☕ Open AI to launch AI-powered hiring platform to take on LinkedIn, Tesla reveals new Optimus prototype with Grok AI & More.
Ex-Salesforce co-CEO founded AI startup raised $350 million & Atlassian acquires The Browser Company for $610 million.
Some people remember every single day of their lives.
It’s called hyperthymesia — and it’s as wild as it sounds.
You forget where your keys are. They recall what they ate on April 14, 1997. Assuming, they’re all virgos or something.
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📬 What’s in store:
Today’s Picks: VCs not built to fund good businesses, leaner startups (Carta), Replo hiring strategy, $500B AI giants, why smart people fail, Lisa Su’s advice, PG on AI jobs.
OpenAI announces AI-powered hiring platform to take on LinkedIn.
Ex-Salesforce co-CEO founded AI startup raised $350 million.
Apple plans an AI search engine for Siri.
Tesla reveals new Optimus prototype with Grok AI.
Atlassian acquires The Browser Company for $610 million.
OpenAI to debut first in-house AI chip with Broadcom in 2026.
Chinese tech firms defy pressure, still chasing Nvidia chips.
Trump to impose tariffs on foreign-made semiconductors.
VC & Startup Jobs: VC & investors backed startup hiring for remote roles.
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STARTUPS RAISING MILLIONS
💰 Startup funding updates
Recall.ai, a San Francisco, CA-based provider of a infrastructure layer service for conversation data, raised $38M in Series B funding. The round was led by Bessemer Venture Partners, with participation from HubSpot Ventures, Salesforce Ventures, Ridge Ventures, Y Combinator, RTP Ventures, as well as angels including Paul Graham, founder of Y Combinator, Solomon Hykes, founder of Docker, Michael Siebel, founder of Twitch.tv, and Eoghan McCabe, founder of Intercom.
Sierra, a San Francisco–based AI startup founded by ex-Salesforce co-CEO Bret Taylor and Google alum Clay Bavor, has raised $350 million in fresh funding at a $10 billion valuation.
The round was led by Greenoaks Capital, with participation from Sequoia, Benchmark, ICONIQ, and Thrive Capital. This brings Sierra’s total funding to $635 million.
Sesh+, an Austin, TX-based premium, tobacco-free nicotine pouch brand for adults, raised over $40m in total funding, including a recently closed financing round. The round was led by 8VC and Troy Link, CEO of Jack Link’s, with participation from Electric Feel Ventures alongside a range of strategic investors spanning entertainment, retail, and manufacturing.
Throxy, a London, UK-based outbound growth partner for companies selling into traditional industries, raised $6.2m in seed funding round. The round was led by Base10 Partners with participation from Y Combinator.
Fiveonefour, a Portland, OR-based company which specializes in data and analytics AI and developer tooling, raised $17M in total funding. The round was led by Dimension Capital, with participation from Stage 2 Capital, Flybridge Capital Partners, Ridge Ventures, Tokyo Black Venture Capital, and Vermillion Cliffs, along with several angel investors.
Pointsville, a Pittsburgh, PA-based provider of a platform for digital asset infrastructure and loyalty, raised an undisclosed amount in Series A funding. The round was led by Valor Capital Group, with participation from Tether, Itaú Unibanco’s founding family, Nubank’s co-founder, Temasek-backed Superscrypt, SNZ, Credit Saison, K2 Integrity, Citrino, and Dynamo’s partners.
Ketryx, a Cambridge, MA-based AI-powered compliance platform helping life sciences companies ship safer products faster, raised $39M in Series B funding. The round was led by Transformation Capital, with participation from existing investors including Lightspeed Venture Partners, MIT’s E14 Fund, Ubiquity Ventures, and 53 Stations.
Sola Security, a Tel Aviv, Israel-based cybersecurity AI assistant, raised $35M in Series A funding. The round was led by S32 and joined by M12, Microsoft’s Venture Fund, and New Era Capital Partners. All existing investors, including venture capitalist Mike Moritz, S Capital, and Glilot Capital Partners also participated.
Enveda, a Boulder, CO-based clinical-stage biotech company, raised $150M in Series D funding. The round was led by Premji Invest with participation from new and existing investors Baillie Gifford, Kinnevik, Lingotto Investment Management, Peakline Partners, FPV, Socium Ventures, Dimension, Level Ventures, Henry Kravis, IA Ventures, and Lux Capital.
Mojo Vision, a Cupertino, CA-based micro-LED platform company, raised $75M in Series B funding. The round was led by Vanedge Capital, with participation from Edge Venture Capital, New Enterprise Associates (NEA), Fusion Fund, Knollwood Capital, Dolby Family Ventures, and Khosla Ventures imec.xpand, Keymaker, Ohio Innovation Fund, and Hyperlink Ventures.
Allocate, a San Francisco, CA-based company providing an operating system for private market investing, raised $30.5M in Series B funding. The round, which brought the total capital raised since inception to $64M, was led by Portage Ventures with participation from Andreessen Horowitz, M13, and Fika Ventures.
Orchard Robotics, a San Francisco, CA-based AI farming company, raised $22M in Series A funding. The round was led by Quiet Capital and Shine Capital, with participation from General Catalyst, Contrary, Mythos, Valyrian, Ravelin, and F1 World Champion Nico Rosberg and Yext & Roam Founder Howard Lerman.
Dextall, a New York City–based company which specializes in the design, delivery and installation of envelopes, received a $15M investment. The amount was led by Y Capital.
Advisor.com, a Charleston, SC-based provider of a platform supporting how individuals discover and receive financial advice, raised $9M in Seed funding. The round was led by Walkabout Ventures, with participation from Long Ridge Private Equity Partners Founder and Managing Partner Jim Brown.
