Neuralink's $650M Series E

Palmer+Zuck, Midas, Bond AI Report, $NVDA, Kalshi, Wander

Jun 03, 2025

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Hello from NYC

Can’t-Miss Events This NY Tech Week - See you there! Say hi! 👋

📈Fireside chat with Kalshi founder Tarek Mansour
🏠 Fireside chat with Bilt founder Ankur Jain

Macro

Two MIT Math Nerds Crack Open Legalized Gambling on Wall Street [Bloomberg]
- Armed with a federal license and allies in Trumpworld, the tech start-up is pushing prediction markets across America into a legal gray zone: sports betting.
Midas List
- Shout out to Leigh Marie Braswell of Kleiner Perkins for making it on the Brink!
Public Markets Update [Coatue]
Exclusive: Palmer Luckey & Meta Make Peace to Make War Together [Core Memory]

AI

Trends; Artificial Intelligence [Bond Capital]
Microsoft-Backed, $1.5 Billion AI Startup “Builder.ai” Collapses After It Was Revealed That Indian Engineers Were Behind AI Responses [wccftech]
Nvidia’s $1 Trillion Rally Has Traders Primed to Ramp Back Up [Bloomberg]

VC

Neuralink Raises $650 Million Series E Reported by Semafor at $9B Valuation
- Key investors include ARK Invest, DFJ Growth, Founders Fund, G42, Human Capital, Lightspeed, QIA, Sequoia Capital, Thrive Capital, Valor Equity Partners, Vy Capital
The Fund of Funds Fallacy: Why LPs Need to Rethink Their VC Strategy [Pattern Ventures] [Summary by John Gannon]
- FoFs outperformed direct VC in 14 of 15 vintage years at the median
- Average outperformance of 0.68x TVPI (even after "double fees")
- Bottom quartile FoFs stayed above 1x in every vintage (direct VC didn't)
Top VC Investors Leading Pre-Unicorn Rounds [Ilya Strebulaev]

Who’s the best Series A investor? [Cole Rotman]

HardTech

How a 50-Year-Old Law Makes Domestic Supersonic Flight Impossible in America [Pirate Wires]

The ultimate guide to negotiating your comp [Lenny’s Newsletter]
New pod rec: Tech Today with Eric Tarczynski
- 10-minute show on the most important stories in technology. Hosted by Eric Tarczynski, founder of Contrary

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Wander Raises $50M Series B, Founder & CEO, John Andrew Entwistle | Led by QED Investors & Fifth Wall
EXCLUSIVE: How Whop Hit $1.2+ Billion GMV Run Rate with Just 20 Engineers
BREAKING: How Autopilot Hit $500M AUM ( → now $750M AUM!!)

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Last Week (5/26-5/30):

Relevant deals include the 70+ deals across stages below. I've categorized the deals below into seven categories, Fintech, Care, Enterprise / Consumer, HardTech, Sustainability, Acquisition/PE, and Fund Announcements, and ordered from later-stage rounds to early-stage rounds.

VC Deals

Fintech:

- Monarch, a San Francisco-based personal finance management platform, raised $75 million in Series B funding. FPV Ventures and Forerunner Ventures led the round and were joined by existing investors Menlo Ventures, Accel, SignalFire, and Clocktower Ventures.

- Conduit, a Boston-based cross-border payments platform, raised $36 million in Series A funding. Dragonfly and Altos Ventures led the round and were joined by Sound Ventures, Commerce Ventures, DCG, Circle Ventures, and existing investors Helios Digital Ventures and Portage Ventures.

- Inven, a Helsinki-based AI-native private market deal sourcing platform, raised $12.8 million in Series A funding. Ventech and Vendep Capital led the round and were joined by existing investors Lifeline Ventures and Joint Effects and angel investors.

- Velocity, a London-based stablecoin infrastructure platform, raised $10 million in pre-seed funding. Activant Capital led the round and was joined by Fuel Ventures, Triton Capital, Fabric Ventures, and others.

- Gail, a Miami-based financial services AI solutions provider, raised $8.2 million in seed funding. HTwenty and Act One Ventures led the round and were joined by Mangusta Capital, NextView Ventures, and A15.

- Sequence, a Tel Aviv-based financial management platform for consumers and small businesses, raised $7.5 million in funding. Aleph and Emerge led the round and were joined by Yasmin Lukatz and ICON.

- Mura, a New York City-based commercial field service operations company, raised $6 million in funding. Lerer Hippeau and Level One Fund led the $4.5 million seed round. Lerer Hippeau and Levante Capital led the $1.5 million pre-seed round.

