Apple is reportedly exploring humanoid robots & Deepseek’s AI models give China’s chipmakers a competitive edge.

DAILY PICKS

🗞️ What else is brewing

• How to get Investors to say Yes - Lessons from a Founder who raised $1B

• A simple 5-step framework to determine your startup's valuation.

• All-In-One Guide To Pitch Deck Storytelling - Free Template & Curated Resources.

• 50 most viral hook patterns extracted from 46,606 TikTok.

• Ready-to-go financial modelling template to build your startup financial model that every investor wants to see.

• Paul Graham's framework to get startup ideas.

• Meco is the best free web app used to read newsletters in distraction-free systematic ways.

• 350+ Indian Angel Investors & Venture Capital Firms Contact Database (Email + LinkedIn Link).

• Tips on making investor update a valuable asset

• 5 things to know when building successful paywalls.

• Must-have resources to stay updated on AI tools, trusted by MIT students and tech professionals from OpenAI and NVIDIA.

A MESSAGE FOR FOUNDERS

📢 RNO1 Has a Message for You: Your Digital Presence Should Drive Results

Your website or app isn’t just a digital asset—it’s the foundation of your brand’s success. At RNO1, we don’t just design; we create Radical Digital Experiences that captivate users, drive conversions, and fuel business growth.

Whether you need a bold new website, an intuitive app, a high-impact SaaS platform, or a data-driven marketing strategy, we help brands break through the noise and dominate their industries.

What We Deliver:
✔️ Branding & Identity – Your brand should do more than stand out—it should make a statement.
✔️ Web & App Development – Future-proof platforms built for speed, scalability, and success.
✔️ UX/UI & Product Design – Seamless, high-converting digital experiences users love.
✔️ Go-To-Market Strategy – Position your brand to win with a strategic roadmap.
✔️ Performance Marketing – SEO, PPC, email & social strategies that turn traffic into revenue.

We’ve helped Airbnb and Dentsu scale their digital presence and powered startups that secured $100M+ in funding and hit $1B valuations.

Let’s build something extraordinary. Reach out today →

_{*Partnership with}

FEATURED YOUR STARTUP

💪 Get your startup in front of over 85,000+ audience

Our newsletter is read by thousands of tech professionals, founders, investors (VCs / Angel Investors) and managers around the world. Get in touch today.

STARTUPS RAISING MILLIONS

💰 Startup funding updates

Mast Reforestation, a Seattle, WA-based post-wildfire reforestation company, raised $25M in Series B funding. The round was co-led by new investor Pulse Fund and existing investor Social Capital with participation from Seven Seven Six, Elemental Impact, Spero Ventures.

Candid Health, a San Francisco-based medical billing automation startup, raised a $52.5M Series C led by Oak HC/FT, with participation from 8VC, First Round Capital, BoxGroup, and Y Combinator.

Suger, a San Francisco-based SaaS marketplace automation startup, raised a $15M Series A led by Threshold Ventures, with participation from Craft Ventures, Intel Capital, and Y Combinator.

SpotDraft, a New York- and Bengaluru-based legal AI startup, raised a $54M Series B led by Vertex Growth Singapore and Trident Partners, with Xeed VC, Arkam Ventures, Prosus Ventures, and Premji Invest.

Keragon, a NYC-based provider of an AI-powered, HIPAA-compliant automation platform for healthcare, raised $7.5M in Seed funding. The round was led by Upfront Ventures, with participation from early investors Afore Capital, Focal, and 25m Health.

Human.org, a San Francisco, CA and Dubai, UAE-based product-based AI safety lab solving AI Alignment (AIA), raised $7.3m in pre-seed funding. Backed by investors including HF0, Soma Capital, Spearhead, Pioneer Fund, Hummingbird VC, Brett Gibson, general partner at Initialized Capital, Val Vavilov, founder of Bitfury, James Tamplin, partner at HF0, Sheridan Clayborne, co-founder at Lendtable, and others angles.

