SignalFires: Weekly Signals and Startups To Watch Alert

WHAT’S INSIDE

• Tech Companies to watch: Startup news for the week to April 17th 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

OpenAI's Coding Leap — OpenAI unveils three new GPT-4.1 coding models for enhanced coding at reduced costs. Retiring 4.5 from its API by July. Revealed plans to mandate ID verification for organizations using future AI models to bolster security, curb misuse and IP theft.

Meta's Monopoly — The FTC challenges Meta's Instagram, WhatsApp acquisitions in a landmark antitrust trial. And, Llama 4 faces critics its ELO rating drops from 1417 to 1273, par with DeepSeek v2.5, with some calling it a "debacle."

Apple — Led global smartphone sales in Q1 with a 19% market share, fueled by strong demand for the iPhone 16e in Japan and India. Despite facing challenges in the U.S., EU, and China, Apple outperformed Samsung's 18% share.

Palantir — Awarded a contract by NATO for the Maven Smart System to enhance AI-enabled battlefield operations. The system, supporting Allied Command Operations, will be implemented within 30 days. Palantir's stock rose on the news.

Intel — Intel is selling a 51% stake in its Altera chip business to Silver Lake for $4.46 billion. This move aims to streamline operations and boost its balance sheet amid challenges in the AI market and competition from AMD and Nvidia.

OpenAI — OpenAI is reportedly in talks to acquire Windsurf for approximately $3 billion. This move aims to strengthen its AI capabilities and expand its market reach, signaling significant growth and innovation potential.

MAKING WAVES:

Startups, trends and signals to watch this week

Genspark Super Agent — AI Agent app Genspark hit $10M ARR in just 9 days, signaling strong market trust and setting the stage for more innovative features in the pipeline.

Hugging Face — Acquired Pollen Robotics, a French startup behind the humanoid robot Reachy 2, to boost open-source robotics following a joint project "Le Robot".

Zhipu AI — The Chinese AI startup is preparing for an IPO to become China's first public AI company. Supported by significant state-backed funding, it claims its GLM4 model surpasses OpenAI's GPT-4.

IN THE MONEY

Companies raising money this week and why they matter

Conifer — The electric hub motors startup secured a $20M seed for its ferrite magnet motors, targeting markets like lawnmowers and tractors with a "drop-in" solution.

Arnergy — The Nigerian solar energy company raised $18M to expand solar access amid rising fuel costs and unreliable grid power. By shifting to lease-to-own models, Arnergy plans to deploy over 12,000 systems by 2029, despite potential import bans.

Marshmallow — This UK startup, specializing in insurance for migrants, raised $90M at a $2B valuation. With an ARR of $500M, it plans to expand into financial services. Investors include Portage Capital and BlackRock.

Deck — Raised $12M to develop a platform that simplifies user-permissioned data access across the internet, akin to Plaid for banking. The startup aims to automate data extraction from websites without APIs.

Hammerspace — This data management company used by giants like Meta, raised $100M at a $500M valuation. Positioned as a leader in unstructured data solutions.

[OPEN DEALS] RAISING DOLLARS:

Startups, firms or funds raising capital this week

Kodiak Robotics — The California-based autonomous trucking company plans to go public via a SPAC merger valuing it at $2.5B including $551M in cash and $110M+ from notable investors.

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FOR INVESTORS
Open Deals
Investors– request an intro to startups - [email protected].

Before we restart our placements of raising startups, we’re sharing an open call to send in your own company. Just shoot us an email with a deck and we may feature you in this bulletin.

For detailed pitch materials, please email [email protected] with your deck.
🔥 — hot deal!
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FOR EMPLOYERS
Job Candidates

Employers– request an intro to candidates - jobs@techbuzz.ai