Anthropic is reportedly raising $2 Billion & Meta ends fact-checking.

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💰 STARTUPS RAISING MILLIONS

Startup Funding Updates

Anthropic is in talks to raise $2 billion at a $60 billion valuation, led by Lightspeed Venture Partners, according to The Wall Street Journal. This round would bring its total funding to $15.7 billion, making it the fifth most valuable U.S. startup. The company is focused on developing compute-intensive AI technologies and has already raised $4 billion from Amazon.

Rooms, a 3D design app from ex-Google employees, raised $1M in funding from Google as part of a partnership deal granting early access to Gemini AI. The app, launched in beta in 2023, previously raised $10M in seed funding from a16z, Scott Belsky, and Mike Krieger.

Fazeshift, a San Francisco, CA-based AI agent company for accounts receivable, raised $4M in Seed funding. The round was led by Gradient and included investment from Y Combinator, Wayfinder, Pioneer Fund, Ritual Capital, Phoenix Fund, and angels including Terrence Rohan, Kulveer Taggar, and Rich Aberman.

OnPay, an Atlanta-based provider of payroll, HR, and benefits management software, raised $100M in funding, including a $63M Series B led by Carrick Capital Partners and a debt facility from MC Credit Partners. AB Private Credit Investors also participated.

Billboxx, a NYC-based provider of an integrated billing to payment platform for businesses across Africa, raised $1.6M pre-seed funding. Backers included Norrsken Accelerator, Kaleo Ventures, Founders Factory Africa — FFA (now 54 Collective), P2Vest and Afrinovation Ventures.

Inari Agriculture, a Cambridge, MA-based seed design company, raised $144M in funding. Backers included Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA), and a large financial investor collaborating on forthcoming agriculture projects. Existing investors including Hanwha Impact, NGS Super, the State of Michigan Retirement System and company founder Flagship Pioneering also contributed.

Francis Medical, Inc., a Minneapolis, MN-based medical device company, raised $80M in Series C equity funding. The round was led by Arboretum Ventures and Solas BioVentures with participation from Orlando Health Ventures and two additional strategic partners, along with previous investors Coloplast A/S and Tonkawa.

Fermata, a Tel Aviv, Israel-based data science company specializing in computer vision agriculture solutions, raised $10M in Series A funding. The round was led by Raw Ventures.

t’order, a Seoul, South Korea-based provider of table-ordering services, raised $23M in Series B funding. Backers included Korea Development Bank, LB Investment, and other investors.

Pepticom, a Jerusalem, Israel-based AI-driven peptide-based therapeutics company, raised its $6.6m Series A1 funding. The round was led by Japan Israel High Tech Ventures 2 LP with participation from existing investors.

FIRE1, a Dublin, Ireland-based connected medical device solutions company, raised $120M in funding. The round was led by Polaris Partners and Elevage Medical Technologies, joined by new investors Sands Capital and Longitude Capital, and existing investors Andera Partners, Gilde Healthcare, Gimv, the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund, Lightstone Ventures, Medtronic, NEA (New Enterprise Associates), Novo Holdings, and Seventure Partners.

Deciphex, a Dublin, Ireland-based AI-powered digital pathology company, raised €31M in Series C funding. The round was led by Molten Ventures with participation from ACT Venture Capital, Seroba, Charles River Laboratories (NYSE: CRL), IRRUS Investments, HBAN Medtech Syndicate and Nextsteps Capital.

Jones, a NYC-based vertical software company developing AI in insurance verification, raised $15M in Series B funding. The round was led by NewSpring Capital, with participation from existing investors, including Hetz Ventures, Camber Creek, Khosla Ventures, JLL Spark, DivcoWest Ventures, Rudin Ventures, and Ground Up Ventures.

ThreatMark, a Brno, Czech Republic-based behavior-based fraud prevention company, raised $23M in funding. The round included $15M from Octopus Ventures and Riverside Acceleration Capital (RAC), and an $8M convertible note from Springtide Ventures Fund.

Flint, a Singapore-based tech company developing proprietary paper battery technology, raised US42M in Seed funding. Backers included private investors across nine countries and AI-driven VC firm Hatcher+.

Moonrider, a Bengaluru, India-based electric tractor tech company, raised $2.2m in seed funding. The round was co-led by AdvantEdge Founders and Micelio Technology Fund, with participation from unnamed angels.

