Series A investment, which included participation from聽, , , , and individual investors , and .

鈥淚sembard is redefining the process of owning and running a factory,鈥 , managing partner at Union Square, said in a statement. 鈥淏y embedding deep operational expertise into an agentic OS, MasonOS lowers the barrier to operating high-performance manufacturing businesses and enables a networked, capital-efficient path to scale. At a moment when demand for advanced manufacturing is accelerating and interest in SMB ownership is rising, Isembard brings both forces together.鈥

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$13M for seaweed beverages

While overall funding to food and beverage startups has plummeted since their pandemic-era heights, products that offer unique health benefits do still attract investor attention.

One recently funded company in that space is , a Torrance, California-based startup that makes wellness-oriented drinks from seaweed. The company secured $13 million in seed funding led by with participation from and .

Founded in 2019 by , Aqua Theon鈥檚 first product is OoMee, a seaweed-based beverage marketed as supporting gut health and satiety. Its star ingredient, agar-agar, has reportedly seen a surge in social media interest.

Beverages marketed as healthful or beneficial are to be a more than $192 billion market by the end of this year.聽 Among funded startups, that has included a heavy emphasis on products that orient themselves around offering protein, fiber or an energy boost, a review of 小蓝视频色情网页版 data shows.

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$6M for an email provider for AI agents

They grow up so fast, don鈥檛 they? Less than four years into the AI boom, AI agents are already asking for their own email addresses.

That鈥檚 the premise behind , a San Francisco-based startup that this week said it has raised $6 million in seed funding from a long list of investors to build the tech stack for software agents, starting with their inboxes.

鈥淎I agents are already starting to function as virtual employees across industries,鈥 , partner at , said in a statement. 鈥淭hese agents need their own identity and email is the heart of identity on the internet. Traditional identity services were not built with agentic use cases in mind, and AgentMail is building that part of the stack, starting with email.鈥

To that end, AgentMail said it鈥檚 launching its onboarding API to let AI agents get email addresses without human assistance.

“The next billion users of the internet will be AI agents,” AgentMail co-founder said in a statement. “We’re building infrastructure that treats agents as first-class citizens, starting with email. The demand is so intense that the agents themselves are finding us and signing up.鈥

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$1.3M for AI for wastewater treatment

, an AI software company that helps the wastewater industry manage complex systems and make critical decisions, raised $1.3 million in pre-seed funding. The deal exemplifies a common theme among funded AI startups: Many operate in very niche industries and promise to automate process-heavy workflows.

Nyad said its tool is designed to help plant operators in the wastewater industry, which faces a looming labor shortage as nearly half of the sector鈥檚 U.S. workforce is expected in the next decade.

The round for the Birmingham, Alabama-based startup was led by and included participation from , , , , and angel investor .

Nyad was founded in 2024 by British entrepreneurs (CEO) and after the two reportedly experienced poor water quality during triathlon training in the U.K. They later moved the company to the U.S. after seeing early customer demand through pilot programs in the Birmingham area.

Nyad鈥檚 technology helps plant operators maintain compliance and troubleshoot issues. 鈥淥perators are the final line of defense for public health and the environment,鈥 Szepietowski said in a statement. 鈥淎s experience retires out of the industry, we need tools that support operators in the moment when decisions matter most.鈥

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