WHAT’S INSIDE

• Tech Company Watch: Lithium Americas, Distyl, Stripe, Friend, Coreweave

• Big Movers: The Big tech movers, shakers and partnerships this week

• Making Waves: Companies making a buzz in the Tech world

• Open Deals: Startups raising capital this week

• In The Money: Significant raises last week and why they matter

• Exit Watching: Mergers & Acquisitions and IPOs

• The Funding Buzz: VC & PE Activity To Watch

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BIG MOVERS

Big tech moves, movers and trends to watch this week

Nvidia — Partnering with OpenAI, Nvidia is committing up to $100B to supply computing power for OpenAI's future AI models. The deployment starts with 10 gigawatts of systems by 2026, enhancing OpenAI's AI infrastructure.

Oracle — Negotiating a $20B multi-year cloud computing deal with Meta to enhance AI model training and deployment. Follows a recent $300B OpenAI deal. Oracle also plans to raise $15B via bond sales to support its AI infrastructure.

OpenAI — Partnering with Apple supplier Luxshare to manufacture consumer AI devices, challenging Apple's smart device dominance. Boosts Luxshare's stock by 10% and plans to launch ChatGPT-powered devices in 2026/2027.

Meta — Partnered with the US General Services Administration to deploy Llama AI models across federal agencies. This initiative supports rapid, cost-effective AI access, potentially saving millions and aligning with the Government’s AI push.

Apple — Strong demand for the iPhone 17 has increased Apple's stock by nearly 12% after a challenging start in 2025. Analysts are cautious about higher-priced models due to concerns over tariffs and AI competition.

[OPEN DEALS] RAISING DOLLARS:

Startups, firms or funds raising capital this week

Oracle — Plans to raise $15B through bond sales to support its AI infrastructure initiatives following a $300B deal with OpenAI. Also negotiating a $20B deal with Meta, reflecting a strategic shift to infrastructure-as-a-service.

Mercor — An AI training startup connecting firms like OpenAI and Meta with domain experts. Aiming for a $10B valuation, it boasts a $450M ARR. Expands to software infrastructure for reinforcement learning. Faces legal challenge from Scale AI.

MAKING WAVES

Startups making waves, hot trends and signals to watch in the USA this week:

Fox Corporation — Donald Trump suggests Rupert and Lachlan Murdoch may assist in buying TikTok in the US, involving Fox Corporation as an investor. The deal aims for majority American ownership, with Oracle managing data privacy.

Lithium Americas — The Trump admin is aiming for a 10% equity stake in the company during a $2.26B DOE loan renegotiation. The Thacker Pass mine will be the largest lithium operation in the Western Hemisphere, crucial for GM's EV supply chain.

Distyl — Distyl, a startup founded by former Palantir employees, focuses on integrating AI technologies for companies like T-Mobile. It has been valued at $1.8B by Lightspeed and Khosla, signaling rapid growth and strong market potential.

Stripe — The San Fran-based online payment processing platform is negotiating to buy back shares from VCs at a $106.7B valuation. This move provides liquidity without an IPO, signaling an IPO is unlikely soon.

Commonwealth Fusion Systems — The fusion energy company, based in Cambridge, MA, secured a $1B power purchase agreement with Eni for its future Arc reactor. This deal marks a pivotal move towards commercial fusion power.

Spotify — The music streaming giant updated its AI policy to include labeling AI-generated tracks and a spam filter to block unauthorized content. Adopting the DDEX standard for music credits, Spotify aims to support genuine AI artistry.

Friend — The AI startup is promoting its wearable AI device via a $1M subway ad campaign in NYC. Despite concerns about surveillance capabilities and public skepticism, CEO Avi Schiffman aims to provoke social commentary with 11,000+ ads.

Teaming Up

CoreWeave — CoreWeave, a key AI infrastructure provider, expanded its partnership with OpenAI by $6.5B, bringing the total deal to $22.5B. This collaboration leverages CoreWeave's data centers with Nvidia GPUs.