AlloyX, a stablecoin infrastructure firm, raised USD10M in Pre-A funding. The round was led by Solowin Holdings SOLOWIN HOLDINGS (Nasdaq: SWIN), with participation from Arbitrum Foundation, Offchain Labs, PMT Capital, Ming Capital, Fern Win Capital, Whitecove Capital, and Kiln SAS.

Senseera, a Jerusalem, Israel-based liquid biopsy company, raised $7.1M in Seed funding. The round was led by Lightspeed Venture Partners, with participation from I-Next Capital and the Lowy Medical Research Institute.

Fermata, a Tel Aviv-based AI startup, raised $10M in a Series A from Raw Ventures. The company uses computer vision and AI to monitor greenhouse crops for diseases and pests, partnering with major agriculture players like Bayer and Syngenta.

🏦 NEW VCs IN THE MARKET

Venture Capital Updates

Chinese VCs are pursuing failed founders for personal assets, using redemption clauses that require founders to buy back investor shares if targets aren’t met.

These clauses are leading to severe consequences, including founders being added to debtor blacklists, restricting their ability to travel or conduct business. More than 80% of venture deals in China include redemption rights, causing entrepreneurs to face unlimited liability. Some founders, like Wang Ronghui and Wang Ziru, owe millions and are trapped by these clauses. This situation is harming China’s startup ecosystem, turning venture capital into a debt game. The lack of personal bankruptcy laws further exacerbates the issue.

South Park Commons, founded by ex-Facebook engineer Ruchi Sanghvi, is raising a $40M India-specific fund, per an SEC filing. The Silicon Valley collective entered India in 2023, partnering with Flipkart co-founder Binny Bansal and hiring Prateek Mehta as its local head. South Park Commons supports founders at the “-1 to 0” stage with funding of up to $1M. Its India chapter is based in Bengaluru, marking the group’s first global expansion.

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📜 KEY STORIES IN TECH

Latest In Tech

Nvidia CEO says his AI chips are improving faster than Moore’s Law:

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang claims the performance of his company's AI chips is advancing faster than Moore's Law, with the latest chips being 30-40 times faster for AI inference workloads. He argues that Nvidia's ability to innovate across the entire AI stack — from architecture to algorithms — allows for accelerated progress. Huang rejects claims of AI progress slowing, suggesting there are now three active AI scaling laws. He predicts that improvements in AI chips will lower inference costs, even for expensive models like OpenAI's o3. Nvidia’s AI chips have reportedly improved 1,000x over the past decade.

Trump announces $20B plan to build new data centers in the US.

Hussain Sajwani, the Emirati billionaire behind DAMAC Properties, has pledged a $20 billion investment in data centers across the U.S., aiming to support AI and cloud technologies. The first phase will fund centers in states like Arizona, Texas, and Ohio. While the deal promises significant growth, similar past investments have faltered. Tech leaders, including OpenAI's Sam Altman, have called for stronger U.S. investment in data infrastructure as AI continues to grow rapidly.

☕ LAST COFFEE SIP

Other News

Meta ends fact-checking

Meta announced the end of its fact-checking program, opting for a system similar to X's Community Notes that relies on user participation to identify misinformation. Mark Zuckerberg stated that the previous fact-checking approach led to excessive errors and censorship, and emphasized a shift towards prioritizing free speech, especially after recent elections. The decision aligns with Meta's efforts to strengthen relationships with the incoming Trump administration, highlighted by appointing Dana White to the board and changing its global policy team leader.

Dell dumps its PC brands to be more like Apple

Dell is retiring its XPS, Inspiron, and Latitude brands, replacing them with simplified names: Dell, Dell Pro, and Dell Pro Max to align more closely with Apple's product strategy. The new naming scheme introduces sub-tiers such as Base, Plus, and Premium, adding complexity despite the aim for simplicity, with XPS models now under the "Dell Premium" label. The launch of the Dell Pro Premium 13 and 14 laptops highlights improved features like extended battery life and enhanced graphics, but they closely resemble Apple devices, sparking mixed reactions among Dell employees and fans.

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• Building Cap Table As A Founder: Template to Download. You can obtain a stockholder ledger from your lawyer, which lists all stockholders and shows how many shares or options they hold. However, I don't consider this document a comprehensive cap table. In this, I am sharing a cap table template that is used by various leading VC firm’s partners.

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