$1.6 Billion Deployed, Blue Water, Scout AI, Potato... The Stealth Wave Just Got Funded | Capital Movements Vol. 14
💰The state of deep tech capital: who’s raising, who’s betting, and why.
Welcome back to Deep Tech Capital Moments! Every week, we track funding rounds, new funds, and major strategic moves in deep tech
💡 Got a big deal to share? If your fund just backed something game-changing—or your startup just raised—let’s make sure the right people see it.
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🛡️Palantir Powers NATO AI; 🚚 Self-Driving Trucks SPAC; 🧠 Neuralink Rival Gets FDA Nod; 🚢 Autonomous Naval Ramps Up; 🧱 CO2 Cement Demo Launches | Deep Tech Briefing #57
In Today's Briefing
The Big Idea – A $2.5B autonomous trucking move just reframed what second-wave autonomy looks like. It's not about moonshots—it's about real metrics, patient capital, and vertical focus. The bigger signal? What it tells us about where SPACs go next.
The Key Updates – A naval autonomy player just locked in U.S. production scale. NATO fast-tracks an AI battlefield layer. A Neuralink rival clears FDA. Hugging Face makes a full-stack robotics play. And one stealth company you probably haven’t heard of—until now—just dropped a defense-native foundation model.
Deep Tech Power Plays – Ireland hedges trade through Asia. France shifts its hydrogen posture from scale to realism. ESA enters the defense orbit. The Pentagon bets on tactical microreactors—and rewrites procurement for speed.
Breakthroughs and Discoveries – Gallium oxide goes sovereign in Europe. Drones get 3D-printed at the edge. CMOS behaves like a brain. Graphene breaks into carbon capture. And a tire-to-epoxy pipeline could flip industrial recycling economics.
Dear Friends,
This week, deep tech capital didn’t chase headlines. It redrew the map.
While no single raise grabbed the oxygen the way a mega-round might, the contours of capital flow spoke volumes. This wasn’t a week of hype—it was a week of posture. The kind of posture that reveals where the infrastructure of the future is quietly being laid.
In total, we tracked over 40 deals across North America, Europe, and Asia. But the real story wasn’t just how many—it was where and how. Beneath the surface, we saw deep tech capital do what it rarely does in the open: organize itself around necessity.
Seed-stage funding led the charge, with 14 rounds and +$130M in total, with the most significant raises clustered around dual-use technologies—a reflection of how investors are now prioritizing AI agents, robotics, and infrastructure that operates at the frontier of both commercial and defense applications. The seed stage is no longer just a playground for prototypes; it’s where system architectures are getting locked in.
At Series A, we tracked 9 deals, dominated by mobility, which alone attracted $111.0M. Much of that was driven by Slate Auto’s bold bet on an affordable electric pickup, but across the board, the focus was on solving hardware bottlenecks and simplifying supply chains with rare-earth-free electric motors and powertrain innovation. The message: mobility is now a manufacturing challenge, not a design one.
Series B, while smaller in count with 5 deals, saw the largest capital commitments, led by energy, which pulled in $200.0M at this stage alone. From thermal storage to fuel-flexible generators for off-grid compute, this is capital backing foundational infrastructure—not apps, but assets.
And even though pre-seed activity was limited to just 2 deals, it reflected the breadth of applications emerging at the earliest stage. Trellis Health raised $1.8M to develop an AI-driven platform for women’s health, beginning with pregnancy and postpartum care—an area where personalization and continuity remain underserved. Meanwhile, Cosmic Robotics secured $4M to advance autonomous systems for solar infrastructure deployment, addressing key efficiency and labor challenges in utility-scale environments.
Across verticals, and looking specifically at funding from pre-seed to Series B, energy emerged as the clear leader with $245.5M raised—reflecting strong momentum around power systems, storage, and infrastructure resilience. Mobility followed with $131M, while AI brought in $79.44M, with a focus on governance, interpretability, and enterprise integration. Cybersecurity saw $76.5M, and both robotics and dual-use technologies drew $29M each. Further down the curve, sectors like healthcare ($36.8M) and aerospace ($11M) attracted more targeted support. While these figures reflect only early- to mid-stage rounds, they highlight where capital is quietly consolidating around durable, systems-level innovation.
