SoftBank in talks to invest $25 Billion in OpenAI & AI app spending surges to $1.42 Billions.

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STARTUPS RAISING MILLIONS

💰 Startup funding updates

Foresee Genomics, a San Francisco, CA-based next generation sequencing (NGS) solutions company focused on the small and medium-sized laboratory market, raised $1.3M in SAFE (Simple Agreement for Future Equity) Financing. GoodPaper Ventures provided the financing.

D3, a Los Angeles, CA-based DomainFi infrastructure company, raised $25M in Series A funding. The round was led by Paradigm with participation from Coinbase Ventures, Sandeep Nailwal, co-founder of Polygon Labs, Dharmesh Shah, the founder of HubSpot, and Richard Kirkendall.

1up, a NYC-based company developing an AI knowledge automation platform, raised $5.25M in Seed funding. The round, which brought the total amount to $8.5M, was led by Upfront Ventures. This brings the company’s total funding to $8.5M, backed by Lightbank, 8-Bit Capital, RRE Ventures, AVG, Aviso Ventures, Gaingels, and 1121.

OneVest, a Toronto, Canada-based provider of a comprehensive wealth management technology platform, raised $20M in Series B funding. The round was led by Salesforce Ventures, with participation from new investors, Allianz Life Ventures and TIAA Ventures. Returning investors included OMERS Ventures, Deloitte Ventures, Fin Capital, Luge Capital, and Pivot Investment Partners.

Smart Wires, a Durham, NC-based grid-enhancing technologies provider, raised $65M in growth financing. The round included new investments from BP Energy Partners alongside Keystone Group.

Meteomatics, a St. Gallen, Switzerland-based weather intelligence and technology company, raised $22M Series C funding. The round was led by Armira Growth, with participation from Klima, the Alantra Energy Transition fund, and Fortyone.

Canvas, a Denver, CO-based provider of 3D measurement and modeling solutions for residential and light commercial spaces, raised $10M in Series A funding. The round was led by Trilogy Equity Partners and Foundry Group, with participation from Acquired Wisdom Fund, GC&H Investments, and Frontier VC.

Delfina Care, a San Francisco, CA-based healthcare technology company, raised $17M in Series A funding. The round was led by USVP, with participation from new investors ARTIS Ventures, Mayo Clinic, and Tokio Marine Future Fund and existing investors including Story Ventures, SemperVirens, Bread and Butter Ventures, Boutique Ventures, and Chelsea Clinton’s Metrodora Ventures.

Enapi, a Berlin, Germany-based electric vehicle (EV) charging startup, raised €7.5M in Seed funding. The round was led by Voyager Ventures, with participation from existing investors Project A, Seedcamp, and Helloworld VC.

Intryc, a San Francisco, CA-based provider of a customer support quality assurance platform, raised $3.1M in Seed funding. The round was led by General Catalyst and scouts from Sequoia alongside existing investors Episode 1 and 500 Emerging Europe, bringing its total funding to $4.2M.

Conifers.ai, a Dallas, TX-based cybersecurity startup providing a native AI platform that helps organizations solve critical security operations center (SOC) challenges, raised $25M in funding. Backers included SYN Ventures, Picus Capital, and others.

SafelyYou, a San Francisco, CA-based company which specializes in empowering care across senior living through AI, hardware, and remote expert clinicians, raised $43M in Series C funding. The round, which brought the total amount to $100M, was led by Touring Capital with participation from Foundation Capital, Omega Healthcare Investors, Founders Fund, Cross Creek, Samsung Next, and Qualcomm Ventures.

Veir, a Woburn, MA-based superconducting power delivery company, raised $75M in Series B funding. The round was led by Munich Re Ventures, with participation from Microsoft’s Climate Innovation Fund, Tyche Partners, Piva Capital, National Grid Partners, Dara Holdings and SiteGround. Existing investors VXI Capital, Breakthrough Energy Ventures, Congruent Ventures, Engine Ventures, Fine Structure Ventures and Galvanize Climate Solutions also joined the round.

iplicit, a London, UK-based provider of a cloud accounting software platform purpose-built for the UK mid-market, received a £25M investment from One Peak.

Darwin CX, a NYC-based SaaS provider focused on enhancing the customer experience (CX) for publishers and subscription-based businesses, raised $12M in additional funding. Backers included First Ascent Ventures, New Era Capital Partners, and TTA Investments, who were joined by Teralys Capital.

