WHAT’S INSIDE

• The latest in Tech: Bear Mkt? Rate Cuts, Tik Tok, GPT-5, Musk v Altman ‘26

• The biggest startup deals: xAI, Fleet.io, Mercury, Island + more.

• Companies To Watch: Agility Robotics, Replit, Sesame, Extropic, Autonomy AI

• The latest exit deals: and companies going public, IPOs 

• The latest VC & PE news and funds raised

TECH IN THE NEWS

Bear Market? — Last week saw the Nasdaq crash another 6% Friday into a bear market on global recession fears due to the highest tariff rates in over a century, and China retaliatory rates of 34% on duties on all U.S. imports.

Fed Hopes Dashed — Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell dashed rate cut hopes, as Powell stressed the "elevated risks" to both growth and inflation.

Tick…Tock — President Trump extended TikTok's runway to find a US buyer by another 75 days after China indicated it won't approve a deal in light of U.S. tariffs.

GPT-5 Delayed — OpenAI plans to release its o3 and o4-mini models shortly to replace the delayed GPT-5 model amid vigorous competition from open-source AI.

Musk v Altman — Elon Musk's lawsuit against OpenAI will go to jury trial in spring 2026, following a fast-tracked agreement over OpenAI's shift to a for-profit model.

MADE POSSIBLE BY

You’ve heard the hype. It’s time for results.

After two years of siloed experiments, proofs of concept that fail to scale, and disappointing ROI, most enterprises are stuck. AI isn't transforming their organizations — it’s adding complexity, friction, and frustration.

But Writer customers are seeing positive impact across their companies. Our end-to-end approach is delivering adoption and ROI at scale. Now, we’re applying that same platform and technology to build agentic AI that actually works for every enterprise.

This isn’t just another hype train that overpromises and underdelivers.
It’s the AI you’ve been waiting for — and it’s going to change the way enterprises operate. Be among the first to see end-to-end agentic AI in action. Join us for a live product release on April 10 at 2pm ET (11am PT).

Can't make it live? No worries — register anyway and we'll send you the recording!

Save your spot — register today

Companies to Watch:

Agility Robotics — This Oregon humanoid robotics startup is raising $400M, adding to its previous $150M. It focuses on developing advanced robotic systems, positioning itself as a leader in the industry.

Replit — The AI 'vibe coding' startup is in talks to raise $200M, aiming for a $3B valuation. This reflects strong investor interest in innovative AI-driven dev tools..

Sesame — Founded by Brendan Iribe, this AI voice startup is in talks for a funding round exceeding $200M, co-led by Sequoia Capital and Spark Capital.

Extropic — Specializes in AI computing chips and aims to challenge Nvidia by offering innovative solutions and competitive pricing. Extropic is positioning itself as a major player in the market, potentially reshaping the AI hardware landscape.

Cognition — San Francisco launcher of Devin 2.0, a tool for managing a team of autonomous coding agents that handle 80% of tasks so devs can focus on creativity.

AutonomyAI — Arik Faingold's US/Israeli enterprise AI startup raised $4M to enhance AI integration in development, boosting productivity by over 44% and achieving a 95% code acceptance rate. Hit $100,000 in monthly revenue.

Plaid — The San Francisco-based fintech company raised $575M at a $6.1B valuation, down from its previous valuation. It reports strong revenue growth and a growing enterprise customer base, focusing on sustained profitability.

​See the full list of companies to watch from last week

DEALS WE’RE WATCHING
Closed Deals:

MASSIVE DEALS

Isomorphic Labs — The Google division focused on AI drug discovery raised $600M from Thrive Capital to enhance its AlphaFold models and pursue pharma partnerships.

OpenAI — Closed its $40B round at $300B post-money valuation led by ‘Stargate’ project partner SoftBank, with prior backers Microsoft, Coatue, Altimeter, and Thrive also piling on.

ReliaQuest — The AI-powered cybersecurity firm raised over $500M, reaching a valuation of $3.4B. The funding aims to enhance its AI-driven security automation and support international growth.

Retym — The AI infrastructure company raised over $180M, with $75M Series D led by Spark to develop programmable coherent DSP solutions to enhance data center tech by addressing increasing AI-driven network bandwidth demands.

AIRNA — The biotech company focused on RNA editing therapies, secured $155M in Series B funding to advance its drug candidate AIR-001 into clinical trials for alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency.