Regionally, capital showed a sharp logic. In the United States, the focus was clearly on Series B rounds, with energy as the top sector—proof that infrastructure and resilience are front and center. The United Kingdom leaned into seed-stage healthcare, bridging science and scale in areas like rare-earth recovery and AI-powered patient access. India made a strong showing in Series B aerospace, where national strategic tech like drones is moving from prototype to platform. South Korea and Canada were both hotspots for seed-stage robotics, reinforcing Asia’s and North America’s growing role in embodied AI systems. And in Indonesia, the standout was Series A foodtech, where platforms like Eratani are digitizing agriculture with yield and income gains that resonate far beyond venture math.
Venture capital activity mirrored this sense of precision. Across the board, the tone was focused, selective, and long-term. Murata’s $50M CVC targeted frontier hardware; SAIF launched with an eye on AI safety and governance; and in Europe, AVP’s €1.5B growth fund signaled a push toward scale-up independence. From Enterprise Ireland’s €100K proof-of-concept initiative to Stepchange’s debut climate fund and Ascend’s third vertical AI vehicle, the message was clear: capital is not retreating—it’s refining. And in a market like this, that kind of clarity is itself a signal.
If there’s a takeaway this week, it may be this: deep tech is becoming more infrastructural than experimental. The center of gravity is shifting toward what scales quietly—what enables other things to happen. The industry may benefit from asking harder questions, earlier. Is this not just novel, but necessary? Are we backing capabilities, or just concepts? Is the path to deployment short enough to matter, and long enough to defend? There’s no shortage of talent, IP, or ambition in the market. But what’s emerging now is a premium on systems thinking. From capital allocators to founders, the opportunity is to align around platforms—not just products—and around leverage, not just narrative. That may mean slower fundraising cycles, more diligence on technical de-risking, and more collaboration between builders and regulators. But if this week is any indication, the discipline is already setting in.
And that’s good news. Because when the noise fades, structure remains.
Enjoy the read,
Giulia and Nicola
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✨ INTRODUCING RUMORS!!!
The Silent Gold Rush of AI-Powered Lab Automation
Five startups, one rumor: the lab is going fully autonomous...
Startups Deals
🔸 Astro Mechanica Raises $27.1M for Supersonic Flight
Supersonic aircraft startup Astro Mechanica raised $27.1M in funding co-led by a16z, Lowercarbon, and Giant Step. The company is developing a novel turboelectric adaptive engine that decouples airflow components for unmatched fuel efficiency at high speeds. The funds will fuel software hiring, engine testing, and development of a trans-Pacific demonstrator jet.
Deal: Funding Round
Region: United States
Industry: Aerospace
Sector: Supersonic Flight
Tech: Turboelectric Propulsion, Dual-Use
🔸 Corvic AI Secures $12M to Bring Cognitive Infrastructure to Enterprise AI
Corvic AI raised $12M in seed funding to expand its cognitive AI platform that turns complex proprietary data into AI-ready intelligence. The round was led by M Ventures and Bosch Ventures, with backing from Lam Capital, Foothill Ventures, and Atlantic Bridge. Corvic’s platform combines MoS™, ACoA™, and Agentic Function Calling™ to support explainable, scalable, and governed AI use across industries.
Deal: Seed Round
Region: United States
Industry: Enterprise Software
Sector: AI Infrastructure
Tech: GenAI, Graph AI, Agentic Systems
🔸 Scout AI Emerges with $15M to Power Physical AI for Defense Missions
Scout AI exited stealth with $15M to develop embodied AI systems for defense robotics. The Sunnyvale-based startup, backed by Align Ventures, Booz Allen, and Draper Associates, unveiled Fury—a vision-language-action model that powers its unmanned aerial and ground vehicles. Scout AI’s platform enables robotic agents that understand and respond to commander intent using natural language prompts.
Deal: Seed Round
Region: United States
Industry: Defense
Sector: Autonomous Systems
Tech: Vision-Language-Action (VLA), Robotics
🔸 Potato Raises $4.5M to Deploy Autonomous AI Scientists
Seattle-based Potato closed a $4.5M seed round led by Draper Associates to build agentic AI scientists that automate discovery workflows across biotech and materials science. The startup partners with research institutions like Caltech and Harvard and is developing AI tools that integrate with robotics and RAG systems to achieve “runaway knowledge production.”
