Google makes its biggest acquisition for $32 Billion & Musk’s X sees valuation rebound to $44 billion.

DAILY PICKS

🗞️ What else is brewing

• Size matters to VCs: how to pitch your market to investors?

• Framework: copy that converts.

• AI agent problems that everyone should know.

• Palle Broe’s top 30 AI unicorns with the fewest employees.

• ​The Implications of the Wiz/Google deal by Tomasz Tunguz.

• When should startups prioritize PMF Score over NPS?

• Startup legal document pack – essential legal docs for founders.

• Marc Lou on how to find startup ideas.

• Thinking through the future for LLM companies... and what this means for B2B AI startups.

• 2700+ US angel investors & VC firms contact database (email + LinkedIn link).

• Must-have resources to stay updated on AI tools, trusted by leading founders and investors.

🤝 A MESSAGE FOR DEVELOPERS, CREATORS AND BUSINESSES…

The AI Voice API with 99.38% Pronunciation Accuracy—And You Can Try Them for Free

Let’s be real—most AI voices still sound robotic. Flat, emotionless, and nowhere near the quality needed for real-world applications. But that’s exactly what Murf AI is solving.

Their AI Voice API is built for developers, creators, and businesses who want ultra-natural, human-like voices that don’t sound like a machine reading a script.

If you’re a developer, creator, or business looking for ultra-realistic AI voices, Murf’s AI Voice API delivers:

✅ 99.38% pronunciation accuracy, making speech sound human-like and natural
✅ 130+ voices across 13+ languages, with 15+ speaking styles for added versatility
✅ MultiNative feature that lets the same voice seamlessly switch between languages and accents.
✅ Advanced audio duration control, ensuring precise timing while keeping speech smooth
✅ Developer-friendly RESTful API & Python SDK, making integration fast and easy

And here’s the best part:

• Early-stage startups get $5,000 in free API credits for 3 months

• Not a startup? You still get 100,000 free characters to test it out

If you’ve ever wanted to add AI-generated voices that actually sound real to your product, this is your chance to try it for free →

STARTUPS RAISING MILLIONS

💰 Startup funding updates

Daisy, a NYC-based provider of a platform for brands to maximize content performance through creator-powered engagement, raised $3.9M in seed funding. The round was led by CMT Digital, Volt Capital, and EV3 Ventures.

257, a NYC-based software and AI company focused on the residential energy market, raised $9.2m in seed funding. The round was led by F2 Venture Capital.

Spangle AI, a Seattle-based startup founded by former Bolt CEO Maju Kuruvilla, raised a $6 million seed round from Madrona Ventures and Streamlined Ventures. The company uses AI to create personalized landing pages for online shoppers, improving conversion rates by 51% in early testing.

brain.space, a Tel Aviv, Israel-based creator of a Brain-Data-as-a-Service Ecosystem for exclusive generative AI mental modeling, raised $11M in Series A funding. The round was led by Toyota Ventures, with participation from Mangrove Capital Partners, The Group Ventures, as well as a $3.5M non-dilutive Grant by the Israel Innovation Authority.

Orion Security, a Tel Aviv, Israel-based provider of an AI-powered data protection platform, raised $6M in Seed funding. The round was led by Pico Venture Partners and FXP with participation from Underscore VC and cybersecurity leaders including the founders of Perimeter 81 and the CISO of Elastic.

VIA, a Somerville, MA-based provider of a data and identity protection platform, raised $28M in Series B funding. The round was led by Bosch Ventures, with participation from BMW i Ventures, MassMutual Ventures, and Sentinel Global.

Arcade.dev, a San Francisco, CA-based company helping AI agents securely take real-world actions on behalf of a user, raised $12M in Seed funding. The round was led by Laude Ventures with participation from Flybridge Ventures, Hanabi Capital, Neotribe, and Andy Rachleff.

Nerdio, a Chicago, IL-based provider of an automated end-user computing (EUC) platform, received $500M in minority investment from General Atlantic. Lead Edge Capital and StepStone Group participated in the round.