Roofr, a San Francisco, CA-based end-to-end roofing platform provider, raised an undisclosed amount in Series B funding. The round was led by TCV. ABC Supply, Crosslink Capital, Euclid Ventures, MGFO, and i2BF have also participated.

BOW, a Sheffield, UK-based robotics software company, raised £4M in Seed funding. The round was led by Northern Gritstone, the investment business focused on science and technology businesses in the North of England, with co-investors Finance Yorkshire and Praetura Ventures as part of the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund II.

Formance, a Paris-based fintech infrastructure startup, raised $21M in Series A funding co-led by PayPal Ventures and Portage, with participation from Y Combinator, Hoxton Ventures, and Axeleo.

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NEW VCs IN THE MARKET

🏦 Venture Capital updates

8VC, an Austin-based VC firm led by Palantir founder Joe Lonsdale, is raising nearly $1B for its sixth fund, per a regulatory filing. The firm, which previously closed an $880M fund in 2023, has backed over 600 companies, including Asana, Flexport, and The Boring Company. 8VC is particularly active in defense tech, investing in startups like Saronic and Overland AI, as well as health tech and life sciences.'

KEY STORIES IN TECH

📜 Latest in tech

SoftBank in talks to invest as much as $25 Billion in OpenAI:

• SoftBank is in talks to invest up to $25B in OpenAI, potentially surpassing Microsoft as its largest backer, while also committing $15B to the $100B Stargate data center project.

• The move comes amid concerns that DeepSeek’s R1 model, built on a modest budget, could disrupt AI economics, triggering a $589B Nvidia sell-off over fears of reduced demand for high-cost AI hardware.

• OpenAI, which accused DeepSeek of distilling its models, is exploring a for-profit structure to raise more capital, while Microsoft is relinquishing its exclusive cloud provider status.

Meta doubles down to spend hundred of billion on AI:

• DeepSeek’s AI models triggered panic in U.S. markets, causing Nvidia’s stock to plummet nearly 20% over fears that high-cost GPU demand could decline.

• Meta dismissed concerns, with Zuckerberg reaffirming plans to invest over $60 billion in AI infrastructure this year, arguing that scale remains a key competitive edge.

• Llama 4 is central to Meta’s strategy, with ambitions to outmatch both open and closed models, ensuring its AI dominance despite growing industry shifts.

Microsoft brings a DeepSeek model to its cloud:

• DeepSeek’s R1 model is now available on Microsoft’s Azure AI Foundry, even as OpenAI accuses the company of violating its terms of service and misusing proprietary data.

• Microsoft, which previously investigated DeepSeek for potential data exfiltration, is still moving forward with hosting R1, likely due to growing enterprise interest in the model.

• The version of R1 on Azure has undergone safety evaluations, but concerns remain over its censorship on China-related topics and its accuracy in responding to news-related queries.

AI app spending surges to $1.42 Billions:

• AI app spending skyrocketed to $1.42B in 2024, a 274% jump from 2023, with ChatGPT dominating revenue despite thousands of competing apps, benefiting Apple and Google through in-app purchase fees.

• ChatGPT’s user base skews young, with over 50% under 25, but a gender gap persists as men account for 84.5% of users, while skepticism among women may be linked to AI risks like deepfakes and job displacement.

• DeepSeek, a free, open-source alternative, has overtaken ChatGPT as the top App Store download, posing a potential challenge to OpenAI’s dominance, though sustaining its momentum remains uncertain.

LAST COFFEE SIP

☕Other news

Boom’s XB-1 becomes first civil aircraft to go supersonic:

• Boom Supersonic's XB-1 demonstrator aircraft became the first civil plane to break the sound barrier in a test flight without government funding or direction, achieving Mach 1.122.

• The aircraft's successful 35-minute flight took place at California's Mojave Air & Space Port, where it surpassed Mach 1 multiple times before landing safely back at the base.

• XB-1's milestone flight paves the way for Boom's larger Overture airliner, planned for commercial service by the end of the decade, with orders already from major airlines like United and American Airlines.

Apple and SpaceX bring Starlink support to iPhones:

• Apple has collaborated with SpaceX and T-Mobile to integrate Starlink satellite texting capabilities into iPhones via the new iOS 18.3 update, as reported by Bloomberg.

• T-Mobile is conducting a limited beta test for iPhone users in the United States to try out the Starlink service, with plans to expand device compatibility in the future.

• Currently, the Starlink service supports texting only, but SpaceX and T-Mobile plan to add data and voice features later, while Apple's satellite service operates in several countries through Globalstar.

HIRING ALERT: STARTUPS & VC ROLES

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