TECH IN THE NEWS

Europe Rate Cuts — The European Central Bank and the BOE cut interest rates last week, the ECB has stated there is room for more cuts; warns of inflation and threat of US-China trade war.

Buyout Reprieve — A U.S. judge temporarily blocked the Trump admin’s buyout offer for federal workers, impacting 60,000+ employees who accepted it (~1%).

WHO Reform Push — The Trump team is considering demanding WHO reforms including installing a US leader as a pre-condition for continued membership.

Google AI Shift — Google removed a self-imposed ban on the use of its Ai models for weapons/surveillance systems, following a similar move by OpenAI last year.

Carried Away — President Trump indicated to Congress that he wants to do away with the popular Wall Street tax break, the carried interest tax exemption, but the National VC Association is not happy about the prospect.

Banning DeepSeek — A bipartisan group in Congress is proposing legislation to ban DeepSeek from government-owned devices over sensitive information fears.

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DEALS WE’RE WATCHING
Closed Deals:

MASSIVE DEALS

X-energy — The SMR Nuclear energy startup raised a $700M Series C-1 led by Amazon and joined by Jane Street, Ares, and Emerson Collective.

StackAdept — The Canadian AI programmatic ad startup raised $235M from Teachers' Venture Growth and Intrepid Growth Partners.

XOi — A Nashville Field service tech support platform raised $230M from KKR for a majority stake, XOi also acquired data enrichment company, Specifx. More here.

Tidal Vision — A WA-based biotech converting crab shells to chitosan raised a $140M Series B from Cambridge SPG, Eni Next, and others. More here.

Semgrep — A SF-based AI code security startup raised a $100M Series D led by Menlo with previous backers Felicis, Harpoon, Lightspeed, Redpoint, and Sequoia.

Digital Nutrition — Berry Street a NY-based digital nutrition platform raised $50M from Northzone, Sofina, & FJ Labs. | 2. Fay, a SF-based nutrition counseling platform raised a $50M Series B at a $500M valuation led by Goldman Sachs.

LARGE DEALS

Hidden Level — The NY-based drone detection startup raised $65M Series C led by DFJ Growth, with Booz Allen, Costanoa, Veteran Ventures, and Founders Circle joining.

Archive — The SF-based brand resale platform raised a $30M Series B led by Energize, with Woodline, & Frontline, + previous backers Lightspeed, Bain, G9, and Capital F.

Echo Neurotechnologies — The SF-based brain-machine interface startup targeting severe disabilities, raised $50M led by Andreessen Horowitz.

7AI — The Boston-based AI agent-based security automation startup raised a $36M seed from Greylock Partners, Spark Capital, and CRV.

Riot — The NY-based interactive security training platform raised $30M Series B at $170M valuation, led by Left Lane Capital with previous investors YC, Base10, and FundersClub.

Lynx — The Boston-based health savings API platform raised a $27M Series A led by Flare Capital Partners, with CVS Health Ventures and others.

SMALLER DEALS

Pendulum — The DC-based AI supply chain management platform raised $22M ($11M R&D, $11M equity) from Lowercarbon Capital, Cross Border Impact + others.

Jump — The Salt Lake City-based AI financial advisor assistant for pros startup raised a $20M Series A led by Battery Ventures, with Citi, Sorenson, and Pelion.

Ivo — The SF-based AI contract review platform for legal teams raised a $16M Series A led by Costanoa, with NFDG, Blackbird and others, total raised $22.2M.

Presto — The Oakland-based EV charging network platform raised a $15M seed from Union Square, Congruent, Powerhouse and Jetstream.

Reservoir — The US-based crypto trading infrastructure startup raised a $14M Series A led by Union Square, with Coinbase Ventures and others, total $26M.

Model ML — The NY-based AI workspace platform targeting efficiency for financial professionals raised $12M co-led by YC and LocalGlobe.

&AI — The SF-based AI patent attorney assistant platform raised a $6.5M seed led by First Round, with Y Combinator, SV Angel and BoxGroup.

TaxGPT — The SF-based “AI co-pilot” tax assistant for pros raised a $4.6M seed from Rebel Fund, Mangusta, YC, Launch, iSeed, Converge, CRV Disrupt, + others.

Trace.Space — The Miami/Riga-based Aerospace/defense engineering requirements management platform raised a $4M seed led by Cherry Ventures, with Outlast and previous investors.

Companies to Watch:

[Open Deal] Safe Superintelligence — OpenAI co-founder Ilya Sutskever's new startup raising at $20B valuation with no product or revenue to speak of.

Rapyd Financial Network — A UK-based Stripe rival global payments startup is seeking $300M at a $3.5B valuation, 3x down from its previous 2021 valuation. It plans to add a payment processing startup to four recent acquisitions.

Krutrim — Ola founder Bhavish Aggarwal is investing $230M into his own new India-focused AI startup, targeting $1.15B raised by 2026. Read More.

Bullish Global — The Peter Thiel-backed crypto exchange with $10B in AUM is exploring an IPO this year. Platform offers secure and automated trading of various digital assets.

Anduril — The AI and defense tech startup is raising a $2.5B Series G at a $28B valuation led by Founder's Fund, doubling its valuation in 6 months.

DEALS WE’RE WATCHING
The Funding Buzz 

Hallstone Ventures — Former Sony exec Seth Hallen and ex-SVB banker Claire Lee are raising a $10M debut fund for seed-stage AI media startups.

TVM Ventures — Steve Yun of the TON Foundation (Telegram’s charity/VC arm) launched a $100M fund targeting DeFi and payment finance startups in the TON ecosystem.

Hitachi Ventures — The Munich-based corporate VC firm secured $400M for a fourth fund focusing on deep tech from fusion to AI, with $5M average initial investments.

Sequoia — The firm’s Evergreen fund has grown to $19.6B despite a broader VC funding slowdown.

US Sovereign Wealth Fund — President Trump signed an executive order seeking to establish the first-ever govt-owned fund to invest in various financial assets.

Permira — The Private Equity firm plans to open a Dubai office this year to strengthen ties with local investors and capitalize on the growing interest in alternative assets in the Middle East.

Exit Watch:

Gemini — The Winklevoss twin-founded cryptocurrency exchange is reportedly planning an IPO in 2025.

Ampere — SoftBank is considering a $6.5B acquisition of the Santa Clara-based ARM processor startup backed by Carlyle, Arm Holdings, and Oracle.

Deel — The global HR platform startup sold $300M of secondary shares to General Catalyst and Mubadala at a $12.3B valuation in prep for a 2025/2026 IPO.

SailPoint — The Okta competitor, Cybersecurity and identity management company reportedly plans a $1B stock offering at an $11.5B valuation. It’s on track for $813M ARR and reported net losses of ~$395M in Jan.