Startups

Cycles: $6.4 Million Raised To Build Open Clearing Network For On-Chain Finance

By Amit Chowdhry ● May 23, 2026

Cycles, a startup building an open and privacy-preserving clearing network for crypto markets and stablecoin payments, announced it has raised $6.4 million in funding led by Blockchange Ventures, with participation from Coinbase Ventures, Compound VC, Primitive Ventures, and angel investors. The company said the round brings its total funding to $8.7 million following a $2.3 million pre-seed round in 2025.

Ozak AI: $7.2 Million Raised Ahead Of Planned Exchange Listing Phase

By Amit Chowdhry ● May 23, 2026

Ozak AI announced it has raised more than $7.2 million as the blockchain- and artificial intelligence-focused crypto project nears its anticipated exchange listing phase.

Sorted Wallet: $4.4 Million Raised To Expand Stablecoin Access Across Emerging Markets

By Amit Chowdhry ● May 23, 2026

Sorted Wallet, a lightweight stablecoin wallet designed for feature phones and low-end smartphones, announced a $4.4 million seed funding round led by Tether and Gnosis, with participation from Movement, Angel Invest, and angels including the founders of RWA.io.

Overwatch AI: $1.5 Million Raised To Reduce Flight Disruptions

By Amit Chowdhry ● May 23, 2026

Overwatch AI, a platform designed to help pilots, cabin crew, and aviation operations managers quickly access critical information and make faster operational decisions, announced it has raised $1.5 million in pre-seed funding.

Farther: $150 Million Series D Raised For Intelligent Wealth Management Platform

By Amit Chowdhry ● May 23, 2026

Farther, an intelligent wealth management platform, announced it has raised $150 million in Series D funding led by General Atlantic, with participation from existing investors.

Cycles: $6.4 Million Raised To Build Open Clearing Network For On-Chain Finance

By Amit Chowdhry ● May 23, 2026

Cycles, a startup building an open, privacy-preserving clearing network for crypto markets and stablecoin payments, announced it has raised $6.4 million in funding led by Blockchange Ventures, with participation from Coinbase Ventures, Compound VC, Primitive Ventures, and angel investors. The company said the latest round brings its total funding to $8.7 million following a $2.3 million pre-seed round in 2025.

Shatterdome Energy: $3.5 Million Raised To Build AI-Powered Energy Trading Platform

By Amit Chowdhry ● May 23, 2026

Shatterdome Energy, an AI-driven energy trading and intelligence startup, emerged from stealth with $3.5 million in pre-seed funding to develop a platform designed to help renewable energy operators, utilities, and large power consumers navigate increasingly volatile electricity markets. The round was led by Crucible Capital, with participation from Transpose Platform and Entrepreneurs First.

Vêtir: $5.5 Million Series A Raised At $150 Million Valuation For AI Luxury Fashion Platform

By Amit Chowdhry ● May 23, 2026

Vêtir, an AI-powered luxury wardrobe operating system focused on transforming how consumers get dressed, shop, and manage their wardrobes, announced the successful first close of its Series A financing, raising $5.5 million at a $150 million valuation.

Tribal: $10 Million Seed Raised For Context-Aware AI Agents For Enterprise Systems

By Amit Chowdhry ● May 23, 2026

Tribal announced a $10 million seed round to expand its enterprise-native AI platform designed to help organizations deploy context-aware AI agents across complex enterprise systems. The funding round was led by Team8, with participation from DYDX Capital and a group of angel investors, including enterprise software founders with exits tied to the Salesforce ecosystem and other enterprise technology markets.

Hardline: $2 Million Pre-Seed Raised To Build VoiceOps For Construction

By Amit Chowdhry ● May 23, 2026

Hardline AI, a voice-first construction technology company, announced a $2 million pre-seed funding round led by Mucker Capital to build what it describes as “VoiceOps” infrastructure for the construction industry. The company said the funding will support product development, integrations with construction software platforms, and go-to-market expansion across the commercial and residential construction sectors.

