Startups

Ollama Raises $65 Million In Series B Funding To Expand Its Open-Source AI Platform

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 9, 2026

Ollama, the developer platform for open AI models, announced that it has raised $65 million in Series B funding led by Theory Ventures, with participation from Benchmark, 8VC, Y Combinator, Pace Capital, 49 Palms, GTMFund, and other investors and angel backers. The latest financing brings the company’s total funding to $88 million. Benchmark previously led Ollama’s Series A round, and Benchmark General Partner Peter Fenton serves on the company’s board.

Otovo Closes $7.25 Million Financing Round To Fund Green Panel Acquisition And Global Expansion

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 9, 2026

Otovo announced it has closed a $7.25 million private placement financing round, bringing the company's total capital raised over the past nine months to approximately $34 million. The new funding will primarily support Otovo's planned acquisition of Green Panel Solar Energy Systems Ltd., a leading behind-the-meter energy services provider in Israel, while also funding continued investments in the company's AI-powered energy platform.

Databento Raises $97 Million Series B To Expand Global Market Data Infrastructure

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 9, 2026

Databento, a market data platform for financial institutions, announced it has raised $97 million in Series B funding in a round led by New Enterprise Associates (NEA), with participation from DRW Venture Capital, Redpoint Ventures, Tribe Capital, and other strategic and existing investors. The financing was significantly oversubscribed, attracting more than $300 million in investor demand.

MITS Capital Invests In Dropla Tech To Scale Edge-AI Defense Systems And Unmanned Ground Vehicles

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 9, 2026

MITS Capital announced an investment in Dropla Tech, a Danish-Ukrainian defense technology company developing edge-AI explosive threat detection systems and unmanned ground vehicles (UGVs). Financial terms of the investment, including the company's valuation, were not disclosed.

QIZ Security Raises $17 Million Seed Round To Advance Post-Quantum Cybersecurity Platform

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 9, 2026

QIZ Security announced it has raised $17 million in seed funding to accelerate the development and expansion of its cryptographic posture and Post-Quantum Cryptography (PQC) management platform. The round was led by Bessemer Venture Partners and Merlin Ventures, with participation from Evolution Equity Partners, Qbeat Ventures, Singtel Innov8, and Qino Cyber Capital.

NAVER D2SF Invests in 23i to Advance Virtual Entertainment

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 9, 2026

NAVER’s venture arm D2SF has invested in 23i, a South Korea–based virtual entertainment startup focused on building multi-persona digital artists and scalable fan experiences.

Airties To Acquire Aprecomm To Expand AI Connectivity Platform And Accelerate Growth In Emerging Markets

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 9, 2026

Airties announced it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Aprecomm, an AI-driven broadband connectivity software company, to strengthen its Connectivity Experience Management platform and expand its presence in high-growth broadband markets, including India, South Asia, Southeast Asia, South America, and other developing regions. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

GIM Raises $20 Million Series A To Advance Agentic AI Investing Platform

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 9, 2026

GIM (Grace Investment Machine) announced it has raised $20 million in Series A funding to accelerate development of its AI-native investment technology platform focused on autonomous, agentic investing systems.

QuantumDiamonds Raises €91 Million To Scale Quantum Chip Inspection Technology

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 9, 2026

QuantumDiamonds, a Munich-based semiconductor equipment company developing quantum-based chip inspection technology, announced it has raised €91 million to expand production of its next-generation semiconductor inspection systems. The financing includes a €15 million equity round led by World Fund and €76 million in non-dilutive funding approved under the European Chips Act.

Pixel-Flo Raises £5.25 Million Seed Round To Scale MicroLED Manufacturing Technology

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 9, 2026

Pixel-Flo, a University of Sheffield spin-out developing technology to address a major manufacturing bottleneck for MicroLED displays, announced it has raised £5.25 million in Seed funding. The oversubscribed round was led by Northern Gritstone, with participation from SCVC, Parkwalk’s Northern Universities Venture Fund, and HTGF (High-Tech Gründerfonds).

Kraken Technology Group Raises $175 Million Series B At $1 Billion Valuation

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 9, 2026

British maritime defense technology company Kraken Technology Group announced it has raised $175 million in Series B funding at a $1 billion valuation to accelerate development of its uncrewed surface vessels (USVs), expand payload capabilities, and scale localized manufacturing operations worldwide.

Rubrik To Invest £375 Million In UK And Establish London As EMEA Headquarters

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 9, 2026

Rubrik announced plans to invest more than £375 million (approximately $500 million) in the UK over the next five years while naming London as its Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) headquarters. The investment underscores the UK's growing importance to Rubrik's global business and supports the company's continued expansion across the region.

Velocity Raises $27 Million Seed To Help AI Companies Turn Growth Into Sustainable Revenue

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 9, 2026

Velocity announced that it raised $27 million in seed funding to help AI-native software companies turn rapid user growth into sustainable revenue. The round was led by NFX and Red Dot Capital Partners. Stardom Ventures, Corner Ventures, and Transcend also participated in the round. Velocity plans to use the funding to support its AI monetization infrastructure.