Deal: Seed Round
Region: United States
Industry: Biotech / Research
Sector: Autonomous Research
Tech: AI Agents, RAG, Robotics
🔸 Cosmic Robotics Raises $4M to Automate Solar Infrastructure with AI
Cosmic Robotics closed a $4M pre-seed round led by Giant Ventures with participation from HCVC, MaC Ventures, and angel investors including Azeem Azhar and Aarthi Ramamurthy. The startup is developing autonomous robots to support solar deployment at scale, easing labor bottlenecks with AI-powered lifting, placement, and QA tools for rugged, utility-scale environments.
Deal: Pre-Seed Round
Region: United States
Industry: Robotics
Sector: Construction / Energy
Tech: Autonomous Systems, AI Perception, Field Robotics
🔸 Nyobolt Closes $30M for Fast-Charging Battery Tech
Cambridge-based Nyobolt raised $30M from IQ Capital, Latitude, and strategic investors including Scanian and Takasago. The startup’s fast-charging battery tech targets warehouse and humanoid robotics, with plans to expand U.S. manufacturing. Despite sector headwinds, Nyobolt posted $9M revenue in 2024 and expects to double that in 2025.
Deal: Growth / Bridge Round
Region: UK, Europe
Industry: Energy Storage
Sector: Robotics Batteries
Tech: Fast-Charge Li-ion, Power Electronics
🔸 Blue Water Raises $14M to Build Autonomous Naval Ships
Stealth-mode startup Blue Water Autonomy emerged with $14M in seed funding from Eclipse, Riot, and Impatient Ventures to develop unmanned ships for the U.S. Navy. The team—ex-Amazon Robotics, iRobot, and Navy—has already built prototypes and a full autonomy stack. Blue Water is tackling critical gaps in naval deterrence with scalable, AI-driven maritime platforms.
Deal: Seed Round
Region: United States
Industry: Defense
Sector: Maritime Autonomy
Tech: Full-Stack Robotics, Naval Systems
🔸 Virtue AI Raises $30M to Secure Enterprise GenAI
Virtue AI raised $30M across Seed and Series A rounds to become the security layer for enterprise GenAI deployments. Founded by researchers from Stanford and Berkeley, the company offers VirtueRed™, VirtueGuard™, and VirtueAgent™—a platform for red teaming, compliance, and guardrails. Investors include Lightspeed, Walden Catalyst, and Prosperity7.
Deal: Seed + Series A
Region: United States
Industry: Cybersecurity
Sector: AI Security
Tech: Red Teaming, LLM Guardrails, Compliance
🔸 Seloxium Wins £2M Innovate UK Grant to Recover Rare Earths
Seloxium, an Oxford spin-out, received a £2M Innovate UK grant to scale Selectal™—its selective metal recovery tech—for rare earth extraction from dilute industrial waste. The award complements a recently closed seed round and supports UK efforts to onshore critical mineral supply chains amid geopolitical trade disruptions.
Deal: Non-dilutive + Seed
Region: UK, Europe
Industry: Cleantech
Sector: Critical Materials
Tech: Metal Recovery, Selective Flocculation
🔸 Mainspring Energy Secures $258M to Power Data Centers with Fuel-Flexible Generators
Menlo Park-based Mainspring Energy raised a massive $258M Series F to scale its linear generator tech—providing grid-independent, hydrogen-capable power for data centers. The round was led by General Catalyst with participation from Amazon’s Climate Pledge Fund, Temasek, and Khosla Ventures. Mainspring’s generators can run on multiple gaseous fuels, offering sub-three-year payback and smooth transition to zero-carbon energy.
Deal: Series F
Region: United States
Industry: Energy
Sector: Data Center Infrastructure
Tech: Linear Generators, Hydrogen, Multi-Fuel
🔸 Conifer Locks Down $20M to Launch Rare-Earth-Free Electric Hub Motors
Conifer, a Bay Area startup founded by ex-Lucid and Apple engineers, raised $20M to build rare-earth-free electric motors. Using ferrite magnets and a compact proprietary stator, Conifer’s drop-in hub motor targets small electric vehicles with 10% range gains and a simplified supply chain. The round was led by True Ventures with MaC VC and MFV Partners.
