WHAT’S INSIDE

• The latest in Tech: Trump Security Purge, TikTok sale, FAA down, Chips down

• The biggest startup deals Nerd.io, TON, Cognition AI, Latigo, Graphite +

• The hottest companies Taara, Dataminr, Generalist AI, X, Boeing + more

• The latest exit deals and companies going public, Stubhub, 

• The latest VC & PE news and funds raised

TECH IN THE NEWS

Trump's Security Purge — Trump revoked security clearances for Kamala Harris, Hillary Clinton, the Biden Family and other critics, including Biden admin officials.

TikTok Deal Progress — The White House considers letting existing ByteDance investors acquire TikTok US, reducing Chinese ownership to under 20%, with Oracle managing data.

Accenture Tumbles — Accenture shares sank 7.3% on lost government contracts due to DOGE, leading to a 22.9% decline over the month despite an earnings beat.

FAA System Hiccup — The FAA's NOTAM system faced a 3-hour outage, prompting calls for an air traffic control system overhaul.

Micron Margin Miss — The Chipmaker’s shares fell 8% on a weak margin forecast despite strong AI-driven revenue expectations, hit by NAND oversupply.

DEALS WE’RE WATCHING
Closed Deals:

MASSIVE DEALS

Nerdio — The Chicago-based Microsoft cloud startup raised a $500M Series C at $1B+ valuation, led by General Atlantic with Lead Edge Capital and StepStone. Manages cloud for 5M+ users across 15K customers.

TON Foundation — The non-profit behind the Telegram encrypted messaging app raised $400M+ through a token sale, backed by Sequoia, Ribbit, Benchmark, and Kingsway.

Cognition AI — The San Fran-based AI startup raised hundreds of millions at a $4B valuation, led by 8VC.

Latigo Biotherapeutics — The CA-based non-opioid pain biotech raised $150M Series B led by Blue Owl, with Deep Track, QIA, and others.

Walrus Foundation — The decentralized storage protocol raised $140M in a token sale led by Standard Crypto, with a16z, Electric Capital, and others joining.

BuildOps — The LA-based commercial services platform raised $127M Series C at $1B valuation, led by Meritech, with Bond Capital and SE Ventures.

LARGE DEALS

Apptronik — The Austin-based humanoid robotics startup raised $53M Series A extension, bringing total to $403M. Led by B Capital and Capital Factory, with Google, Mercedes-Benz participating.

Graphite — The New York-based startup raised $52M Series B led by Accel, with Anthology Fund, Shopify, Figma, a16z, and others participating.

GrubMarket — The San Francisco-based company raised $50M Series G at $3.5B+ valuation from 3Spoke Capital, Joseph Stone, and others.

Proscia — The Philadelphia-based AI tissue diagnostics company raised $50M co-led by Insight Partners, AI Capital, and Triangle Peak.

Inn-Flow — The Raleigh-based hotel operations platform raised $45M from Mainsail Partners to expand its management tools suite.

Kela — The Tel Aviv-based cybercrime intelligence startup raised $39M seed and Series A led by Sequoia and Lux Capital.

NymCard — The Abu Dhabi-based banking-as-a-service startup raised $33M Series B led by QED Investors for MENA payment infrastructure.

SMALLER DEALS

Coreshell — The San Leandro-based battery tech startup raised $24M Series A2 led by Ferroglobe with Asymmetry, Estrada, Foothill, and others.

Multiply Mortgage — The Denver-based employee mortgage benefit platform raised $23.5M Series A led by Kleiner Perkins with BoxGroup, Mischief, Workshop, and A*.

Prezent — The US-based AI-powered presentation platform raised $20M to expand features and reach, serving 150+ Fortune 2000 companies.

Halliday — The San Francisco-based blockchain payments startup raised $20M Series A led by a16z, with participation from Avalanche Blizzard Fund.

Privy — The New York-based crypto wallet infrastructure startup raised $15M led by Ribbit Capital, with Sequoia and Coinbase participating.

Brain.space — The Tel Aviv-based brain-data-as-a-service startup raised $11M Series A led by Toyota Ventures with Mangrove and The Group Ventures joining.

Nimblemind.ai — The Chicago-based healthcare AI data startup raised $2.5M led by Bread & Butter, with Great Oaks, Spring Time, and Techstars also joining.

Companies to Watch:

Boeing's Big Win — Pres. Trump awarded Boeing a $20B contract for new F-47 fighter jet, replacing Lockheed's F-22, boosting Boeing shares amid recent challenges.

X — Despite a recent equity raise valuing it at $32B, the social platform’s valuation rebounded to $44B. 2024 adjusted earnings reached $1.2B, recovering to pre-Musk.

Taara — Alphabet's light-based internet project Taara will spin off into an independent company, aiming to compete with Starlink in connectivity solutions.

Dataminr — Raised $85M in debt to enhance its analytics platform for risk detection, support AI development, and expand international sales, nearing $200M in ARR.

Generalist AI — A former DeepMind researcher launched the stealth-mode robotics startup with backing from Nvidia, aiming to develop general-purpose robots.

DEALS WE’RE WATCHING
The Funding Buzz 

Haun Ventures — The Menlo Park VC is targeting a $1B raise across two new crypto investment funds.

Ribbit Capital — The crypto firm is raising a $500M fund for global fintech startups, following success with Nubank and Robinhood.

SV Health Investors — Raised a $250M fund for dementia therapeutics, with four investments made including Montara Therapeutics and Sudo Biosciences.

Pillar VC — The Boston-based firm raises a $175M fourth fund for deep tech and biotech startups, now managing $500M total.

Ark Invest — Cathie Wood plans to transition the firm's funds to blockchain technology, emphasizing educational content over financial advice.

Critical Venture Partners — Launched a $5M fund targeting university founders in climate and healthcare, offering $50K-$250K investments.

Exit Watch:

Next Insurance — Munich Re is acquiring the digital insurance platform for $2.6B, targeting SMBs; deal closes Q3 2025.

NinjaTrader — Crypto trading exchange Kraken acquires the retail futures trading platform for $1.5B to expand user base and asset classes.

Hotshot — xAI acquires the SF-based AI video generation startup; terms undisclosed.

Ampere Computing — SoftBank acquires the semiconductor designer for $6.5B cash to boost AI infrastructure; closes late 2025.

Gretel — Nvidia acquires the Palo Alto synthetic data startup for $320M+ to enhance AI training capabilities.

Deribit — Coinbase in talks to acquire the Dubai-based crypto derivatives exchange valued at $4-5B.

TikTok — Bytedance investors (SIG, GA, KKR) emerge as leading bidders in White House-brokered talks. AI search startup Perplexity also joins the bidding war.

StubHub — The 25-year-old ticket marketplace files for IPO; backed by Madrone, WestCap, and Bessemer.