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This week confirmed that offers can nonetheless occur in a troubled world, however value issues and changes are actually a part of the image.
Most fascinating startup tales from the week
Unsure occasions are not often good for M&As, which raises fears that tariff turmoil may have compromised the startup exit outlook for 2025. However don’t anticipate a complete deal drought — as confirmed by this week’s information.
Worth aware: Anysphere, the corporate behind Cursor, is rising so quick that an acquisition by OpenAI is reportedly off the table. Whether or not OpenAI will purchase Windsurf as an alternative stays to be confirmed, however the competitors between the 2 AI coding assistant rivals is heating up.
Airplane view: Datadog acquired AI-powered data observability startup Metaplane, a YC alum that has raised some $22.2 million so far. Deal phrases weren’t disclosed.
Employed: Erik Torenberg grew to become a16z’s latest associate after the VC agency acqui-hired him and his podcast network, Turpentine, whose reveals are set to proceed.
Downsized: Ather Power, an Indian EV startup looking for to go public, trimmed its IPO size and target valuation, citing market situations.
Most fascinating VC and funding information this week
This week confirmed that vibe coding is as sizzling as may be, however startups in a number of different sectors additionally raised funding. Plus, there’s nonetheless cash to be deployed into rising markets.
Vibe coding: Supabase, an open supply database startup that advantages from the hype round vibe coding instruments, raised a $200 million Series D simply seven months after its C spherical at a reported $900 million valuation, which now formally elevated to $2 billion.
Adaptive Laptop, a vibe coding startup that differentiates itself by specializing in non-programmers from day 1, additionally raised funding: a $7 million seed round led by Pebblebed.
Too many chats: Manychat, which gives an AI-enabled software for companies to handle and automate conversations throughout a number of messaging channels, raised a $140 million Series B led by Summit Companions.
Recognizing flaws: Endor Labs, a startup that builds instruments to scan AI-generated code for vulnerabilities, locked a $93 million Series B round led by DFJ Progress.
Sovereign AI: Previously referred to as Xayn, Berlin-based authorized AI startup Noxtua raised a $92.2 million Series B that follows its pivot into creating sovereign AI for law-related use circumstances akin to drafting authorized paperwork.
Shear cash: Fintech API brokerage startup Alpaca picked up a $52 million Series C to additional broaden internationally.
Digital CISO: Cynomi, a London- and Tel Aviv-based startup that gives SMBs with an AI-powered “digital CISO,” raised a $37 million Series B co-led by Perception Companions and Entrée Capital.
Superpowers: After gathering a 150,000-person waitlist, well being tech startup Superpower launched publicly and introduced it raised a $30 million Series A backed by a number of celebrities.
Debt financing: Froda, a Swedish fintech startup that developed a debt financing platform for SMBs, secured a $22.7 million Series B led by Swedish fund Incore Make investments.
Cheat code: Chungin “Roy” Lee, a 21-year-old Columbia scholar who was suspended after creating a job interview dishonest software, raised $5.3 million in seed funding for his startup, Cluely, which presents an AI software to “cheat on the whole lot.”
Copy-paste: Backed by greater than 75 unicorn founders and VCs, Fluent Ventures is distributing $40 million to worldwide founders, replicating confirmed enterprise fashions in rising markets.
Final however not least
In case you missed it, Techstars not too long ago updated its standard deal: It can now make investments $220,000 into startups getting into its three-month program. That’s $100,000 greater than beforehand, with new deal phrases that mirror Y Combinator’s.