Deal: Seed Round
Region: United States
Industry: Mobility
Sector: Electric Powertrain
Tech: Ferrite Magnet Motors, Hub Architecture
🔸 RLWRLD Raises $15M to Build Foundation Models for Robots
South Korea-based RLWRLD raised $15M in seed funding from LG, SK Telecom, KDDI, and others to develop embodied AI models for robots. The startup builds physical-world foundation models trained on sensor-rich, industrial environments—targeting autonomous operation across logistics, manufacturing, and smart infrastructure.
Deal: Seed Round
Region: South Korea / Japan
Industry: Robotics
Sector: Foundation Models
Tech: Embodied AI, Vision-Language-Action Models
🔸 Optilogic Raises $40M Series B for AI-Driven Supply Chain Simulation
Optilogic, based in Ann Arbor, closed $40M to expand its Cosmic Frog platform—a tool enabling enterprise users to simulate and optimize supply chain changes with no code. Led by NewRoad Capital, the funding will scale AI-powered modeling for cost, service, and risk evaluation in complex logistics networks.
Deal: Series B
Region: United States
Industry: Enterprise Software
Sector: Supply Chain
Tech: AI Simulation, Optimization
🔸 Magma Raises $5M to Build Infrastructure for India’s Industrial Backbone
Indian industrial platform Magma closed a $5M Series A round led by Capria Ventures to expand its vertically integrated ecosystem for SME factories. From green energy and raw materials to waste recovery, Magma aims to modernize factory infrastructure with sustainability and scale in mind.
Deal: Series A
Region: India
Industry: IndustrialTech
Sector: Manufacturing Enablement
Tech: Vertical Integration, Green Materials
🔸 Xaba Extends Seed Round with $6M to Build ‘Synthetic Brains’ for Robots
Toronto-based Xaba raised an additional $6M to develop AI that automates programming for industrial robots. Its xCognition platform generates robotic and PLC logic with natural language prompts, reducing automation deployment time by up to 80%. Hitachi Ventures led the round.
Deal: Seed Extension
Region: Canada
Industry: Robotics
Sector: Industrial Automation
Tech: Generative AI, PLC Code Gen
🔸 Rescale Secures $115M Series D for AI-Driven Engineering
Cloud HPC platform Rescale raised $115M from NVIDIA, Hitachi Ventures, Prosperity7, and others to expand its AI-native digital engineering stack. The platform integrates simulation, data, and compute workflows—powering modeling for industries like aerospace, pharma, and defense. Total funding now exceeds $260M.
Deal: Series D
Region: United States
Industry: HPC / Engineering
Sector: Digital R&D
Tech: Applied AI, Physics Simulation, Cloud Compute
🔸 Zero Industrial Raises $10M to Decarbonize Industrial Heat with Thermal Storage
Charleston-based Zero Industrial raised $10M to deploy thermal energy storage (TES) systems that decarbonize industrial heat. The startup develops turnkey TES projects sold under Heat-as-a-Service models, targeting fossil-free steam production across North America. The round was led by Evok Innovations.
Deal: Series A
Region: United States
Industry: Energy
Sector: Industrial Decarbonization
Tech: Thermal Storage, Heat-as-a-Service
🔸 Crux Raises $50M Series B to Build Clean Energy Capital Markets Infrastructure
Crux closed a $50M Series B to expand its platform for transferable tax credits and debt financing for clean energy and manufacturing projects. The company serves 630+ market participants and has enabled billions in transactions. Lowercarbon Capital led the round.
Deal: Series B
Region: USA
Industry: Climate Finance
Sector: Clean Energy, Infrastructure
Tech: Fintech Platform, AI-Enhanced Deal Tools
🔸 Base Power Raises $200M to Scale Residential Battery Grids in Texas
Base Power raised $200M Series B to accelerate deployment of home battery systems and open its first manufacturing plant in Texas. The startup partners with utilities and homebuilders to boost grid resilience. Addition and Andreessen Horowitz co-led the round.
