Startups

Matthews International Buying Dodge Company In $57 Million Deal

By Amit Chowdhry ● May 16, 2025

Matthews Memorialization - a division of Matthews International Corporation - announced it has acquired The Dodge Company for $57 million. And Dodge is a leading supplier of embalming chemicals and supplies in North America and sells a variety of other related products to Funeral Homes.

Arbitrum Gaming Ventures: First $10+ Million Investment Cohort Revealed

By Amit Chowdhry ● May 16, 2025

Arbitrum Gaming Ventures (previously known as The Gaming Catalyst), a 200 million $ARB initiative to accelerate gaming and entertainment on Arbitrum, announced the first cohort of investments and grants, made along with VCs including Paradigm, Framework, and BITKRAFT. This first investment tranche, representing a commitment of $10 million in capital, supports a cohort of experienced founders, innovative distribution models, and developing gaming content across genres and geographies.

Sirius: $50 Million Series B2 Raised For Advancing Novel siRNA Therapeutics For Cardiometabolic Disorders

By Amit Chowdhry ● May 16, 2025

Sirius Therapeutics has completed nearly $50 million in Series B2 financing to advance clinical development of the company’s novel siRNA therapeutics for cardiometabolic disorders and continue innovation of its RNA delivery technologies. A renowned corporate venture capital firm led the financing round, which was joined by a new investor (BioTrack Capital) and existing investors OrbiMed, Creacion Ventures, and Hankang Capital.

Quantum Systems: €160 Million Raised For AI-Based Aerial Intelligence Systems

By Amit Chowdhry ● May 16, 2025

Quantum Systems—a leader in AI-based aerial intelligence systems for defense, emergency services, and industry—announced it has raised €160 million in new funding, led by Balderton Capital. Participation came from Hensoldt, Airbus Defense and Space, Bullhound Capital, LP&E AG, and existing investors, including HV Capital, Project A, Peter Thiel, DTCP, Omnes Capital, Airbus Ventures, Porsche SE, and Notion.

Plakar: $3 Million Raised For Open-Source Backup And Restore Platform

By Amit Chowdhry ● May 15, 2025

Plakar, an open-source backup and restore platform, announced the general availability of its first stable release, alongside a $3 million pre-seed funding round led by Seedcamp. This funding round includes participation from leading venture firms HelloWorld, IrregularExpression, Galion.exe, Kima Ventures, OPRTRS and renowned angel investors, including Olivier Pomel (Datadog), Solomon Hykes (Docker), and Alexandre Yazdi (Voodoo).

Kincell Bio: $22 Million Raised For Cell Therapy Platform

By Amit Chowdhry ● May 15, 2025

Kincell Bio announced the completion of a $22 million round led by new investor NewSpring Capital through its dedicated healthcare strategy NewSpring Healthcare. The funding round was also led by existing investor Kineticos Life Sciences.

Verdi: C$6.5 Million Raised For Automating Legacy Farm Infrastructure

By Amit Chowdhry ● May 15, 2025

Verdi, a company making irrigation automation accessible to every farm, announced it has raised $6.5 million CAD ($4.7 million USD) in its latest oversubscribed seed round, bringing the total funding to $9.5 million. The funding round was led by SVG Ventures, with participation from NEC X, Ponderosa Ventures (a member of Galvanize Climate Solutions' platform), Elemental Impact, GenomeBC, One Small Planet, Waterpoint Lane, Dangerous Ventures, VentureUs, Echo River Capital, Cyan Ventures, Jetstream, and Baker Hall Capital.

Granite Creek: Matt Morgan Named As Director Of Business Development

By Amit Chowdhry ● May 15, 2025

Granite Creek Capital Partners, a Chicago-based private investment firm, announced the appointment of Matt Morgan as Director of Business Development. With over 20 years of leadership experience in agribusiness, Morgan will focus on sourcing investment opportunities to support the firm’s agribusiness strategy and portfolio company activities.

Rippling: $450 Million Raised At $16.8 Billion Valuation For Workforce Management System

By Amit Chowdhry ● May 15, 2025

Human resources software company Rippling recently announced it has raised $450 million at a $16.8 billion valuation. This financing includes investment from Elad Gil, Sands Capital, GIC, Goldman Sachs Alternatives, Baillie Gifford, and Y Combinator, along with participation from existing investors. There was no lead investor in this funding round.

Theom: $20 Million Series A Raised For Transforming Data Governance And Security

By Amit Chowdhry ● May 15, 2025

Theom, an AI-native Data Operations Center (DOC) platform that automates AI and data governance and security, announced it has raised $20 million in Series A funding. Wing VC led the round, which also included Sentinel One, Snowflake, and Databricks.