Alta Raises $25 Million Series A To Redefine Go-To-Market Architecture For Revenue Teams

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 9, 2026

Alta announced that it raised $25 million in Series A funding. The company describes itself as an AI System of Actions for go-to-market teams. The round was led by IN Venture, with participation from Mindset Ventures, Skywell Capital, LeumiTech77, and existing investors Entrée Capital, Target Global, and Verissimo Ventures. Prominent angel investors and scout funds also joined the round.

Venus Aerospace Raises $91 Million Series B To Mature Flight-Proven RDRE Propulsion Systems

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 9, 2026

Venus Aerospace announced the close of a $91 million Series B financing round to scale development and production of its rotating detonation rocket engine technology. The round was led by Mercury Fund, with participation from Lockheed Martin Ventures, MESH, PEAK6, Draper Associates, Starboard Star Venture Capital, Green Sands Equity, and other new and existing strategic and institutional investors.

Prime Intellect Raises $130 Million Series A To Build Open Superintelligence Stack

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 9, 2026

Prime Intellect announced that it raised $130 million in Series A funding to build what it describes as the open superintelligence stack. The round was led by Radical Ventures, with participation from NVIDIA Ventures, Intel Capital, Dell Technologies Capital, and existing investors.

Pearl Health Raises $110 Million To Expand AI Platform For Medicare Care

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 8, 2026

Pearl Health announced a $110 million capital raise to expand its AI platform for providers caring for Medicare patients. The financing includes a $50 million equity round led by Andreessen Horowitz and a $60 million credit facility led by Trinity Capital.

Hypefy Raises $7.2 Million Series A To Scale Creator Marketing Platform

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 8, 2026

Hypefy announced that it has closed a $7.2 million Series A funding round. The round was led by AYMO Ventures. Returning investors Interactive Venture Partners, Oktogon Ventures, and Euroventures also participated in the financing. Their continued participation reflects ongoing investor support for Hypefy’s growth and its position in the creator marketing market.

Digiclean Raises €2.5 Million Seed Round To Improve Industrial Fluid Monitoring

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 8, 2026

Digiclean Solutions announced that it has closed a €2.5 million seed funding round. The company said the milestone will support the next phase of its growth as it helps manufacturers gain better visibility into industrial process fluids.

Blue Origin Reportedly Raising About $10 Billion At $130 Billion Valuation

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 8, 2026

Blue Origin is reportedly raising about $10 billion in its first outside funding round. The financing would value Jeff Bezos’ rocket company at about $130 billion.

SambaNova Raises $1 Billion Series F First Close At $11 Billion Valuation

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 8, 2026

SambaNova announced that it has completed the first close of $1 billion in strategic financing as part of a Series F round. The financing values the company at $11 billion post-money.

Leo Cancer Care Raises $65 Million Series D To Scale Upright Cancer Care Platform

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 8, 2026

Leo Cancer Care announced the close of an oversubscribed $65 million Series D financing round. The round was led by Yu Galaxy, with new investor Eventide Asset Management joining alongside continued support from existing investors.

Allotera Therapeutics Raises $35 Million To Advance Off-The-Shelf CAR-T Therapies

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 8, 2026

Allotera Therapeutics announced the closing of a $35 million financing round. The financing includes equity and venture debt and brings the company’s total capital raised to $150 million.

Pediatrica Health Group Raises $28 Million Series B

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 8, 2026

Pediatrica Health Group announced the closing of a $28 million Series B funding round. The round was led by Valspring Capital, with participation from existing investor M33 Growth.

Cyllene Therapeutics Raises €33 Million Series C

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 8, 2026

Cyllene Therapeutics announced the closing of a €33 million Series C financing round. The company was formerly known as EG 427 and rebranded to Cyllene Therapeutics alongside the financing. The round was co-led by GordonMD Global Investments and Merck Ventures, an affiliate of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany. T. Andera Partners, Bpifrance Investissement through its InnoBio 3 Fund, and Lamond Ventures also participated.

Agave Raises $15 Million Series A To Bring AI To Construction Financials

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 8, 2026

Agave announced that it has raised $15 million in Series A funding. The round was led by Accel, which also led Agave’s seed round, with continued participation from Y Combinator.

HIVE Raises $15 Million Seed To Build Physical AI Platform For Industrial Machines

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 8, 2026

HIVE announced that it has raised $15 million in seed funding. The round was led by SuperSeed, with participation from Veriten, Skyfall, and Nysnø. Angel investors in the round include Børge Hald, founder of Medallia, and Jørn Lyseggen, founder of Meltwater. The company described the financing as one of Europe’s largest seed investments in Physical AI.

ARC Intelligence Raises €4 Million In Seed Funding

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 8, 2026

ARC Intelligence announced that it has secured €4 million in seed funding. The company is building an AI-native Finance OS for ERP-heavy businesses.

Z Squared Raises Approximately $15.3 Million To Advance AI Infrastructure Strategy

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 8, 2026

Z Squared announced that it has raised approximately $15.3 million in capital through equity sales under its standby equity purchase agreement. The company incurred no new debt in connection with the financing and said it continues to maintain virtually no corporate debt.

Expeditions Closes €197 Million Fund II To Back European Security Technologies

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 8, 2026

Expeditions announced the final close of its second fund at €197 million. The fund will invest in technologies and founders shaping the future of European defense, security, and sovereignty.