Deal: Series B
Region: USA
Industry: Energy
Sector: Residential Storage, Grid Infrastructure
Tech: Battery Systems, Distributed Energy Resources
🔸 Phantom Neuro Secures $19M to Bring Neural Interfaces to Prosthetics
Phantom Neuro raised $19M to commercialize its implantable neural interface for prosthetics, enabling real-time control using nerve signals. The tech showed 94% accuracy in recent trials. Ottobock led the round.
Deal: Series A
Region: USA
Industry: Neurotechnology
Sector: Medtech, Prosthetics
Tech: Neural Interfaces, Bioelectronics
🔸 Attovia Raises $90M Series C to Advance Bispecifics for Immune Diseases
Attovia closed a $90M Series C to advance its clinical-stage candidates for immune-mediated diseases using its Attobody platform. The lead asset, ATTO-1310, is in trials for chronic pruritus. Deep Track Capital led the round.
Deal: Series C
Region: USA
Industry: Biotech
Sector: Immunology, Therapeutics
Tech: Bispecific Nanobodies, Antibody Engineering
Here’s What the Most Successful Deep Tech Teams Are Doing Differently
Deep Tech Is Not SaaS
The startup world has spent 20 years optimizing for one model: fast, lean, digital, low-CAPEX, infinitely scalable.
That mindset created giants.
But it also created a blind spot.
Deep tech isn’t just “harder tech.”
It’s a different game entirely.
And too many founders—and investors—are realizing that only after burning through a runway built for a product that doesn’t live in the cloud.
Here’s what breaks when you try to build deep tech with a SaaS mindset...
🔸 Dolphin Semiconductor Raises €10M to Expand Mixed-Signal IP Portfolio
France-based Dolphin Semiconductor raised €10M to scale its R&D and grow commercial IP offerings in power management, audio, and metering. Vertex Growth led the round.
Deal: Growth Investment
Region: France
Industry: Semiconductors
Sector: IP Licensing, Mixed-Signal Design
Tech: Power Mgmt ICs, Analog & Mixed-Signal IP
🔸 Neuranics Raises $8M to Commercialize Contactless Muscle Sensing
Neuranics secured $8M seed funding to bring its magnetic sensing tech to market. The platform enables muscle signal detection without skin contact.
Deal: Seed
Region: UK
Industry: Sensors
Sector: Wearables, Human-Machine Interfaces
Tech: Magnetic Biosensing, Contactless EMG
🔸 Trellis Health Emerges from Stealth with $1.8M for Women’s Health OS
Trellis Health raised $1.8M pre-seed to build an AI-driven digital health platform for women, starting with pregnancy and postpartum care. Led by Palette Ventures.
Deal: Pre-Seed
Region: USA
Industry: Digital Health
Sector: Femtech
Tech: AI-Powered Medical Records, Personalized Health Timeline
🔸 Pillar Raises $9M to Secure AI Systems Against Emerging Threats
Pillar raised $9M to develop a cybersecurity platform focused on protecting agentic AI systems from evasion, poisoning, and IP leakage. Shield Capital led the seed round.
Deal: Seed
Region: USA
Industry: Cybersecurity
Sector: AI Security
Tech: AI Model Protection, Threat Mapping, Guardrails
🔸 Eratani Raises $6.2M Series A to Digitize Rice Farming Across Indonesia
Jakarta-based Eratani secured $6.2M to scale its ag marketplace for smallholder rice farmers. The platform combines community-driven outreach with precision agtech, boosting yields by 29% and income by 25%. Clay Capital led the round.
Deal: Series A
Region: Indonesia
Industry: Agtech
Sector: Rice Farming, Food Security
Tech: Digital Agriculture Platform, Precision Farming Tools
🔸 Flock Mobility Raises £1M to Scale Shared EV Ride Platform
UK-based Flock Mobility raised £1M to grow its AI-powered platform for shared electric transport, already used by NHS and Berkeley Group. It dynamically matches EV fleet use across shuttles, on-demand rides, and self-drive.
Deal: Funding Round
Region: UK
Industry: Mobility
Sector: Shared EV Infrastructure
Tech: AI Optimization, Fleet Management
🔸 Glycomine Raises $115M Series C for Rare Disease Phase II Trials
Glycomine raised $115M to fund Phase IIb trials for GLM101, a therapy targeting PMM2-CDG, a rare glycosylation disorder. The treatment uses lipid nanoparticles for mannose-1-phosphate delivery.