Coreshell, a San Leandro, CA-based battery technology company, raised $24M in funding. The round was led by Ferroglobe PLC (NASDAQ: GSM) and Zeon Ventures. Additional financial and returning investors included Lane Ventures, Entrada Ventures, Foothill Ventures, Helios Climate Ventures, Translink Investment, Trousdale Ventures, and Asymmetry Ventures.

Augment, a San Francisco, CA-based provider of an AI-driven logistics platform, raised $25M in Seed funding. The round was led by 8VC.

Equipt.ai, a Woodlands, TX-based software company that specializes in asset and field service management, raised $3.2M in Seed funding. The round was led by Moneta Ventures with participation from Cortado Ventures.

Graphite, a New York based AI-powered code review platform provider, raised $52M in Series B funding. The round was led by Accel, with participation from Menlo Ventures via its Anthology Fund with Anthropic, Shopify Ventures, and Figma Ventures, as well as returning investors Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) and The General Partnership.

Crossmint, a NYC-based provider of a platform for companies building onchain, raised $23.6M in funding. The round was led by Ribbit Capital, with participation from Franklin Templeton, Nyca, First Round, and Lightspeed Faction.

LimitlessCNC, a Tel Aviv, Israel-based AI-driven manufacturing startup, raised $4.1M in funding. The round was led by Grove Ventures and Meron Capital.

Level, a NYC-based provider of a decentralized stablecoin protocol, raised additional $2.6M in funding. The round was led by Dragonfly. Other investors included Polychain, Flowdesk, Echo syndicates Native Crypto, Feisty Collective by Path, Sam Kazemian and Albert Chon, bringing the total amount to over $6M.

GrubMarket, a San Francisco, CA-based AI-powered food supply chain technology enabler, raised $50M in Series G funding. Backers included Liberty Street Funds, 3Spoke Capital, ROC Venture Group, Portfolia, Pegasus Tech Ventures, Joseph Stone Capital, and others. The round valued GrubMarket at over $3.5 Billion.

RegCell, an Emeryville, CA-based biotechnology company developing therapies for autoimmune diseases and transplantation, raised $45.8M in funding. The round consisted of $8.5M in Seed funding led by The University of Tokyo Edge Capital Partners (UTEC) and Fast Track Initiative (FTI).

Madison Scientific, a Chicago, IL-based private medical device company, raised $7M in Seed funding. The round was led by WARF Ventures, the Isthmus Project, and others with participation from family offices and angel investors.

VulnCheck, a Lexington, MA-based exploit intelligence company, raised $12M in Series a funding. The round was led by Ten Eleven Ventures, with participation from existing investors, including Sorenson Capital and In-Q-Tel (IQT), bringing the total amount to nearly $20M.

Apptronik, an Austin, TX-based AI-powered humanoid robotics company, raised additional $53M in Series B funding. The round, which brought the total amount to 403M, was led by Capital and Capital Factory, with participation from Google. Mercedes-Benz, Japan Post Capital, ARK Invest, Helium-3, Magnetar, RyderVentures, Korea Investment Partners, and others also participated.

Popfly, a Costa Mesa, CA-based provider of a platform helping brands and creators work together, raised $2M in Seed funding. The round was led by Rand Currier with participation from TikTok leaders and founders of Meridian Link, Right Side Up, and Farmers Business Network.

NEW VCs IN THE MARKET

🏦 Venture Capital updates

Critical Venture Partners, a VC firm founded by recent University of Pennsylvania graduates, has raised a $5 million inaugural fund to back young founders tackling climate, healthcare, and economic challenges. The firm, led by Sam Strickberger, Seungkwon Son, and Max Strickberger, writes checks between $50,000 and $250,000.

Just Climate, an offshoot of Al Gore’s Generation Investment Management, has raised a $175 million fund from Microsoft’s Climate Innovation Fund and CalSTRS to invest in nature-based climate solutions. The fund will target agriculture, forestry, and land-use projects that restore biodiversity and reduce emissions. Its first investment, made in January, was a Series B round in NatureMetrics, a company using eDNA technology to measure biodiversity.

