Welcome to LA

Upfront Summit, Humane/HP, Figure, Saronic, Thinking Machines, Codeium, Lambda, Together AI, Mercor, Abridge, Frontera, Millie, Blockaid

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Hello from LA

& welcome to the 2025 recruit people to move to LA because it’s the best city in the world week.. aka the infamous Upfront Summit.

The weather is gorgeous, the vibes are positive, and the tech crowd is infiltrating West Hollywood’s members-only sticker-on-your-camera clubs. Bonus points if you stop by Erewhon to buy a single $20 strawberry (thank you for your brave journalism JMJ). This should be a fun week!

All that is to say, the city is still very much rebuilding in the affected areas, donations for LA Fire support can be made via The LA Tech Community Cares Fund and Rick Caruso’s Steadfast LA. Your support is appreciated!

If you’re here, shoot me a DM!

Musings

AI

• AI CEO Alexandr Wang [This Past Weekend w/ Theo Von]

• Evo 2, co-developed by researchers at the Arc Institute, Stanford University, & NVIDIA, release biggest-ever AI biology model writes DNA on demand [Nature]

• Mercor CTO Adarsh Hiremath | Founded by 21-year-olds, raises $100M at $2B valuation [20VC] (Hit $70M ARR in 24 Months)

  • TechCrunch fundraise announcement

• OpenAI’s ChatGPT explodes to 400M weekly users, with GPT-5 on the way [VentureBeat]

More

• Magnus Carlsen, Chess Grandmaster [Joe Rogan]

• The Flexport tech team has been cooking [Ryan Peterson]

• Apple will spend more than $500B in the U.S. over the next four years [Apple]

• Armada Systems, Inc. Announces Delivery of Mission Critical Edge Software and Hardware Solution to the U.S. Navy [Armada]

Top Interviews

• Mark Suster, Upfront Ventures | Investing in Space, Defense, & VC Exit Options

• Who Will Win the AI Race? | Emergence Capital on Together AI, Bland AI, IPO Window

• Packy McCormick, Not Boring | How writing led to investing in Ramp, Scale AI, Replit, Varda, Fuse, Hadrian, Earth AI

  • → Check out our recent clip on Base Power Company

• The Viral Gen Z App backed by Jeff Bezos, Marc Benioff & Dara Khosrowshahi | Dylan Diamond, CEO of Saturn

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Last Week (2/17-2/21):

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.

Highlighted VC Deals include:

Figure, Saronic, Thinking Machines, Codeium, Lambda, Together AI, Mercor, Abridge, Frontera, Millie, Blockaid

Acquisitions & PE

Humane/HP, Hims & Hers/Trybe Labs

Funds

Afore Capital

Final Numbers

Fintech IPOs since 2020 that are up

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VC Deals

Fintech:

- Blockaid, a New York-based crypto security platform, raised $50m in Series B funding led by Ribbit Capital, with participation from GV, Variant, and Cyberstarts

- Unit Network, a London-based decentralized financial platform, raised $18 million in funding. Blockchain Founders Fund and Outlier Ventures led the round and were joined by Cristina Venture, Diego Gutiérrez Zaldívar, Joshua Seims, and others.

- CredCore, a New York City-based AI-powered debt investment and management platform, raised $16 million in Series A funding. Avataar Ventures led the round and was joined by Inspired Capital, Fitch Group, BellTower Partners, and others.

- Perceive Pharma, a South SF-based company focused on small molecule therapeutics in ophthalmology, raised a $15m Series A. Investors included Deerfield Management, Johnson & Johnson, Braidwell, and GV.

- Stacks, an Amsterdam-based AI-powered financial close platform, raised $10 million in funding. EQT Ventures led the $3 million pre-seed round and was joined by s16vc and angel investors. General Catalyst led the $7 million seed round and was joined by EQT Ventures and s16vc and angel investors.

- Mavvrik, an Austin-based IT financial management platform, raised $6.2 million in seed funding. S3 Ventures and Flyover Capital led the round and were joined by Tuesday Capital, ClutchVC, Amplify.LA, and Knoll Ventures.

- Glassbox, a Toronto-based startup for corporate finance teams, raised $1.2m in pre-seed funding led by FinTech Collective and StandUp Ventures.

Care:

- Abridge, an SF-based generative AI startup for clinical notetaking and billing, raised $250m in Series D funding co-led by Elad Gil and IVP, with participation from Bessemer Venture Partners, California Health Care Foundation.

- Bambusa Therapeutics, a Boston-based biotech focused on dermatological conditions, raised $90m in Series A funding. RA Capital Management led with participation from Janus Henderson Investors, Redmile Group, Invus and ADAR1 Capital Management.

- OpenEvidence, a Cambridge, Mass.-based AI-powered medical information platform, raised $75 million in Series A funding from Sequoia.

- Frontera Health, a Denver-based AI-powered autism care solutions provider, raised $32 million in seed funding. Lux Capital and Lightspeed Venture Partners led the round and were joined by Bison Ventures, Menlo Ventures, and Inspired Capital.