Deal: Series C
Region: USA
Industry: Biotech
Sector: Rare Diseases
Tech: Lipid Nanoparticle Therapy, Glycosylation Disorder Treatment
🔸 Assort Health Secures $22M Series A to Build Voice AI Agents for Clinics
Assort Health raised $22M to expand its voice AI platform for patient scheduling, replacing manual phone trees with intelligent agents. Clinics report 8x revenue growth and 30-minute hold times cut to 1 minute. First Round led the round.
Deal: Series A
Region: USA
Industry: Healthtech
Sector: Patient Access, Clinic Automation
Tech: Voice AI, Intelligent Agents
🔸 Pajarito Powder Completes B-3 Round to Scale Hydrogen Fuel Cell Catalysts
Pajarito Powder closed its B-3 round with new funding from Hyundai Motor Group. The company develops advanced catalysts for PEM fuel cells and electrolyzers, supporting hydrogen mobility and heavy industry.
Deal: Series B-3
Region: USA
Industry: Hydrogen
Sector: Fuel Cell Components
Tech: Catalyst Materials, Electrolyzer Tech
🔸 Portia AI Raises £4.4M to Build Secure AI Agent Infrastructure
London-based Portia AI raised £4.4M to offer a secure platform for companies to deploy in-house AI agents. Founded by ex-Stripe and Google leaders, the startup ensures human oversight in agent workflows. General Catalyst led.
Deal: Seed
Region: UK
Industry: AI Infrastructure
Sector: Enterprise Automation
Tech: AI Agents, Secure Task Automation
🔸 RISA Labs Raises $3.5M to Accelerate Cancer Treatment Authorizations
RISA Labs raised $3.5M to deploy its AI agent platform that reduces prior authorization times for cancer care by up to 80%. Currently onboarding 100+ centers. Flipkart co-founder Binny Bansal led the round.
Deal: Seed
Region: USA
Industry: Healthtech
Sector: Oncology, Workflow Automation
Tech: AI Agents, Prior Auth Optimization
🔸 Hexium Emerges with $12M to Advance Lithium Isotope Enrichment for Nuclear
Hexium raised $12M to develop AVLIS-based lithium-6 and lithium-7 enrichment, supporting advanced nuclear and space applications. The startup aims to restore US leadership in isotope supply. MaC VC and Refactor co-led.
Deal: Seed + Non-Dilutive
Region: USA
Industry: Energy
Sector: Nuclear Supply Chain
Tech: AVLIS, Isotope Separation
🔸 Spearmint Energy Secures $250M for Two 400MWh Texas BESS Projects
Spearmint Energy raised $250M to finance two battery storage projects in Texas totaling 400MWh. Backed by Manulife, East West Bank, Investec, and Sugar Creek Capital, the projects will use Sungrow’s PowerTitan 2.0 platform and support ERCOT market expansion.
Deal: Project Finance
Region: USA
Industry: Energy
Sector: Grid-Scale Storage
Tech: Lithium-Iron Phosphate BESS, EPC
🔸 Collide Raises $5M to Build GenAI Platform for the Energy Sector
Houston-based Collide secured $5M to scale its GenAI-powered knowledge base for oil & gas. The platform offers RAG and LLMs for petroleum engineers, with a user base spanning 122 countries. Mercury Fund led the round.
Deal: Seed
Region: USA
Industry: Energy
Sector: Oil & Gas Software
Tech: GenAI, RAG, Industry-Specific LLMs
🔸 Portnox Raises $37.5M Series B to Expand Zero Trust Access Platform
Portnox raised $37.5M to grow its cloud-native, zero trust access control suite. The platform supports passwordless access, compliance, and policy enforcement for enterprises and MSPs. Updata Partners led the round.
Deal: Series B
Region: USA
Industry: Cybersecurity
Sector: Identity & Access Management
Tech: Zero Trust, Passwordless Auth, Cloud Native
🔸 Fourier Raises $18.5M Series A to Scale Modular Hydrogen Systems
Fourier emerged from stealth with $18.5M to deploy modular hydrogen production systems optimized by machine learning. Airbus Ventures backed the round to support use cases across industrial sectors.