Olio: $11 Million B Round Raised For Streamlining Care Coordination Platform

By Amit Chowdhry ● May 15, 2025

Olio, a leading software platform streamlining care coordination, announced the closing of an $11 million Series B funding round. The funding round was led by Fulcrum Equity Partners with participation from Mutual Capital Partners (MCP).

Arkestro: $36 Million Raised For Predictive Procurement Platform

By Amit Chowdhry ● May 15, 2025

Arkestro, a premier Predictive Procurement Platform accelerating enterprise spend transformation, announced a strategic investment totaling $36 million. The funding was led by Altira Group and Aramco Ventures, with participation from existing investors NEA, KDT, and Activant.

Persona AI: $27 Million Raised For Embodied AI Platform

By Amit Chowdhry ● May 15, 2025

Persona AI, a leader in embodied artificial intelligence, today announced it has closed its oversubscribed pre-seed funding round, raising $27 million. The funding round was co-led by Unity Growth and Tides Ventures, with participation from Mirae Asset Group, Invicta Growth, Fathom Fund, Embedded Ventures, Wave Function Ventures, Zero Infinity Partners, dConstruct Technologies, Goose Capital, SGH, Sound Media Ventures, Kalea Ventures, K50 Ventures, Cofounder Ventures, Tola Capital, SGA Capital, and Olive Hill Ventures, and K2 Global.

Cohere Health: $90 Million C Round Closed For Clinical Intelligence Solutions

By Amit Chowdhry ● May 15, 2025

Cohere Health, a leader in clinical intelligence solutions for health plans and risk-bearing providers, announced it has raised $90 million in Series C funding. The funding round was led by Temasek, with continued support from Deerfield Management, Define Ventures, Flare Capital Partners, Longitude Capital, and Polaris Partners. This new investment brings Cohere's total funding to $200 million.

Nortian: $41 Million Raised At $100 Million Valuation For Producing Ultra-Pure Collagen

By Amit Chowdhry ● May 15, 2025

Nortian, a biotech company pioneering the production of ultra-pure collagen through a proprietary and vertically integrated process, announced it has raised $41 million in a funding round (one of the largest in the collagen space) to launch its U.S. manufacturing operations and accelerate commercialization. The funding round was led by AJ Hollander, one of the world's largest hide processors and traders. Hollander features unmatched scale and security in hide sourcing, processing over 10,000 hides daily across five U.S. facilities.

Addepar: $230 Million G Round Raised At $3.25 Billion Valuation To Advance Data Platform

By Amit Chowdhry ● May 15, 2025

Addepar, a global technology and data platform that investment professionals depend on to make the most informed, data-driven investment decisions, announced its $230 million Series G investment round closing. The funding round was co-led by Vitruvian Partners and returning investor WestCap, with additional participation from 8VC and Valor Equity Partners. Global investor EDBI, operating under SG Growth Capital—the investment platform of the Singapore Economic Development Board (EDB) and Enterprise Singapore, also joined this round as a new investor.

Openlayer: $14.5 Million Series A Raised For Helping Scale Enterprises

By Amit Chowdhry ● May 14, 2025

Openlayer - a unified platform for evaluation and governance of AI systems at the enterprise level - announced a $14.5 million Series A round, led by Race Capital with participation from NXTP, KPN Ventures, Mindset, Y Combinator, Quiet Capital, and Telefonica.

Reflect Orbital: $20 Million Series A Raised For Accelerating Satellite Constellation Technology

By Amit Chowdhry ● May 14, 2025

Reflect Orbital announced it has raised a $20 million Series A to accelerate development of its satellite constellation to deliver sunlight on demand. The funding round was led by Lux Capital, with participation from Sequoia Capital and Starship Ventures.

Granola: $43 Million Series B Raised For AI Workspace Platform

By Amit Chowdhry ● May 14, 2025

Granola, an AI-based notepad that combines your typed notes with AI transcriptions, announced the launch of Granola 2.0. And Granola identified that the most valuable information in companies isn't found in static documents or wikis, but in the daily conversations happening across teams.

FirmPilot: $11.7 Million In Total Funding Raised For Law Firm Focused AI Marketing Engine

By Amit Chowdhry ● May 14, 2025

FirmPilot, an AI marketing engine for law firms, announced that Thomson Reuters Ventures and HubSpot Ventures have joined as investors. These investors support the company's mission to help law firms generate more and higher-value clients with AI rather than rely on traditional, manual marketing tactics. This strategic funding increases FirmPilot's total funding to $11.7 million, following the company's Series A round in 2024 led by Blumberg Capital.