QuEra Computing, a Boston, MA-based neutral-atom quantum computing company, raised $230M in funding. Backers included Google (previously announced), SoftBank Vision Fund 2, Valor Equity Partners, and others existing investors including QVT Family Office, Safar Partners, and others.

Lingopal.ai, a NYC-based real-time speech-to-speech translation company, raised $14M in Serie A funding. The round was led by DCM Ventures, with participation from Scrum Ventures, Marquee Ventures and angel investors.

Lucidity, a NYC-based provider of a multi-cloud storage management platform, raised $21M in Series A funding. The round was led by WestBridge Capital with participation from existing investor Alpha Wave.

Gaia Dynamics, a Palo Alto, CA-based provider of an AI-driven platform for global trade compliance, raised $1.5M in Pre-Seed funding. The round was led by AI Fund and Zenda VC.

Germitec, a Bordeaux, France-based MedTech company developing UV-C high-level disinfection solutions, raised $30M in funding. The round was led by Eurazeo.

Pathify, a Denver, CO-based digital engagement hub for higher education, raised $25M in Growth Equity funding. The round was led by Five Elms Capital.

High Definition Vehicle Insurance (HDVI), a Chicago, IL-based technology-driven commercial auto insurance provider, raised $40M in growth capital. The round, which brought its total funding to over $87M, was co-led by existing investors 8VC, Autotech Ventures, Munich Re Ventures, and Weatherford Capital.

Jscrambler, a Porto, Portugal-based client-side protection company, raised $5.2M in funding. The round was subscribed exclusively by Iberis Capital.

Accure Battery Intelligence, an Aachen, Germany-based AI-based battery safety and performance products company, raised $16M in Series B funding. The round was led by Incharge Capital Partners, with participation from existing investors BlueBear Capital, HSBC Asset Management, Riverstone Holdings, Capnamic, and 42CAP.

NEW VCs IN THE MARKET

🏦 Venture Capital updates

Ulu Ventures, a Silicon Valley-based seed-stage VC firm, raised a $208M fourth fund, 50% larger than its previous $138M fund. Co-founded by former Google VP Miriam Rivera, Ulu maintains its data-driven diversity investment strategy despite broader DEI pullbacks. The firm emphasizes a bias-free approach while navigating regulatory risks under the new administration.

KEY STORIES IN TECH

📜 Latest in tech

Apple is reportedly exploring humanoid robots:

• Apple is researching both humanoid and non-humanoid robots, with supply chain checks indicating a focus on sensing hardware and software over physical form, per analyst Ming-Chi Kuo.

• Kuo projects 2028 as an optimistic mass production timeline, but notes Apple’s past cancellations, like the Apple Car, and suggests the project is still in early proof-of-concept stages.

• The research hints at a future smart home ecosystem, potentially starting with a robotic home hub with a mechanical arm, rather than a full humanoid designed for household chores.

DeepSeek’s AI models give China’s chipmakers a competitive edge:

• DeepSeek’s AI models optimize computational efficiency for inference, helping Chinese chipmakers like Huawei compete against Nvidia despite weaker processing power.

• Huawei, Hygon, EnFlame, and others have announced support for DeepSeek models, as its open-source nature and low costs drive AI adoption across industries in China.

• While Nvidia still dominates AI chips, DeepSeek’s efficiency-focused approach aligns with China’s capabilities, enabling broader integration in telecom, automotive, and enterprise applications.

Reddit plans AI-Enhanced search to improve user discovery in 2025:

• Reddit will upgrade its search with AI-powered “Reddit Answers,” summarizing relevant discussions to help users navigate subjective and complex topics more effectively.

• The company is hiring a small search team to refine this feature, building on its AI-powered translation and content recommendation efforts launched last year.

• With Q4 growth below investor expectations, CEO Steve Huffman sees search as a key driver for user retention and monetization, potentially integrating it into Reddit’s onboarding process.

Meta eyes acquisition of South Korean chip firm FuriosaAI:

• Meta is reportedly in talks to acquire FuriosaAI, a South Korean chip startup specializing in AI accelerators, to strengthen its AI hardware infrastructure.