Deal: Series A
Region: USA
Industry: Energy
Sector: Hydrogen
Tech: Modular Electrolysis, Real-Time Optimization
🔸 Slate Auto Quietly Raises $111M to Build $25K EV Pickup
EV startup Slate Auto, backed by Jeff Bezos, raised $111M to develop a two-seat, $25K electric pickup targeting first-time car buyers. The vehicle is slated for a 2026 launch in Indianapolis.
Deal: Series A
Region: USA
Industry: Mobility
Sector: Electric Vehicles
Tech: Affordable EVs, Vertically Integrated Mfg
🔸 Cyclic Materials Adds Amazon to Extended Series B for Rare Earth Recycling
Toronto-based Cyclic Materials brought in Amazon’s Climate Pledge Fund to its extended Series B, supporting expansion of its rare earth magnet recycling platform across US and EU.
Deal: Extended Series B
Region: Canada
Industry: Cleantech
Sector: Circular Economy
Tech: Rare Earth Recycling, Magnet Recovery
🔸 Peppermint Robotics Raises ₹34 Cr to Scale Cleaning & Logistics Bots
India-based Peppermint Robotics raised ₹34 Cr (~$4M) to expand its commercial cleaning and material handling robots to EU, APAC, and Japan. Investors include JDSS and ENRISSION.
Deal: Series A
Region: India
Industry: Robotics
Sector: Industrial Automation
Tech: Mobile Robotics, Autonomous Cleaning
🔸 Garuda Aerospace Bags $11M Series B to Scale Drone Manufacturing
Chennai’s Garuda Aerospace raised $11M to ramp up R&D and drone production. The firm provides multi-purpose drone solutions across agriculture, defence, and logistics.
Deal: Series B
Region: India
Industry: Aerospace
Sector: Dronetech
Tech: Multi-Use Drones, Autonomous Flight
Venture Capital
🔹 Enterprise Ireland Launches €100K Proof of Concept Fund to Boost Tech Commercialization
Enterprise Ireland has introduced a new funding stream under its Commercialisation Fund, offering researchers up to €100K over 12 months to validate innovations and bridge the gap to market. The initiative targets customer discovery, prototyping, and early human studies, aiming to de-risk academic research and strengthen Ireland’s innovation pipeline.
🔹 Murata Launches $50M US-Based CVC ‘WONDERSTONE Ventures’ for Frontier Tech
Japanese electronics giant Murata has launched WONDERSTONE Ventures, a US-based corporate venture arm with a $50M commitment over five years. The CVC will target startups in 6G, optics, semiconductors, bioelectronics, robotics, and space—aiming to spot and shape disruptive tech aligned with Murata’s long-term roadmap.
🔹 Ex-Y Combinator President Geoff Ralston Launches ‘SAIF’ to Back Safe AI Startups
Geoff Ralston, former president of Y Combinator, has launched the Safe Artificial Intelligence Fund (SAIF) to invest in startups focused on AI safety, compliance, IP protection, and disinformation defense. With $100K SAFE checks and YC mentorship included, SAIF is carving a contrarian niche in the increasingly crowded AI VC space.
🔹 Seattle’s Ascend Raises Third Fund to Fuel Early-Stage AI Startups
Ascend, a VC firm focused on early-stage vertical AI applications, is raising its third fund (amount undisclosed) to expand its support of Seattle’s startup ecosystem. Led by Kirby Winfield, the firm typically backs 35–40 startups per fund, with $250K–$750K checks, and prioritizes founder-first support in a tightening capital environment.
🔹 AVP Raises €1.5B Growth Fund to Back Europe’s Next Tech Champions
Paris-based AVP (formerly AXA Venture Partners) is raising a €1.5B growth fund—one of Europe’s largest—to back scaleups with €100M+ ARR aiming to IPO in 3–5 years. AXA committed €750M, joined by the European Investment Fund via the European Tech Champions Initiative. The fund signals a push for local late-stage capital independence.
🔹 Stepchange Closes $7M Fund to Back Climate Tech with Market-Ready Impact
Seattle’s Stepchange has closed a $7M debut fund to support software-first climate startups in sectors like logistics, built environments, and grid resilience. Backed by Bain Capital Ventures and 100+ LPs from top tech firms, Stepchange focuses on low-carbon solutions that scale without government incentives or green premiums.