Saildrone: $60 Million Raised For Advancing Maritime Autonomy

By Amit Chowdhry ● May 14, 2025

Saildrone, a leader in maritime autonomy, announced the closing of a $60 million investment round led by EIFO, the Export and Investment Fund of Denmark.

Bestow: $120 Million Series D Raised For Insurance Technology Platform

By Amit Chowdhry ● May 14, 2025

Bestow, a leading insurance technology company, announced the closing of a $120 million oversubscribed Series D funding round, including primary and secondary investments. Growth Equity at Goldman Sachs Alternatives and Smith Point Capital co-led the funding round. Along with the equity financing, Bestow also secured a $50 million credit facility from TriplePoint Capital.

Denali Growth Partners: $400 Million Raised For Second Growth Equity Fund

By Amit Chowdhry ● May 14, 2025

Denali Growth Partners (DGP) announced the final closing of Denali Growth Partners Fund II at $400 million in total limited partner capital commitments. And Fund II exceeded its $350 million target, which was backed by strong demand from both existing and new investors.

Cart.com: $50 Million Raised At $1.6 Billion Valuation For Commerce Solutions

By Amit Chowdhry ● May 14, 2025

Cart.com, a leading unified commerce solutions provider, announced it has raised additional funding of $50 million and achieved a post-money valuation of $1.6 billion. This funding includes financing from funds and accounts managed by BlackRock and Neuberger Berman, new investors such as eGateway Capital, and other venture capital firms, strategic investors, and family offices. Since its founding, Cart.com has raised a total of $475 million.

Realta: $36 Million Series A Closed For Fusion Energy Platform

By Amit Chowdhry ● May 13, 2025

Fusion energy startup Realta Fusion announced an oversubscribed $36 million Series A funding round to bring its compact, scalable, modular magnetic mirror fusion technology closer to commercialization. Future Ventures led the round, which also included Mayfield, GSBackers, SiteGround, Avila VC, and other investors. Existing Realta Fusion investors Khosla Ventures, Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation, and TitletownTech also participated.

X-Bow Systems: Over $105 Million Series B Raised For Defense Technologies

By Amit Chowdhry ● May 13, 2025

X-Bow Systems - a leading non-traditional producer of advanced manufactured solid rocket motors (SRMs) and defense technologies - announced the final closing of its Series B funding round, totaling over $105 million. This strategic portion of this round was led by Lockheed Martin with a significant investment in X-Bow Systems. This total funding round included investment from Razor's Edge Ventures, Crosslink Capital, Lockheed Martin, Balerion Space Ventures, Boeing Ventures, Bravo Victor Venture Capital, Upsher Management Company, Capital Factory Ventures, Arkenstone Capital, and Event Horizon Capital.

Glass Imaging: $20 Million Raised For Expanding AI Imaging

By Amit Chowdhry ● May 13, 2025

Glass Imaging, a company utilizing the power of AI to transform digital image quality, announced a Series A funding round led by Insight Partners. The $20 million funding round will enable Glass Imaging to continue refining and implementing its proprietary GlassAI technologies across a wide range of camera platforms—from smartphones to drones to wearables etc. Previous Glass Imaging investors GV (Google Ventures), Future Ventures, and Abstract Ventures joined the Series A round.

Ravio: $12 Million Series A Closed For Enhancing Compensation Data Platform

By Amit Chowdhry ● May 13, 2025

Ravio announced it has raised a $12 million Series A funding round led by Spark Capital (US) with participation from Blackbird (Australia) and Cherry Ventures (Europe) to transform how companies manage compensation with real-time market data and decision making tools.

Fastino: $17.5 Million Raised For Building Next-Gen LLMs

By Amit Chowdhry ● May 13, 2025

Fastino AI announced it launched a new AI model architecture, coined ‘TLMs’ – Task-Specific Language Models. Fastino also announced $17.5 million in seed funding led by Khosla Ventures, bringing Fastino’s total funding to $25 million. The funding round included participation from preseed lead investor Insight Partners, Valor Equity Partners, and notable angels including Scott Johnston, the previous CEO of Docker, and Lukas Biewald, the CEO of Weights & Biases.

CueZen: $5 Million Seed Funding Raised Advancing Healthcare Solutions

By Amit Chowdhry ● May 13, 2025

CueZen, an AI-based personalization engine for health, announced $5 million in funding led by Point72 Ventures, with participation from Pack VC, Fortson VC, and Nextinfinity.