- Atrandi Biosciences, a Vilnius, Lithuania-based single-cell analysis technology developer, raised $25 million in Series A funding. Lux Capital led the round and was joined by Vsquared Ventures, Practica Capital, Metaplanet, and GRIDS Capital.

- Subsense, a Covina, Calif.-based non-invasive bidirectional brain-computer interface developer, raised $17 million in seed funding from Golden Falcon Capital.

- Millie, a Berkeley-based maternity care provider, raised $12 million in Series A funding. TMV and Foreground Capital led the round and were joined by Pivotal Ventures, March of Dimes Innovation Fund, BBG Ventures, existing investor Ingeborg Investments, and others.

- Reverb Therapeutics, a Vancouver-based cytokine-focused therapies developer, raised $12 million in funding. Existing investor Amplitude Ventures led the round and was joined by Myeloma Investment Fund, KdT Ventures, Finchley Healthcare Ventures, and others.

- Keebler Health, a Durham, N.C.-based AI-powered healthcare risk adjustment platform, raised $6 million in seed funding from Freestyle Capital, MBX Capital, New Stack Ventures, and others.

- Riley, a San Francisco-based AI-powered baby tracker and parenting platform, raised $3.1 million in seed funding. True Ventures led the round and was joined by Flybridge, Next Wave NYC, and Lindsay Kaplan.

- Shotsy, a Portland, Ore.-based GLP-1 tracking app, raised $2.3 million in seed funding. April Underwood of Adverb Ventures led the round and was joined by Coalition Operators, Springbank Collective, and an angel investor, according to Business Insider.

Enterprise/Consumer:

- Thinking Machines, an AI business from former OpenAI CTO Mira Murati, is seeking $1b, per Bloomberg.

- Codeium, an SF-based coding startup using AI, is raising funding at a $2.9b valuation led Kleiner Perkins, per TechCrunch.

- Lambda, a San Jose, Calif.-based GPU cloud, raised $480 million in Series D funding. Andra Capital and SGW led the round and were joined by Andrej Karpathy, ARK Invest, Fincadia Advisors, existing investors 1517, Crescent Cove, USIT, and others.

- Together AI, an SF-based company that gives access to artificial intelligence computing, raised $305m at a $3.3b valuation. General Catalyst and Saudi Arabia's Prosperity7 Ventures led, joined by Salesforce Ventures, Nvidia Corp., Kleiner Perkins, Emergence Capital, Lux Capital, and Coatue Management participated.

- Fluidstack, a British startup selling cloud-computing services for AI, is in talks to raise up to $200m in Series A funding.

- Mercor, an SF-based hiring software company, raised a $100m Series B at a $2b valuation. Felicis led with participation from General Catalyst, DST Global, Benchmark, and Menlo Ventures.

- Dream, a Tel-Aviv-based AI-powered national cybersecurity solutions provider, raised $100 million in Series B funding at a $1.1 billion valuation. Bain Capital Ventures led the round and was joined by Group 11, Tru Arrow, Tau Capital, and Aleph.

- Hightouch, a San Francisco-based AI and data marketing platform raised $80 million in Series C funding at a valuation of $1.2 billion. Rajeev Dham led the round and was joined by NVC, ICONIQ Growth, Amplify Partners, and others.

- Baseten, a San Francisco-based AI inference platform, raised $75 million in Series C funding. IVP and Spark led the round and were joined by Greylock, Conviction, South Park Commons, and others.

- Luminance, a London-based legal AI platform, raised $75 million in Series C funding. Point72 Private Investments led the round and was joined by Forestay Capital, RPS Ventures, Schroders Capital, and existing investors March Capital, National Grid Partners, and Slaughter and May.

- Arize AI, a Berkeley-based AI observability and evaluation platform, raised $70 million in Series C funding. Adams Street Partners led the round and was joined by M12, Sinewave Ventures, OMERS Ventures, existing investors Foundation Capital, Battery Ventures, TCV, Swift VC, and others.

- Sanas, a Palo Alto-based AI-powered real-time accent translation technology developer, raised $65 million in Series B funding. Quadrille Capital led the round and was joined by Teleperformance and existing investors Insight Partners, Quiet Capital, and DN Capital.

- 73 Strings, a Paris-based AI-powered data extraction platform, raised $55 million in Series B funding. Growth Equity at Goldman Sachs Alternatives led the round and was joined by Golub Capital, Hamilton Lane, and existing investors Blackstone Innovations Investments and Broadhaven Ventures.

- Dorsia, a Miami-based restaurant reservations startup with a membership, raised $50.4m in funding across its Seed and Series A, valuing it at $146m. Index Ventures led with participation from Invus and RedSea.

