☕ Perplexity to raise $500M at $14 billion valuation & OpenAI’s Stargate project is in trouble.
Mercury CEO launches $26M fund & US and China suspend tariffs for 90 days.
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Today’s Picks: Runway tips, 6000+ Euro VCs, genAI risks, financial model, $1M+ businesses, AI vs web, legal docs, AI & work, valuation, 350+ Indian VCs, VC interview, data room guide.
Mercury CEO launches $26M fund to back early-stage founders.
Google launches AI Futures Fund to back AI startups.
Apple reportedly plans to hike prices of upcoming iPhones.
OpenAI’s Stargate project reportedly struggling to get off the ground due to tariff.
Perplexity eyes $14 billion valuation in new $500M funding round.
Even a16z VCs admit no one really knows what an AI agent is.
Saudi prince launches AI venture as Trump, Musk, Altman, and Zuckerberg arrive for conference.
US and China suspend tariffs for 90 days.
VC & Startup Jobs: VC & investors backed startup hiring for remote roles.
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STARTUPS RAISING MILLIONS
💰 Startup funding updates
Theom, a San Jose, CA-based AI-native Data Operations Center (DOC) platform that automates AI & data governance and security, raised $20m in Series A funding. The round was led by Wing VC, with participation from Sentinel One’ S Ventures, Snowflake Ventures and Databricks Ventures.
Exterra Carbon Solutions, a Montreal, Canada-based cleantech company transforming legacy mining waste into sustainable materials, closed a CAD $20m Series A financing round. The round, which brought total raised investment to CAD $32m, was co-led by Clean Energy Ventures and BDC Capital, with the participation of the Government of Quebec, Investissement Quebec, MOL Switch, and Kinetics, a Karpowership initiative.
Dinari, a Palo Alto, CA-based tokenized equity trading startup, raised $12.7m in Series A funding. The round was co-led by Hack VC and Blockchange Ventures, with participation from VanEck Ventures, F-Prime, and Blizzard’s Avalanche Fund.
Upscale AI, a San Francisco, CA-based company using AI for high-quality video creation with machine learning-driven programmatic buying, raised $5.5M in Pre-Seed and Seed funding. The Seed round was led by nvp capital with participation from M12 (Microsoft’s Venture Fund), Eniac Ventures, SuperAngel.Fund and Breakpoint Capital.
Alt DRX, a Bengaluru, India-based tokenised digital real estate marketplace, raised $2.7M in Pre-Series A funding. Backers included Qatar Development Bank, Times of India Brand Capital, Hindustan Media Ventures, Zee Group, WeFounder Circle Angel Fund, nX Capital, and angel investors such as Harsha Bhogle (Golden Voice of Cricket), Parthasarathy (Founder of Mindtree), and Richard Rekhy (ex CEO of KPMG India).
Glass Imaging, a Los Altos, CA-based company using artificial intelligence to improve digital image quality, raised $20M in Series A funding. The round was led by Insight Partners. GV (Google Ventures), Future Ventures and Abstract Ventures also participated.
Stash, a NYC-based investment platform provider, raised $146M in Series H funding. The round was led by Goodwater Capital, with participation from returning investors Union Square Ventures, StepStone Group, Serengeti, and the University of Illinois Foundation.
Alta Resource Technologies, a Boulder, CO-based company using biochemistry for mineral separation, extended its Seed funding to $10M with the close of an additional $4.4M investment. The Seed 2 round was co-led by DCVC and Voyager Ventures with participation from Orion Industrial Ventures and In-Q-Tel (IQT).
Tobin Scientific, a Beverly, MA-based provider of cGMP storage, biorepository services, and specialized logistics for the life sciences industry, raised $65M in funding. The round was led by Denali Growth Partners and Truck 9 Partners with participation from Eastern Bank.
TensorStax, a San Francisco, CA-based provider of an agentic platform for data engineering, raised $5M in Seed funding. The round was led by Glasswing Ventures, with participation from Bee Partners and S3 Ventures.
Classiq, a Tel Aviv, Israel-based company providing a quantum development platform, raised $110M in Series C funding. The round was led by Entrée Capital, with participation from Norwest, NightDragon, funds managed by Hamilton Lane (Nasdaq: HLNE), Clal, Neva SGR, Phoenix, Team8, IN Venture, Wing, HSBC, Samsung Next and QBeat, as well as other new and existing investors.
Farmley, a Delhi, India-based snacking brand, raised $42M in Series C funding. The round was led by L Catterton, with participation from DSG Consumer Partners and others.
Axe, a Dublin, Ireland and London, UK-based startup building AI agent services for logistics operations, raised €1.5M in Pre-Seed funding. The round was led by Pitchdrive, with participation from Accel Scouts, Enterprise Ireland, and angels including Colm Long and Colm Lyons.
NEW VCs IN THE MARKET
🏦 Venture Capital updates
Mercury CEO launches $26M fund to back early-stage founders:
Mercury CEO Immad Akhund has launched a $26M fund to formalize his angel investing, having backed 350+ startups like Airtable, Substack, and Linear since 2016.