Alacriti: Growth Investment Raised To Expand AI-Driven Payments And Money Movement Platform

By Amit Chowdhry ● May 23, 2026

Alacriti, a payments-focused fintech company, announced a strategic growth equity investment led by Sageview Capital, with participation from BMO Capital Partners and Curql Fund. The funding will support the company’s expansion across payments modernization, fraud prevention, AI-driven intelligence, and digital money solutions.

Mercury: $200 Million Series D Raised At $5.2 Billion Valuation For AI-Native Banking Platform

By Amit Chowdhry ● May 23, 2026

Mercury, the fintech company focused on modern banking solutions for startups and businesses, announced a $200 million Series D funding round at a $5.2 billion valuation. The round was led by TCV and included participation from existing investors including Andreessen Horowitz, Coatue, CRV, Sapphire Ventures, Sequoia Capital, and Spark Capital. The latest raise brings Mercury’s total primary and secondary funding to approximately $700 million.

Fresha: $80 Million At $1 Billion Valuation Raised From KKR For AI-Powered Beauty And Wellness Platform

By Amit Chowdhry ● May 22, 2026

Fresha, an AI-powered marketplace and business management platform for the beauty and wellness industry, announced an $80 million primary growth investment from funds managed by KKR at a valuation of more than $1 billion.

Hark: $700 Million Series A Raised For Personalized AI And Hardware Platform

By Amit Chowdhry ● May 22, 2026

Hark announced it has raised more than $700 million in Series A funding at a $6 billion post-money valuation. The oversubscribed round was led by Parkway Venture Capital and included participation from NVIDIA, AMD Ventures, ARK Invest, Brookfield, Greycroft, Intel Capital, Prime Movers Lab, Qualcomm Ventures, Salesforce Ventures, and Tamarack Global.

Ennov: Strategic Growth Investment From Bregal Sagemount And Ardian To Expand AI-Driven Life Sciences Software Platform

By Amit Chowdhry ● May 22, 2026

Ennov, a provider of end-to-end regulatory, quality, and clinical software solutions for life sciences and healthcare organizations, announced a strategic growth investment led by Bregal Sagemount with participation from Ardian. The investment will support Ennov’s expansion plans, including accelerating AI innovation, scaling its product offering, and expanding its global go-to-market operations.

Neurosoft Bioelectronics: $7.5 Million Seed Round Closed To Advance Stretchable Brain-Computer Interfaces

By Amit Chowdhry ● May 22, 2026

Neurosoft Bioelectronics announced it has closed a $7.5 million oversubscribed seed financing round to accelerate development of its stretchable and scalable brain-computer interface (BCI) platform. The funding will support the company’s minimally invasive neural interface technology, which has already been tested in 10 patients across clinical trials in the United States and Europe.

REPS: $23.6 Million Raised For Road Energy Production Technology

By Amit Chowdhry ● May 22, 2026

An Austrian clean energy startup called REPS has raised $23.6 million to scale a technology platform that converts the kinetic energy generated by trucks and other vehicles into electricity, according to Forbes. The company’s system is designed to be installed beneath roads at locations where vehicles naturally brake, capturing and converting energy that would otherwise be wasted into usable power.

Clouted: $7 Million Raised To Rethink Marketing For Artists, Brands, And Creators

By Amit Chowdhry ● May 22, 2026

Clouted has raised $7 million to build a platform that helps artists, brands, and creators automate and scale their marketing and content distribution. The announcement was shared by CEO and co-founder Justin Gorriceta-Banusing, who explained that the company aims to reduce the burden creators face in managing both content production and audience growth.

Qurie: €2.2 Million Raised For Electrocaloric Refrigeration Systems

By Amit Chowdhry ● May 22, 2026

Qurie, a Freiburg-based startup developing next-generation electrocaloric cooling systems, has secured €2.2 million in Seed funding. The round was jointly backed by HTGF | High-Tech Gründerfonds (HTGF), Technology Transfer Fund TT49, and Aepikur GmbH.

Prelude: $20 Million Series A Raised To Build The Onboarding And Trust Layer For The AI Age

By Amit Chowdhry ● May 22, 2026

Prelude, a company building onboarding and trust infrastructure for the AI era, announced it has raised $20 million in Series A funding led by 20VC, with participation from existing investors Singular, Seedcamp, Deel, and FDJ UNITED Ventures.