• FuriosaAI, founded by ex-Samsung and AMD engineers, has raised ~$62M and is engaged with potential customers in the U.S., Japan, and India.

• The move aligns with Meta’s push to reduce dependence on Nvidia and complements its $65B investment in AI infrastructure this year.

OpenAI cancels its o3 AI model in favor of a ‘unified’ next-gen release:

• OpenAI has canceled the standalone release of o3, instead integrating its advancements into GPT-5, which will unify AI tools and remove the model picker for a more seamless ChatGPT experience.

• Before GPT-5 launches, OpenAI will roll out GPT-4.5 (“Orion”) in the coming weeks, though reports suggest it offers only marginal improvements over GPT-4o.

• DeepSeek’s R1 has narrowed OpenAI’s lead in AI, prompting OpenAI to accelerate releases as it shifts toward more reliable reasoning models for advanced problem-solving.

Adobe just launched its AI video generator:

• Adobe has launched its AI video generator, Generate Video, in public beta, allowing users to create videos using text and image prompts through the redesigned Firefly web app.

• The Generate Video tool outputs footage at 1080p resolution and includes features for refining video styles, but currently limits clips to a maximum of five seconds, unlike competitors offering longer durations.

• The updated Firefly platform integrates with Adobe's Creative Cloud apps, supports commercial use due to its training on licensed content, and offers subscription plans with credits for generating videos and images.

LAST COFFEE SIP

☕Other news

Elon Musk’s X will pay Trump $10M to settle lawsuit over 2021 ban:

• X (formerly Twitter) will pay Donald Trump $10M to settle a lawsuit over his 2021 ban, following Twitter’s decision to remove him after the January 6 Capitol riot.

• Trump’s team considered dropping the case due to his growing ties with Musk, who reinstated his account in 2022 and spent $250M on his 2024 campaign.

• Despite their relationship, Trump proceeded with the settlement, following Meta’s similar $25M payout in January for a related lawsuit.

Anthropic projects Up to $34.5B revenue by 2027:

• Anthropic forecasts revenue reaching between $12B and $34.5B by 2027, up from $2.2B in 2025, as it competes with OpenAI for AI dominance.

• The company expects to burn $3B this year, down from $5.6B in 2024, and aims to become cash-flow positive by 2027.

• Backed by Amazon and nearing a $2B funding deal at a $60B valuation, Anthropic continues to secure major investments in the AI race.

HIRING ALERT: STARTUPS & VC ROLES

💼 Today’s VC & startup job opportunities

• Venture Capital Associate - Connecticut Innovation | USA - Apply Here

• Investment Operations Analyst - ACE Venture | USA - Apply Here

• Venture Analyst - Hearst Venture | USA - Apply Here

• MBA Venture Capital Associate Intern - DRW | USA - Apply Here

• Venture Capital Fund Controller - Spring Tide Venture | USA - Apply Here

• Director of Investor Relations - Navitas Capital | USA - Apply Here

• Community and Office Manager - Rackhouse | USA - Apply Here

CURATED RESOURCES

🎁 Don’t miss - Curated Resources for Founders.

• Write Your Monthly Investor Update (Email Template Download).

• Excel Template: Early Stage Startup Financial Model For Fundraising

• 2700+ US Angel Investors & VC Firms Contact Database (Email + LinkedIn Link).

• 1000+ Euro Tech Angel Investors & VC Firms Database.

• 350+ Indian Angel Investors & Venture Capital Firms Contact Database (Email + LinkedIn Link).

• 400+ French Angel Investors & Venture Capital Firms Contact Database (Email + LinkedIn Link).

• 250+ Latin America VC Firms & Angel Investors Database

• 150+ African Angel Investors Contact Database (Email + LinkedIn Link).

WHEN YOU’RE READY, HERE’S HOW I CAN HELP:

💁 You might need our help!

• Reach 86,600+ Founders & Investors: Partner with our newsletter to reach a highly engaged audience.

• Build Your Pitch Deck: We write, design and model your pitch deck into a storyteller book within 4-5 days.

BEFORE YOU GO