Google co-founder Larry Page reportedly launches AI manufacturing startup.

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STARTUPS RAISING MILLIONS

💰 Startup funding updates

AIceberg, a NYC-based providing a platform using generative and agentic AI for government and enterprise clients, raised $10M in Seed funding. The round was led by SYN Ventures and Sprout & Oak.

Shield AI, a San Diego-based defense tech startup developing autonomous drones and military systems, raised a $240M round at a $5.3B valuation. The round included participation from L3Harris, Hanwha Aerospace, and existing investors like Andreessen Horowitz.

QuantWare, a Delft, The Netherlands-based quantum computing company building technology to create quantum processors, raised €20m in Series A funding. The round was co-led by Invest-NL Deep Tech Fund and Innovation Quarter, with participation from EIC Fund and existing investors including FORWARD.one, Graduate Entrepreneur Fund and QDNL Participations, as well as Job van der Voort, founder and CEO of Remote.com.

FutureVault, a Toronto, Canada-based provider of AI-powered Digital Vaults for financial institutions, raised US $3M in equity funding, bringing the total raised since inception to US $31M. Backers included Founder & Executive Chairman G Scott Paterson, CEO Daniel Kenny, existing shareholders and selected new investors.

Spiritus, a Los Alamos, NM-based climate-tech startup which specializes in direct air capture (DAC) technology, raised $30M in Series A Funding. The round was led by Aramco Ventures and joined by Khosla Ventures, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries America, and TDK Ventures.

GovEagle, a Washington, DC-based provider of an AI-driven proposal platform for government contractors, raised $2.5M in funding. Backers included Strategic Cyber Ventures, Y Combinator, and a group of angel investors.

Daupler, a Kansas City, KS-based response management solution for utilities and municipalities, raised $15M in Series B funding. The round was led by Aqualateral, with participation from existing investors Burnt Island Ventures and KCRise Fund, among others.

Outmarket AI, a San Francisco, CA-based provider of an intelligence platform purpose-built to transform commercial insurance, raised $4.7M in seed funding. The round was led by Fika Ventures, with participation from TTV and Dash Fund.

PetScreening, a Mooresville, NC-based pet policy management software company, raised $80M in Series B funding. The round was led by Volition Capital and Guidepost Growth Equity.

Zocks, a San Francisco, CA-based privacy-first AI platform for financial advisors, raised $13.8m in Series A funding. The round was led by Motive Ventures with participation from Lightspeed Venture Partners, Expanse Venture Partners, Entrée Capital, and 14Peaks.

hema.to, a Munich, Germany-based digital medtech company, raised €3.6M in funding. The round was led by LUMO Labs and followed by Bayern Kapital and investors from their previous round.

ctrl+s, a Berlin, Germany-based data-driven climate-tech solution provider, raised €1M in Seed funding. The round was led by High-Tech Gründerfonds (HTGF) with participation from Benjamin Schulz as an angel investor and others.

Medly AI, a Wilmslow, UK-based EdTech startup, raised £1.7M in funding. The round was led by Eka Ventures and Ada Ventures.

Alpine Eagle, a Munich, Germany-based defence tech startup, raised €10.25M in seed funding. The round was led by IQ Capital with participation from HTGF, Expeditions Fund Sentris Capital, General Catalyst and HCVC, which led Alpine Eagle’s pre-seed.

AidKit, a Denver, CO-based startup helping government agencies and nonprofits administer aid programs, raised $8.5M in Series A funding. The round was led by Blueprint Equity.

Zeitview, a Los Angeles, CA-based company which specializes in visual AI for critical infrastructure, raised $60M in funding. The round was led by Climate Investment, with participation from current investors Valor Equity Partners, Union Square Ventures, Upfront Ventures, Euclidean Capital, Energy Transition Ventures, Hearst Ventures and Y Combinator.

Ataraxis AI, a NYC-based AI precision medicine company, raised $20.4M in Series A funding. The round was led by AIX Ventures with participation from Floating Point, Thiel Bio, Founders Fund, Bertelsmann Investments, and existing investors, Giant Ventures, Obvious Ventures and angel investors including Mario Schlosser, co-founder and former CEO of Oscar Health (NYSE: OSCR), Ryan Fukushima, COO of Tempus, and others.

Numeral, a San Francisco, CA-based company that handles sales tax compliance for both ecommerce and SaaS companies, raised $18M in Series A funding. The round, which brought the total amount to $22M, was led by Benchmark Capital with participation from existing seed investors Uncork Capital, Y Combinator and FundersClub.

Ceramic, a San Francisco, CA-based AI model training company, raised $12M in Seed funding. The round was led by NEA, with participation from IBM, Samsung Next, and Earthshot Ventures.

