SignalFires: Weekly Signals and Startups To Watch Alert

WHAT’S INSIDE

• Tech Companies to watch: Startup news for the week to April 11th 2025

• Big Movers: The Big tech movers, shakers and partnerships this week

• Making Waves: Companies making a buzz in the Tech world

• In The Money: Significant raises this week and why they matter

• Raising Dollars: Startups, firms or funds raising capital this week

BIG MOVERS:

Big tech moves, movers and trends to watch this week

Google's AI Leap — Sundar Pichai unveiled cutting-edge advancements at Google Cloud Next 2025, including the seventh-generation TPU, Cloud Wide Area Network, Willow chip for quantum computing, and Gemini 2.5, the latest reasoning model featuring Gemini 2.5 Flash.

Alphabet's $75B Tech Bet — Alphabet commits to a $75 billion investment for data center expansion and AI development in 2025, overcoming U.S. tariff concerns. Executives cite strong customer demand and positive returns from AI ventures.

Nvidia’s Export Reprieve — Nvidia may avoid tighter AI chip export restrictions to China after CEO Jensen Huang met with Trump. In exchange, Nvidia will invest in US datacenters. Chinese firms are stockpiling H20 GPUs due to trade tensions.

Nvidia & Cassava — Nvidia partners with Cassava Technologies to establish Africa's first AI factory via a $720M investment to deploy AI and computing software across the continent.

Amazon's AI Mission — Amazon CEO Andy Jassy highlights the importance of substantial AI investments to boost customer experiences and stay competitive, asserting stable consumer behavior despite concerns over tariffs and markets.

Safe Superintelligence — Ilya Sutskever’s AI startup is partnering with Google Cloud to leverage TPU chips for developing safe superintelligent AI.

io Products — Sam Altman and Jony Ive’s Laurene Powell Jobs’ and Emerson backed AI hardware startup may be acquired by OpenAI for $500M. It is poised for significant growth.

IBM — Unveiled the z17 mainframe with an IBM Telum II processor supporting over 250 AI use cases and offering a 50% increase in processing capacity. The energy-efficient system is designed for future AI advancements, from June 18.

MAKING WAVES:

Startups and signals to watch

Canoo — Anthony Aquila, CEO, approved to buy bankrupt EV startup assets for $4M. Despite Harbinger's objections, the judge confirmed the sale's fairness, noting no other bids and dismissing concerns about hidden assets and trade secrets.

Deep Cogito — The AI startup has unveiled hybrid AI models that alternate between reasoning and non-reasoning modes, surpassing current models in math and language tasks. Their models, from 3 to 70 billion parameters, are available for download. Founded by ex-Google AI members, they target general superintelligence.

Stripe — The San Francisco payment processor applied for a U.S. banking license to enhance its payment processing capabilities, boosting resilience and reducing reliance on partner banks.

Polestar — The Swedish EV manufacturer is targeting Tesla owners with discounts up to $20K on the Polestar 3, capturing nearly half of its U.S. sales in Q1. It reported a 76% rise in Q1 sales driven by discounts, stopped U.S. orders for China-made EV 2.

IN THE MONEY

Companies raising money this week and why they matter

Magnificent Seven — The tech stocks, including Microsoft, Apple, and Amazon, increased by over $1.5 trillion in value after a 90-day tariff pause. However, they still face losses from prior tariffs, and the market remains wary of AI spending.

SignalFire — A VC firm specializing in seed and pre-seed investments, SignalFire has raised over $1B, increasing its total AUM to ~$3 billion. The firm utilizes data-driven strategies and AI integration to maintain its competitive edge.

SandboxAQ — The AI startup specializing in quantum computing and AI solutions, secured an additional $150M in its Series E round from Google and Nvidia, its valuation has climbed to $5.75B, signaling strong growth, market potential.

Slate Auto — Michigan-based EV startup focused on affordable electric pickup trucks, backed by Jeff Bezos. Raised over $111M, aiming for a 2026 launch. Led by CEO Christine Barman, leveraging expertise from major automotive firms under Re:Build Manufacturing.

NEye Systems — Raised $58M for its AI networking chip using optical technology to boost data center performance and energy efficiency. The startup, which has developed prototypes, plans to release production samples next year, positioning itself as a key player in AI connectivity solutions.

Artisan — The AI sales agent startup raised $25M in Series A funding. Despite initial challenges, Artisan improved its product, Ava, and plans new AI agents by 2025. The company, emphasizing AI-human synergy, explores flexible pricing to boost value.

Solve Intelligence — The AI-powered document editor startup for patent attorneys has raised $12M in Series A funding, supported by Microsoft. Serving 200 IP teams globally, the company plans to expand its product and R&D in life sciences, enhancing its competitive edge in legal tech.

Inventex — Ex Coinbase engineer Daniel Ruskin’s San Fran AI-driven company aims to revolutionize patent applications by making them ten times faster. It secured $2.4M in pre-seed funding.

Tech-Forward Laudromats — In the $15.75B U.S. market, Rinse is gaining traction, investment and NoScrubs is transforming on-demand laundry delivery and also attracting substantial investment.

[OPEN DEALS] RAISING DOLLARS:

Startups, firms or funds raising capital this week

Rippling — The HR SaaS startup is negotiating to raise hundreds of millions at a $16B valuation despite ongoing legal challenges. It is attracting significant investor interest.

Heron Power — Former Tesla executive Drew Baglino founded startup revolutionizing the electric grid with solid-state transformers is seeking $30-$50M in Series A funding to enhance renewable energy efficiency and stability.

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FOR INVESTORS
Open Deals
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