The fund will focus on early-stage founders building impactful products in $10B+ markets, with support from new partner Yash Doshi.
Akhund remains fully committed to Mercury, which recently raised $300M at a $3.5B valuation from top-tier firms like Sequoia and a16z.
This American VC is betting on European defense tech; that’s still very unusual:
Ex-CIA officer Eric Slesinger launched 201 Ventures, a $22M fund focused solely on European defense tech startups, betting on a growing “gray zone” conflict market.
Despite cultural resistance in Europe, Slesinger believes sovereign defense gaps, hungry founders, and new NATO-backed funds make it the right time to invest.
His fund backs startups like Greece’s Delian (autonomous surveillance towers) and Sweden’s Polar Mist (maritime drones), amid rising geopolitical tensions and AI adoption in defense.
KEY STORIES IN TECH
📜 Latest in tech
Google launches AI Futures Fund to back AI startups:
Google announced the AI Futures Fund to invest in AI startups from seed to late stage, offering early access to DeepMind models, Google Cloud credits, and expert guidance.
The fund operates on a rolling basis without a set application deadline or fixed fund size, and some companies may receive direct investment from Google.
This adds to Google’s broader AI support efforts, including a $120M Global AI Opportunity fund and $20M commitments for researchers and nonprofits in AI.
Apple reportedly plans to hike prices of upcoming iPhones:
Apple is expected to raise prices for its next iPhone lineup launching this fall but may attribute the hikes to new features rather than U.S.-China tariffs.
The company faces $900M in tariff costs but is shifting iPhone production to India and benefiting from recent U.S. tariff exemptions on tech products.
Future models include a thinner iPhone in 2025 and a 2027 redesign featuring a curved, all-glass, cutout-free display for the iPhone’s 20th anniversary.
OpenAI’s Stargate project reportedly struggling to get off the ground due to tariff:
OpenAI’s Stargate project, which seeks up to $500M for AI infrastructure, is facing delays due to tariff-driven cost uncertainty and investor hesitation.
Tariffs on server racks, chips, and cooling systems could raise data center buildout costs by 5–15%, discouraging private equity and bank participation.
Major backers like SoftBank have yet to finalize financing plans, as broader market concerns and signs of potential data center overcapacity deepen investor caution.
Perplexity eyes $14 billion valuation in new $500M funding round:
Perplexity AI is in advanced talks to raise $500M at a $14B valuation, with VC firm Accel set to lead the round, per WSJ.
The Nvidia-backed startup offers AI-powered search tools, competing with ChatGPT and Google Gemini.
Perplexity was previously valued at $9B and is reportedly being considered as a Safari search option in Apple’s upcoming AI push.
Even a16z VCs admit no one really knows what an AI agent is:
Andreessen Horowitz partners say “AI agent” has no agreed definition; it's used loosely, from clever prompts to hypothetical human replacements.
True AI agents that persist, reason over time, and act autonomously — like human workers — don't actually exist yet, they say.
Despite marketing hype, VCs believe AI agents may enhance productivity but won’t replace humans anytime soon due to technical limitations.
LAST COFFEE SIP
☕Other news
Saudi prince launches AI venture as Trump, Musk, Altman, and Zuckerberg arrive for conference:
Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman launched Humain, a new AI company funded by the $940B Public Investment Fund (PIF), to build national AI infrastructure.
The launch coincides with a U.S.-Saudi investment forum this week, attended by Elon Musk, Sam Altman, Mark Zuckerberg, and former President Trump.
U.S. tech firms like Google and Salesforce have recently partnered with PIF on AI initiatives, highlighting Saudi Arabia’s push to diversify beyond oil.
US and China suspend tariffs for 90 days:
The United States and China consented to halt most mutual tariffs for a ninety-day window, providing time for ongoing trade discussions following recent talks between the nations.
This temporary agreement lessens immediate economic instability for technology companies, especially those with substantial manufacturing operations based in China previously subject to high import duties.
Despite the truce, an expert warns that the tech industry is not entirely free from potential trade friction, awaiting clarity on future US levies for specific electronic components.
HIRING ALERT: STARTUPS & VC ROLES
💼 Today’s VC & startup job opportunities
Associate - Rev1 Venture | USA - Apply Here
Investor (AI) - Samsung Next | USA - Apply Here
Investment team - Next Bharat Venture | India - Apply Here
Senior Associate - Disrupt | UAE - Apply Here
Chief of Staff - First Round Capital | USA - Apply Here
Office Manager - Wind Ventures | USA - Apply Here
Venture Investments Associate - GSR | USA - Apply Here
Executive Assistant TCV | UK - Apply Here
Writer - First Round Capital | USA - Apply Here
Venture Scout - Sentiera Venture | USA - Apply Here
All-In-One VC Interview Preparation Guide: With a leading investors group, we have created an all-in-one VC interview preparation guide for aspiring VCs. Don’t miss this. (Access Here)
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