- Atticus, a stealthy stablecoin banking startup, is in advanced talks to raise new funding led by Anduril CEO Palmer Luckey at a valuation of between $1.5b and $2b

Care:

- Empathy, a mobile app for grief management, raised $72m in Series C funding. Adams Street Partners led, joined by General Catalyst, Index Ventures, Entrée Capital, Brewer Lane Ventures, SemperVirens, Latitude, and LionTree

- Vivodyne, a Philadelphia-based clinical testing robotics platform, raised $40 million in Series A funding. Khosla Ventures led the round and was joined by Lingotto Investment Management, Helena Capital, Fortius Ventures, and existing investors Kairos Ventures, CS Ventures, Bison Ventures, and MBX Capital.

- AssistIQ, a Montreal-based AI-powered healthcare supply management platform, raised $11.5 million in Series A funding. Battery Ventures led the round and was joined by existing investor Tamarind Hill.

- ProteinQure, a Toronto-based peptide therapeutics developer, raised $11 million in Series A funding. Heron Rock Fund led the round and was joined by Golden Ventures, Kensington Capital, and existing investors.

- Stitch, a Riyadh, Saudi Arabia-based financial products launching and scaling platform, raised $10 million in seed funding from Arbor Ventures, COTU Ventures, Raed Ventures, SVC, and others.

- Brooklyn Health, a New York City-based mental health measurement company, raised $6.5 million in seed funding. HealthX led the round and was joined by Metrodora Ventures, Story Ventures, RiverPark Ventures, and others.

- Alba Health, a Stockholm-based gut health company, raised $2.5 million in seed funding. Unconventional Ventures led the round and was joined by Exceptional Ventures and existing investors Voima Ventures, Noaber, Bust, and Petteri Lahtela.

Enterprise/Consumer:

- ClickHouse, a San Francisco-based analytics and data management system, raised $350 million in Series C funding. Khosla Ventures led the round and was joined by BOND, IVP, Battery Ventures, Bessemer Venture Partners, existing investors Index Ventures, Lightspeed, GIC, and others.

- Snorkel AI, a Redwood City, Calif.-based AI data development platform, raised $100 million in Series D funding at a $1.3 billion valuation. Addition led the round and was joined by Prosperity 7 Ventures and existing investors Greylock, Lightspeed, BNY, and QBE Ventures.

- Hex, an SF-based data analytics workspace, raised $70m in Series C funding. Avra led, joined by Sequoia Capital, Redpoint Ventures, Box Group, Snowflake Ventures, a16z, and Amplify

- CloudZero, a Boston-based cloud cost optimization startup, raised $56m in Series C funding. BlueCrest Capital Management and Innovius Capital co-led joined by Matrix Partners, Threshold Ventures, Underscore VC, G20 Ventures, and MongoDB.

- Chalk, a San Francisco-based AI inference data platform, raised $50 million in Series A funding at a $500 million valuation. Felicis led the round and was joined by Triatomic Capital and existing investors General Catalyst, Unusual Ventures, and Xfund.

- Wander, an Austin-based vacation rental platform, raised $50 million in Series B funding. QED Investors and Fifth Wall led the round and were joined by Redpoint Ventures, Uncork, Starwood, Breyer Capital, and others.

- Cerby, an Alameda, Calif.-based identity security automation platform, raised $40 million in Series B funding. DTCP led the round and was joined by existing investors Okta Ventures, Salesforce Ventures, and Two Sigma Ventures.

- Rillet, a New York City-based AI-native enterprise resource planning platform, raised $25 million in Series A funding. Sequoia Capital led the round and was joined by existing investors First Round Capital, Creandum, Susa Ventures, and angel investors.

- Superblocks, a New York City-based AI-powered enterprise app development solution, raised $23 million in Series A funding from Kleiner Perkins, Spark Capital, Greenoaks, and others.

- Infinity Constellation, a New York City-based AI-native holding company, raised $17 million in funding. Freestyle led the round and was joined by Backed VC, Deepwater, BY Venture Partners, and angel investors.

- Creatify, a Mountain View, Calif.-based AI-powered video advertising platform, raised $15.5 million in Series A funding. WndrCo and Kindred Ventures led the round and were joined by existing investors Millennium New Horizons and Leadout Capital.

- Context, a Palo Alto-based AI office suite, raised $11 million in seed funding at a $70 million valuation. Lux Capital led the round and was joined by Qualcomm Ventures, General Catalyst, and others.

- Traceloop, a Tel Aviv-based AI agent evaluation and monitoring solution, raised $6.1 million in seed funding. Sorenson Capital and Ibex Investors led the round and were joined by Y-Combinator, Samsung NEXT, and Grand Ventures.

- Rime, a San Francisco-based voice AI company, raised $5.5 million in seed funding. Unusual Ventures led the round and was joined by Founders You Should Know, Cadenza, and angel investors.

- Rumi, a San Francisco-based AI-powered media platform, raised $4.7 million in pre-seed funding. a16z crypto CSX and EV3 led the round and were joined by angel investors.

- Ankar, a London-based agentic AI IP platform, raised £3 million ($4.1 million) in funding. Index Ventures led the round and was joined by Daphni, Motier Ventures, Booom, Puzzle Ventures, and angel investors.