- SmartSuite, a Newport Beach, Calif.-based work management platform, raised $38 million in funding. Canapi Ventures led the $13 million Series A round and was joined by Sorenson Capital and High Alpha. Cofounders Jon Darbyshire, Tara Darbyshire, and Peter Novosel led the $11 million and $14 million seed rounds.

- Relish, a Newbury, Ohio-based B2B app development platform, raised $25 million in Series B funding. Base10 Partners led the round and was joined by Volition Capital.

- ClustroAI, a San Francisco-based edge AI technology developer, raised $12 million in Series A funding. Forum Ventures led the round and was joined by MetaBlast, Metaverse Group, and others.

- Singulr AI, a Palo Alto-based enterprise AI usage and security platform, raised $10 million in seed funding. Nexus Venture Partners and Dell Technologies Capital led the round and were joined by others.

- MirrorTab, a San Francisco-based web application cybersecurity company, raised $8.5 million in seed funding. Valley Capital Partners led the round and was joined by GV, Ludlow Ventures, Altman Capital Fund, and others.

- Gomboc AI, a New York City-based cloud security remediations provider, raised $8 million in seed funding. Ballistic Ventures led the round and was joined by existing investors Glilot Capital Partners and Hetz Ventures.

- CTGT, a San Francisco-based AI risk management and deployment support platform, raised $7.2 million in seed funding. Gradient led the round and was joined by General Catalyst, Y Combinator, Liquid 2, Deepwater, and angel investors.

- Valid, a San Francisco-based AI-powered ad agency, raised $5.5 million in funding. Canaan Partners led the round and was joined by Neo, J Ventures, and others.

- Lingo.dev, a San Francisco-based AI-powered localization provider for software developers, raised $4.2 million in seed funding. Initialized Capital led the round and was joined by Y Combinator, Paul Coplestone, Grey Baker, Harry Marr, and others.

- Handly, a Berlin-based home services companies business management platform, raised €3.75 million ($3.9 million) in seed funding. 20VC and Stride VC led the round and were joined by Base10 Partners and angel investors.

- Incept AI, a New York City-based drive-thru and phone ordering voice AI company, raised $3 million in pre-seed funding. Rally Ventures led the round and was joined by 10VC.

HardTech:

- Figure, a Palo Alto, Calif.-based robotics startup, is in talks to raise $1.5b led by Align Ventures and Parkway Venture Capital at a $39.5b valuation.

- Saronic Technologies, an Austin-based autonomous surface vessels developer, raised $600 million in Series C funding, valuing the company at $4 billion. Elad Gil led the round and was joined by General Catalyst and existing investors a16z, Caffeinated Capital, and 8VC.

- Verkada, a San Mateo, Calif.-based video security camera company, raised $200m in Series E funding valuing it at $4.5b led by General Catalyst, and Eclipse Ventures joined.

- Augury, a New York City-based AI-powered machine health and other industrial solutions provider, raised $75 million in Series F funding. Lightrock led the round and was joined by existing investors Insight Partners, Eclipse Ventures, Qumra Capital, and others.

- Lumotive, a Redmond, Wash.-based programmable optical semiconductor developer, raised $45 million in Series B funding from Swisscom Ventures, East Bridge, EDOM, existing investors Gates Frontier, MetaVC Partners, Quan Funds, and others.

- Karman+, a Denver-based asteroid mining company, raised $20 million in seed funding. Plural and Hummingbird led the round and was joined by HCVC, Kevin Mahaffey, Teun van den Dries, and angel investors.

- Valar Atomics, a El Segundo, Calif.-based nuclear energy technology developer, raised $19 million in seed funding. Riot Ventures led the round and was joined by AlleyCorp, Initialized Capital, Day One Ventures, and Steel Atlas.

- Vema Hydrogen, a Wilmington Del.-based hydrogen developer, raised $13 million in seed funding. Extantia Capital and Propeller Ventures led the round and were joined by Zero Carbon Capital, Pace Ventures, and existing investor Grantham Foundation.

- Nodes & Links, a London-based AI-powered construction projects platform, raised $12 million in Series B funding. ETF Partners led the round and were joined by SFC, Uncorrelated, and existing investors.

- ElectronX, a Chicago-based electricity exchange, raised $10 million in funding. Systemiq Capital led the round and was joined by Equinor Ventures, Shell Ventures, and Innovation Endeavors.

- Everstar, a New York City-based nuclear energy and industrial operations AI-powered compliance solutions provider, raised $4 million in pre-seed funding. Third Prime VC led the round and was joined by Pelican Energy Partners, EXCEL Services, Virta Ventures, angel investors, and others.

Sustainability:

- Terra CO2, a Golden, Colo.-based low-carbon building materials developer, raised $82 million in Series B funding. Just Climate, Eagle Materials, and GenZero led the round and were joined by existing investor Breakthrough Energy Ventures and others.

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Acquisitions & PE:

- HP acquired Humane, an SF-based AI pin maker, for $116m. Humane previously raised over $230m from investors including Sam Altman, Tiger Global, Hico Capital, and Kindred Ventures.