Databricks — The San Fran-based data and AI company is integrating OpenAI's models, including GPT-5, through a $100M multi-year deal. This aims to enhance enterprise AI adoption, with a focus on securely accessing corporate data.

Wayve — The autonomous driving company has signed a letter of intent with NVIDIA to explore a $500M strategic investment in its next funding round. The collaboration will leverage NVIDIA's DRIVE AGX Thor for Wayve's Gen 3 platform.

IN THE MONEY

Companies that raised money in the past week and why they matter

Massive Deals

Momenta — The Chinese autonomous driving startup raised $6B, with partnerships with Mercedes-Benz and BMW. Focused on B2B software integration, Momenta competes with Nvidia and WeRide. An IPO in Hong Kong is under consideration.

Nscale Global Holdings — U.K.-based AI infrastructure startup raised $1.1B from backers including Nvidia, Dell Technologies, and Nokia. The funds will expand its data center operations across Europe, North America, and the Middle East.

Filevine — The legal tech company secured $400M in equity financing to advance its Legal Operating Intelligence System. Led by Insight Partners, Accel, and Halo Fund, the funding aims to enhance AI capabilities and integrate tools for legal teams.

Judi Health — Formerly known as Capital Rx, the AI-powered health benefits platform in the US raised $400M to expand beyond pharmacy services. The rebranding to Judi Health marks this strategic shift.

Modular — AI startup founded by former Apple and Google engineers, raised $250M to challenge Nvidia's AI chip market dominance. The funding, led by U.S. Innovative Technology Fund, tripled its valuation.

AppZen — The autonomous finance AI company raised $180M to expand its platform, led by Riverwood Capital. AppZen's technology, including Mastermind AI Studio, automates finance workflows, saving clients over $2B.

Empower Semiconductor — The California-based power management chip company raised over $140M in a Series D round led by Fidelity. Their integrated voltage regulators (IVRs) and ECAP technology aim to reduce power usage.

Auterion — The AI-enabled software company for autonomous drones raised $130M in Series B funding led by Bessemer Venture Partners. The investment supports AuterionOS and the Nemyx defense system.

Zerohash — The crypto and stablecoin infrastructure company raised $104M at a $1B valuation, led by Interactive Brokers, with participation from Morgan Stanley and Apollo Global Management. The company has tripled its valuation since 2022.

Inspiren — The AI-powered senior living platform raised $100M in Series B funding to enhance its ecosystem addressing care demands and staffing challenges. This will accelerate solutions for resident safety and care planning.

Cohere — The AI solutions company has raised $100M, boosting its valuation to $7B. Based in Canada, Cohere formed a strategic partnership with AMD to run AI models on AMD's GPUs, positioning itself as a rival to OpenAI and Nvidia.

Large Deals

WeTravel — An Amsterdam/San Fran-based travel technology company, secured over $91M in Series C funding led by Sapphire Ventures. Funds will enhance their operating system, global payment infrastructure, AI-driven tools, and B2B network.

Until Labs — The organ cryopreservation startup raised $58M in Series A funding to develop technology for indefinite organ preservation. The funding will expand their multidisciplinary team, addressing organ viability constraints.

Valence — The AI coaching platform secured $50M in Series B funding to enhance its product, Nadia, used by Fortune 500 companies. The investment will fuel product development and partnerships, integrating AI coaching into corporate strategies.

Factory — The software development company secured $50M to launch Droids, innovative agents for agent-native development. These agents integrate with existing tools to enhance productivity, boosting feature delivery speed and code quality.

Beroe — The procurement intelligence company secured $34M to enhance its offerings and accelerate product development. The funding, led by notable investors, will support strategic acquisitions and AI-driven solutions.

Juicebox — The AI recruiting startup raised $30M from Sequoia after hitting $10M in annual recurring revenue with just four employees. Their platform revolutionizes hiring by analyzing natural language, attracting clients like OpenAI and Ramp.