Sound Wave Innovation: $17 Million Raised For Ultrasound Alzheimer’s Therapy

By Amit Chowdhry ● May 21, 2026

Japanese medical startup Sound Wave Innovation has raised approximately $17 million (2.65 billion yen) in Series C financing to advance its ultrasound-based therapy for early-stage Alzheimer’s disease. The funding will support the completion of the company’s pivotal clinical trial, which is expected to conclude by the end of 2026, according to The Wall Street Journal.

AVIAN: $2.6 Million Raised To Scale AI Thermal Monitoring For Industrial Fire Prevention

By Amit Chowdhry ● May 21, 2026

AVIAN announced a $2.6 million funding round led by Founderful to accelerate its mission of preventing fires and downtime in critical industrial operations.

Quantum Bridge: $8 Million Raised To Fortify Global Networks Against Quantum Threats

By Amit Chowdhry ● May 21, 2026

Quantum Bridge Technologies announced it has closed an $8 million Series A funding round led by Primo Capital SGR to accelerate the global transition to quantum-safe cybersecurity infrastructure. The investment round included participation from Wayra, Cadenza VC, Club degli Investitori, HPE, and Bacchus Venture Capital. Combined with previous backing from investors including Alumni Ventures and the University of Toronto, Quantum Bridge has now raised a total of $16 million.

Infrawatch: $3 Million Pre-Seed Raised To Build Internet Infrastructure Intelligence Platform

By Amit Chowdhry ● May 21, 2026

Infrawatch announced it has raised a $3 million pre-seed funding round to build what it describes as the Internet Infrastructure Intelligence Layer, a new cybersecurity platform category designed to help organizations identify and stop cyberattacks, fraud, scams, phishing, and online abuse before they happen.

CircuitHub: $28 Million Raised To Accelerate Electronics Production From Months To Days

By Amit Chowdhry ● May 21, 2026

CircuitHub announced it has raised $28 million in funding to expand its automated electronics manufacturing capabilities and accelerate electronics production timelines from months to days. The funding round was led by Plural and Sten Tamkivi, bringing the company’s total funding to date to $48 million.

Findd: $21 Million Growth Investment Raised For AI-Native Workforce Management Platform

By Amit Chowdhry ● May 21, 2026

Findd announced a $21 million growth investment from Unbundled Capital to accelerate expansion of its AI-native workforce management platform for frontline industries.

Redwire: $15 Million Follow-On Order From US Army Aviation Center Of Excellence For Stalker UAS Training

By Amit Chowdhry ● May 21, 2026

Redwire Corporation announced it secured a $15 million follow-on order from the 1st Aviation Brigade, U.S. Army Aviation Center of Excellence (AVCOE), for its Stalker uncrewed aerial systems (UAS) to support advanced individual training. The latest award marks the third order Redwire has received from the 1st Aviation Brigade, AVCOE over the past eight months, bringing the total value of recent orders to $24.8 million.

ProEncia Biotechnology: Pre-Seed Funding Closed To Advance Next-Gen Periodontal Disease Treatment

By Amit Chowdhry ● May 21, 2026

ProEncia Biotechnology announced it has closed a significant pre-seed funding round to accelerate development of its next-generation periodontal disease treatment pipeline.

Blank Bio: $7.2 Million Seed Raised To Advance RNA Foundation Models For Precision Oncology

By Amit Chowdhry ● May 21, 2026

Blank Bio announced the closing of a $7.2 million seed financing alongside a strategic collaboration with PacBio to advance RNA foundation models for precision oncology applications.

RemotePass: $17.4 Million Series B Raised For Employment, Payroll, And Fintech Platform Expansion

By Amit Chowdhry ● May 21, 2026

RemotePass, the global employment, payroll, and spend management platform, announced it has raised $17.4 million in Series B funding led by European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, with participation from 500 Global and existing investors Oraseya Capital, 212 VC, Access Bridge Ventures, and Khwarizmi Ventures.