MagicDoor, a Las Vegas, NV-based provider of an AI-native property management software platform, raised $4.5M in Seed funding. The round was led by Okapi Venture Capital and Shadow Ventures. As part of the fundraise, MagicDoor also added three new board members: Jeff Bocan (Okapi Ventures), Matt Ohlman (Shadow Ventures), and Tim Sheehan, co‑founder and CEO of Greenlight.
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NEW VCs IN THE MARKET
🏦 Venture Capital updates
Atlas Venture, a Cambridge, MA-based venture capital firm investing in biotech, closed its third Opportunity Fund, at $400m. Atlas Venture Opportunity Fund III will enable the firm to continue providing capital to its portfolio companies as they raise subsequent financings and advance therapeutic programs. The raise follows Atlas’ $450m Fund XIV, its latest early stage vehicle which closed in December 2024.
White Star Capital, a global multi-stage technology investment firm, held a first close of $25m for its new North American Seed Fund. The vehicle was anchored by the Fonds de solidarité FTQ, with other LPs including Capital régional et coopératif Desjardins (CRCD), Fonds québécois d’amorçage Teralys financed by La Caisse, and TD Innovation Partners (TDIP), a division of The Toronto-Dominion Bank.
Impact VC firm Eagle Venture Fund announced the launch the the second fund. Eagle Freedom Fund II, which will target $50M, is dedicated to investing in tech innovation to fight human trafficking. The second fund received support from Keel Point and The Tebow Group. Led by and Tim Tebow, the fund follows Eagle Freedom Fund I, which has invested in 20 high-growth companies delivering measurable impact across healthcare, law enforcement, technology, and frontline response.
KEY STORIES IN TECH
📜 Latest in tech
OpenAI takes on LinkedIn with AI-powered jobs platform:
OpenAI is building the OpenAI Jobs Platform, launching mid-2026, to connect businesses with workers using AI. A dedicated track will target small businesses and local governments.
The move pits OpenAI directly against LinkedIn, co-founded by Reid Hoffman (an early OpenAI investor) and now owned by Microsoft, OpenAI’s biggest backer.
Alongside, OpenAI will roll out AI fluency certifications via its Academy, with Walmart as a partner, aiming to certify 10M Americans by 2030.
Apple plans an AI search engine for Siri:
Apple is developing an AI search feature for Siri, internally named "World Knowledge Answers", that will summarize web results using text, photos, video, and other multimedia elements.
The company plans to power the new tool with a Google-developed model that will be hosted on Apple’s own secure Private Cloud Compute servers instead of on Google's cloud.
Sources claim Apple also considered a partnership with Anthropic for its Claude models, but the firm reportedly asked for $1.5 billion a year, a higher price than what Google wanted.
Tesla reveals new Optimus prototype with Grok AI:
A video on X reveals Tesla's next-generation Optimus prototype answering questions from Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff, demonstrating its early integration with the company's Grok artificial intelligence assistant.
The new prototype has a fresh gold color and features hands that are much more detailed than previous versions, although they appear non-functional and similar to mannequin hands in the footage.
Tesla previously said its next-generation hands would have actuators in the forearm operating the fingers through cables, a crucial improvement for performing both delicate and more imposing tasks.
Atlassian acquires The Browser Company for $610 million:
Atlassian is buying The Browser Company for $610 million in cash, acquiring the new AI-focused Dia browser to connect its popular work apps like Jira and Confluence together.
The deal gives Dia the distribution and sales team needed to compete, shifting its focus from personal tasks to exclusively serving individual users in a professional setting at their jobs.
While Dia becomes a work-focused tool, the original Arc browser will only be maintained and not actively developed, with its future now uncertain under the new company ownership.
OpenAI to debut first in-house AI chip with Broadcom in 2026:
OpenAI will launch its first custom AI chip next year, built in partnership with Broadcom, according to the Financial Times.
The chip will be used internally to power OpenAI’s models, part of its push to reduce reliance on Nvidia and diversify supply through Broadcom, TSMC, and AMD.
Broadcom CEO Hock Tan confirmed a new $10B+ AI infrastructure order for fiscal 2026, widely believed to be from OpenAI, signaling a major step in the firm’s chip strategy.
Chinese tech firms defy pressure, still chasing Nvidia chips:
Alibaba, ByteDance, and Tencent continue to seek Nvidia’s H20 AI chips despite Beijing’s discouragement, with interest growing in the upcoming B30A, expected to be up to six times more powerful and priced around double the H20’s $10K–$12K tag.
U.S. approved H20 sales in July under a deal requiring Nvidia to give 15% of China revenue to Washington, while Chinese regulators pressure firms to shift away from U.S. chips but haven’t imposed an outright ban.
Domestic alternatives like Huawei and Cambricon face limited supply and weaker performance, keeping demand for Nvidia strong in China, where the market could be worth $50B if fully accessible.
LAST COFFEE SIP
☕Other news
Trump to impose tariffs on foreign-made semiconductors:
President Trump said his administration will soon impose “substantial” tariffs on semiconductor imports from firms not moving production to the U.S.
The tariffs won’t apply to companies manufacturing domestically or planning U.S. investments — Apple, TSMC, Samsung, and SK Hynix have all pledged billions in U.S. chip facilities.
The move follows Trump’s broader trade strategy of using tariffs as leverage, though his approach faces legal challenges after lower courts struck down parts of his tariff agenda.
HIRING ALERT: STARTUPS & VC ROLES
💼 Today’s VC & startup job opportunities
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Venture Partner - XDC Venture | USA - Apply Here
Manager - Finance - Yournest Venture | India - Apply Here
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