Smaller Deals

Manas AI — The drug discovery startup raised a $26M Seed Extension to enhance its model development and team growth. Ujjwal Singh, a veteran from Multiverse, Meta, and Google, joins as Co-Founder and CTO to drive its mission.

Greptile — The AI-based code validation company raised a $25M Series A to advance its tools and launch Greptile v3, aiming to outperform CodeRabbit and Graphite. Greptile has analyzed over 500 lines of code, identifying 180,000 bugs.

Emergent — The app development platform secured $23M Series A led by Lightspeed. Emergent simplifies app creation for non-technical users, boasting 1 million users and 1.5 million apps.

Prelude Security — The cybersecurity startup secured an additional $16M led by Brightmind Partners, with Sequoia Capital and Insight Partners, raising total funding to $45M. Funds will commercialize runtime memory protection tech.

DEXA — The drone delivery company raised $15M to expand services in major U.S. cities. The funding will enhance delivery networks and onboard retail partners. DEXA has FAA certifications, enabling operations beyond visual line of sight.

Alguna — The fintech startup based in YC-backed raised $4M in seed funding to automate pricing, quoting, and billing for B2B companies in AI, SaaS, and fintech. Founded by former Primer employees, the funds will target enterprise customers.

Shield — Crypto neo-bank founded in 2022, raised $5M to enhance international crypto transactions. Shield offers compliance screenings and faster payments for exporters and importers, with over $100M in payments processed.

Huxe — An audio-first app that generates personalized podcasts, founded by former NotebookLM developers, raised $4.6M. It offers daily briefings linked to emails and calendars, with a "live station" for real-time updates.

Burnt — Y Combinator startup Burnt, based in the food industry, raised $3.8M in seed funding, led by Steph Curry’s PennyJar Capital. Their AI agent, Ozai, automates back-office supply chain tasks, targeting inefficiencies in a trillion-dollar market.

EXIT WATCHING

Mergers & Acquisitions and IPOs

Electronic Arts — The gaming giant, headquartered in Redwood City, California, is on the brink of a $50B by investors including Silver Lake and Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund. The largest leveraged buyout in history, lead to a 15% stock rise.

Stripe — Stripe, a leading online payments company based in San Francisco, is negotiating a share buyback from venture capitalists at a $106.7 billion valuation. This strategic move aims to offer liquidity without pursuing an IPO.

eBay — eBay has acquired Norwegian social marketplace Tise to attract Gen Z shoppers by integrating social features such as seller following and personalized recommendations. This acquisition aims to modernize eBay's platform.

IPO Watch

Kraken — Kraken, a cryptocurrency exchange co-led by Arjun Sethi, plans an IPO in 2026 after a $500M funding round, valuing it at $15B. Known for its innovative offerings like xStocks, aims to integrate traditional finance with crypto.

Ethos Technologies — San Fran-based insurance platform Ethos Technologies has filed for an IPO on Nasdaq after reaching $320M in revenue last year. The company showed strong growth with a $30.7M net income on $183.7M revenue in H1.

Beta Technologies — Beta Technologies, based in Vermont, is planning an IPO by year's end. Established in 2017, the company specializes in cargo and medical applications for electric aircraft, steering clear of urban air mobility.

THE FUNDING BUZZ

VC & PE Activity To Watch

Red Bull Ventures — Red Bull Ventures, established in April, becomes a cornerstone limited partner in Apex Capital's athlete-backed venture fund. The fund targets early-stage sports companies with over 100 athlete investors.

Touring Capital — Closed a $330M Fund 1 to invest in early-growth AI-driven software startups. 12 investments with notable success, including five up-rounds and one exit, supported by institutional investors and former founders.

Archetype — The New York-based crypto venture firm, founded by Ash Egan, has raised $100M for its third fund targeting early-stage blockchain companies, with plans to invest in consumer-focused projects like Remix, a mobile game creation app.

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