Intangible, a San Francisco, CA-based AI-powered 3D creative tool startup, raised a $4M seed round led by a16z Speedrun and Crosslink Capital, with participation from angel investors.

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NEW VCs IN THE MARKET

🏦 Venture Capital updates

LoftyInc Capital, a Lagos-based venture firm, closed a $43M first close for its third fund, LoftyInc Alpha, targeting late-seed and Series A startups in Africa. The round saw participation from Egypt’s MSMEDA, Tunisia’s Anava Fund of Funds, FMO, Proparco, IFC, First Close Partners, and European family offices. The fund will focus on fintech, logistics, health tech, retail, climate, and deep tech across Nigeria, Egypt, Kenya, and Francophone Africa.

KEY STORIES IN TECH

📜 Latest in tech

Google co-founder Larry Page reportedly launches AI manufacturing startup:

• Larry Page is reportedly working on a stealth AI startup called Dynatomics, focused on using AI to generate optimized product designs for manufacturing.

• The startup is led by Chris Anderson, former CTO of Page-backed electric airplane company Kittyhawk, and involves a small team of engineers.

• Dynatomics joins other AI-driven manufacturing ventures like Orbital Materials, PhysicsX, and Instrumental, which aim to optimize materials discovery, simulations, and factory anomaly detection.

Scale AI is being investigated by the US Department of Labor:

• The U.S. Department of Labor is investigating Scale AI for potential violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act, including misclassification of contractors and unpaid wages, an active probe since August 2024.

• Scale AI has faced multiple lawsuits from ex-workers alleging underpayment and misclassification, though the company maintains compliance with labor laws and emphasizes its role in providing flexible work opportunities.

• The investigation comes as Scale AI strengthens ties with the Trump administration, with former managing director Michael Kratsios nominated as White House science and tech policy director, though his role does not oversee labor regulations.

ChatGPT surpasses 400M weekly users:

• ChatGPT reached 400 million weekly active users in February 2025, doubling its user base in under six months, per an a16z report.

• Growth surged after the launch of GPT-4o, Advanced Voice Mode, and o1 model series, making ChatGPT more functional beyond its initial novelty appeal.

• Mobile usage has steadily grown, with 175 million users, while DeepSeek has emerged as a strong competitor, capturing 15% of ChatGPT’s mobile user base.

OpenAI’s voice cloning tool stuck in extended preview over safety concerns:

• OpenAI’s Voice Engine, an AI tool that clones voices with just 15 seconds of speech, remains in limited preview a year after its announcement, with no clear launch timeline.

• The company cites safety risks, potential misuse, and regulatory scrutiny as key reasons for the delay, despite its ongoing testing with select partners like Livox.

• OpenAI has proposed safeguards like watermarking and speaker authentication but faces challenges in enforcing them at scale as AI voice cloning scams surge globally.

Foldable iPhone may cost over $2,000 in 2026:

• The foldable iPhone is expected to launch in 2026 and is anticipated to cost more than $2,000, featuring premium specifications like a crease-free display and a slim 4.5 mm unfolded thickness.

• Due to space constraints, the device will use Touch ID via a side button instead of Face ID, marking the first iPhone to use fingerprint authentication without a home button.

• The foldable iPhone will have a book-like design with a 7.8-inch inner display, a 5.5-inch outer display, and advanced camera systems, with initial shipments estimated between 3 to 5 million units in 2026.

Alibaba's new AI model outperforms DeepSeek:

• Alibaba has introduced the QwQ-32B, an open-source AI model, that reportedly surpasses DeepSeek's R1 and OpenAI's o1-mini in performance.

• Despite possessing only 32 billion parameters compared to R1's 671 billion, QwQ-32B excels in mathematics, coding, and overall problem-solving tasks.

• The QwQ-32B is available on Hugging Face, the largest community for open-source AI models, showcasing Alibaba's advanced capabilities in AI technology and data center operations.

LAST COFFEE SIP

☕Other news

Ex-OpenAI policy researcher accuses company of rewriting AI safety history:

• Former OpenAI policy researcher Miles Brundage criticized OpenAI for downplaying past AI safety concerns, arguing its cautious release of GPT-2 was fully aligned with its current iterative deployment approach.

• OpenAI’s new safety philosophy document claims AGI development is a “continuous path” that requires learning from existing models, but Brundage warns this mindset could justify ignoring potential risks.

• Brundage’s criticism comes as OpenAI faces growing competition from DeepSeek and pressure to accelerate product releases amid projected financial losses of up to $14 billion by 2026.

HIRING ALERT: STARTUPS & VC ROLES

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