KEY STORIES IN TECH

📜 Latest in tech

Google makes its biggest acquisition, buying Wiz for $32 billion:

• Google’s parent company, Alphabet, is acquiring cloud security startup Wiz for $32 billion in cash, with an additional $1 billion in retention bonuses, making it the company’s largest acquisition to date.

• Wiz will remain an independent platform operating across multiple cloud providers, with plans for more hiring and potential acquisitions, as it aims to double its annual recurring revenue to $1 billion.

• The deal, led by Google Cloud CEO Thomas Kurian, strengthens Google’s enterprise cloud and security offerings, positioning it to better compete with AWS and Microsoft Azure while reinforcing its AI and cybersecurity strategy.

Nvidia announces two ‘personal AI supercomputers’:

• Nvidia introduced DGX Spark and DGX Station, new AI personal supercomputers, at GTC 2025, designed to prototype, fine-tune, and run AI models at the edge.

• DGX Spark, available now, features a GB10 Grace Blackwell Superchip, while DGX Station, releasing later this year, includes the GB300 Ultra Desktop Superchip with 784GB of memory.

• CEO Jensen Huang emphasized that AI agents will be ubiquitous, requiring a new class of computers, with major partners like Asus, Dell, HP, and Lenovo set to manufacture them.

Elon Musk’s X sees valuation rebound to $44 billion from $10 billion:

• X (formerly Twitter) was valued at $44 billion in a secondary deal in March, marking a sharp turnaround from its post-buyout slump below $10 billion.

• Musk’s cost-cutting and regained advertiser support, including from Apple and Amazon, helped restore X’s core earnings to pre-buyout levels.

• Investor interest surged after Trump’s election win, allowing Wall Street banks to offload nearly all of the $12.5 billion in loans tied to Musk’s Twitter acquisition.

OpenAI begins testing ChatGPT connectors for Drive and Slack:

• OpenAI is launching a beta test for ChatGPT Connectors, enabling ChatGPT Team users to link their Slack and Google Drive accounts for more informed responses from the chatbot.

• The new feature will initially be available to select users, with plans to expand to other platforms like Microsoft SharePoint and Box, allowing ChatGPT to utilize internal business information.

• OpenAI assures users that permissions for Slack and Google Drive are respected and continuously updated, ensuring that employees access only the data they are authorized to view.

Nvidia debuts Groot N1, a foundation model for humanoid robotics:

• Nvidia unveiled Groot N1 at GTC 2025, a generalist AI model for humanoid robotics that integrates both synthetic and real-world training data for advanced movement and decision-making.

• The model features a “dual-system architecture” inspired by human cognition, with a slow-thinking system for reasoning and planning and a fast-thinking system for executing robotic actions.

• Groot N1 is open source, with Nvidia providing simulation frameworks and synthetic training data, aiming to push general-purpose humanoid robots closer to mass production.

LAST COFFEE SIP

☕Other news

Google copies OpenAI with Gemini’s new Canvas tool for writing and coding:

• Google launched Gemini Canvas, an interactive workspace for writing and coding, mirroring OpenAI’s Canvas and Anthropic’s Artifacts for real-time content refinement.

• Canvas allows users to edit drafts, adjust tone and formatting, and preview HTML or React code, offering an AI-powered collaborative space that integrates with Google Docs.

• Google also introduced Audio Overview for Gemini, bringing AI-generated podcast-style summaries of documents and web pages, initially available in English.

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.

HIRING ALERT: STARTUPS & VC ROLES

💼 Today’s VC & startup job opportunities

• Community Operations Specialist - Outlander VC | USA - Apply Here

• Fund Operations Manager - TNB Aura | Singapore - Apply Here

• People Operations Associate - Greycroft | USA - Apply Here

• Principal - Artha Group | India - Apply Here

• General Counsel - Playground Global | USA - Apply Here

• Principal - Mavin Ventures | India - Apply Here

• Vice President - Agritech - Mavin Venture | India - Apply Here

• Part-Time Student at Impact VC - Kopa Venture | Germany - Apply Here

CURATED RESOURCES

🎁 Don’t miss - Curated Resources for Founders.

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

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

• Building Cap Table As A Founder: Template to Download.

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

• 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