Temporal — The microservices platform raised $146M at a $1.72B valuation to expand into agentic AI, focusing on R&D and sales growth.

Flowdesk — The digital asset trading firm raised $102M to expand its trading and liquidity services, focusing on OTC derivatives and a new crypto credit desk. Plans include doubling the workforce and entering new markets like the Middle East.

LARGE DEALS

Hydrolix — The New York log data storage and analytics company secured an $80M in Series C to enhance its platform following significant sales growth and partnerships with Akamai and AWS.

Solace — The healthcare advocacy platform raised a $60M Series B from Menlo, Craft, Inspired, Torch, and SignalFire to improve patient outcomes and reduce costs.

Unframe — The AI platform startup raised $50M from Bessemer, TLV, Craft, and Third Point to boost its enterprise solutions, allowing rapid deployment of custom AI. and expansion into Sub-Saharan Africa.

Chef Robotics — The AI-driven meal assembly startup raised $43.1M from OpenAI’s startup fund, and Andreessen Horowitz to enhance its robotics tech and scale its Robotics-as-a-Service model & a UK expansion.

Adaptive Security — The New York cybersecurity startup raised $43M to enhance employee training against AI-generated hacks. OpenAI led this investment, marking its entry into cybersecurity.

Thatch — The healthcare startup raised a $40M in Series B to expand its ICHRA tech empowering employees with personalized insurance choices. Significant revenue growth since inception.

LightSource — The San Francisco startup focused on streamlining procurement processes raised $33M led by Bain and Lightspeed to enhance efficiency across industries like automotive and e-commerce.

SMALLER DEALS

Turbine — The liquidity solutions provider has raised $22M to enable LPs in VC to borrow against their fund stakes. Alpha Edison, TTV, Fin, B Capital, and Sozo backed the round.

Fourier — Fourier, a modular hydrogen electrolyzers startup raised $18.5M to enhance efficiency via small electrolyzers, software. General Catalyst, Airbus, V and others participated.

Roam — Roam, focusing on assumable mortgages, raised a $11.5M Series A from Keith Rabois and Founders Fund to enhance access to lower interest rates and boost purchasing power across 70% of the U.S.

Atomic — The payroll connectivity startup secured a $10M strategic investment from Capital One, Citi, and F.N.B. to enhance financial connectivity.

Cambrian — The San Francisco-based AI agents company raised $5.9M in Seed funding led by a16z’s Crypto Startup Accelerator to expand AI infrastructure and improve decision-making capabilities.

FurtherAI — The AI platform for commercial insurers raised $5M, led by Nexus, to reduce expenses and boost productivity through targeted automation. A UK expansion is planned.

DEALS WE’RE WATCHING
The Funding Buzz 

HarbourVest Partners — Boston-based private equity firm launched the HarbourVest Private Investment Fund to raise $500M to invest in PE and VC opportunities globally, in technology, healthcare, and consumer products.

Moneta Ventures — Sacramento-based VC firm has raised $250M+ to invest in early-stage software startups on the West Coast and Texas. $360M+ AUM and multi-layered monetization strategy focuses.

Lux Capital — Lux Capital is raising $200M for its debut defense tech fund, Lux Defense Leaders. It will continue to invest in biochemistry, materials science, robotics, and infrastructure.

Ballistic Ventures — Co-founded by Ted Schlein, the firm is raising $100M for a new fund focused on cybersecurity startups. It follows the closure of its previous $360M fund.

Runtime Ventures — Co-founded by industry veterans David Endler and Michael Sutton, this new firm has launched a $32M debut fund to back seed-stage cybersecurity startups with capital and operational expertise.

Exit Watch:

AMD — Completed its $4.9B acquisition of ZT Systems to bolster its data-center offerings for AI. This strategic move aims to provide alternatives to Nvidia's products.

Dotmatics — Siemens acquired Dotmatics, a Life Sciences R&D software company, for $5.1B. This move aims to enhance Siemens' portfolio with AI and digital twin technology, anticipating $11B market share expansion and significant revenue synergies.

IPO Watch

Klarna and StubHub — Klarna, (fintech), and StubHub, a U.S. ticket exchange platform, have reportedly postponed their IPOs due to stock market declines following Trump's tariffs announcement.