- Oncade, a San Francisco-based game distribution platform, raised $4 million in seed funding. a16z CSX led the round and was joined by others.

- Unbound, a San Francisco-based GenAI adoption platform for enterprises, raised $4 million in seed funding. Race Capital led the round and was joined by Wayfinder Ventures, Y Combinator, Massive Tech Ventures, angel investors, and others.

- Spott, a San Francisco-based recruitment agency operating platform, raised $3.2 million in funding. Base10 Partners led the round and was joined by Y Combinator, Fortino, True Equity, and angel investors.

- RevisionDojo, a London-based AI-powered learning platform, raised $3.4 million in seed funding from Y Combinator, 468 Capital, Goodwater Capital, and others.

HardTech:

- Radiant, an El Segundo, Calif.-based developer of nuclear microreactors, raised $165m in Series C funding. DCVC led, joined by Giant Ventures, StepStone VC, Hanwha Asset Management Venture Fund, SGA Capital, Crossbeam Venture Partners, Align Ventures, ARK Invest, Gigascale, HartBeat VC, and Pax Ventures.

- EnduroSat, a Sofia, Bulgaria-based satellite company, raised €43 million ($48.9 million) in funding. Founders Fund led the round and was joined by existing investors CEECAT Capital, Morphosis Capital, and others.

- Buildots, a Tel Aviv-based AI-powered construction management platform, raised $45 million in funding. Qumra Capital led the round and was joined by OG Venture Partners, TLV Partners, Poalim Equity, and others.

- Heron Power, a Santa Cruz, Calif.-based energy infrastructure developer, raised $38 million in Series A funding. Capricorn Investment Group led the round and was joined by Breakthrough Energy Ventures, Energy Impact Partners, Gigascale Capital, and others.

- Pallet, a San Francisco-based AI workforce provider, raised $27 million in Series B funding. General Catalyst led the round and was joined by existing investors Bain Capital Ventures, Activant Capital, and Bessemer Venture Partners.

- Space Forge, a British startup seeking to make wafer materials in space, raised £22.6m in Series A funding led by NATO Innovation Fund

- Atomic Canyon, a San Luis Obispo, Calif.-based AI-powered operations solutions for the nuclear energy sector, raised $7 million in seed funding. Energy Impact Partners led the round and was joined by Commonweal Ventures, Plug and Play Ventures, Wischoff Ventures, Tower Research Ventures, and existing angel investors.

- Clear Current, an Albuquerque-based AI-powered virtual energy management platform for enterprises, raised $4 million in seed funding. Rho Ignition led the round and was joined by Coreline Ventures and Avesta Fund.

- Nira Energy, a Denver-based maker of transmission automation software, raised an undisclosed amount of funding from Energize Capital

Sustainability:

- Gridcare, a Redwood City, Calif., developer of software for detecting underutilized energy sources, raised $13.5m. Xora led, joined by Aina Climate AI Ventures, Sherpalo Ventures, Breakthrough Energy Discovery, Overture Ventures, WovenEarth, Acclimate Ventures, Clearvision, and Clocktower Ventures.

Acquisitions & PE:

- e.l.f. Beauty agreed to acquire rhode, a Beverly Hills-based beauty brand, for $800 million of consideration payable in cash and stock and up to $200 million in earnout payments.

- Salesforce agreed to acquire Informatica, a Redwood City, Calif.-based AI-powered cloud data management solution for enterprises, for approximately $8 billion in equity value.

- Rocket Lab acquired Geost, a Tucson-based optical systems provider for national security space missions and subsidiary of LightRidge Solutions, from ATL Partners, for $275 million in cash and stock.

- WiseTech Global (ASX: WTC) agreed to buy Texas-based supply chain management SaaS e2open (NYSE: ETWO) for $2.1b, or $3.30 per share.

- Vitruvian Partners invested $190 million in Dojo, a London-based payment technology company.

Funds:

- Cathay Innovation, a Paris-based venture capital firm, raised $1 billion for its third fund focused on AI solutions in digital health, fintech, consumer and mobility/energy.

- RCP Advisors, a Chicago-based private equity firm, raised $314 million for its 19th fund focused on North American small buyouts.

- Zeal Capital Partners, a Washington, D.C.-based VC firm, raised $82m for its second fund

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The material presented on Molly O’Shea’s website are my opinions only and are provided for informational purposes and should not be construed as investment advice. It is not a recommendation of, or an offer to sell or solicitation of an offer to buy, any particular security, strategy, or investment product. Any analysis or discussion of investments, sectors or the market generally are based on current information, including from public sources, that I consider reliable, but I do not represent that any research or the information provided is accurate or complete, and it should not be relied on as such. My views and opinions expressed in any website content are current at the time of publication and are subject to change. Past performance is not indicative of future results.