Waymo Raises $5B For Robotaxis

TECH IN THE NEWS

Boeing.. Gone - Boeing Co. plans to launch a capital raise as early as Monday. It is also reportedly exploring the possibility of selling its space business to boost liquidity.

Un-Tethered - The company behind the most traded cryptocurrency, Tether, rejects claims of a DOJ investigation for money laundering and US sanctions violations.

Tariff Threat - The odds of a Donald Trump victory has sent emerging markets into the biggest stock drop in 10 months due to his proposed tariff plan.

Google AI Agent - Google is developing its ‘Jarvis’ AI agent that can take over your Chrome web browser to help you perform tasks like online purchases or bookings.

A Heavy Lyft - Lyft agreed to pay the FTC $2.1M to settle charges the ride-hailing company made deceptive claims about the money its drivers would make on the app. The DOJ has also now sued Lyft over misrepresenting demand.

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DEALS WE’RE WATCHING
Closed Deals:

MASSIVE DEALS

Alphabet Robotaxis - Google Spin-out startup Waymo raised a $5.6B Series C round led by Alphabet, with previous investors Andreessen Horowitz, Fidelity, Perry Creek, Silver Lake, Tiger Global, and T. Rowe Price also stepping up.  

ZipHQ - The San Francisco AI for purchasing processes startup raised $190M at a $2.2B valuation (up 50%) led by BOND, with DST, YC, and CRV joining.

Oncology Drugs – Boston/Vancouver radioactive drugs startup Alpha-9 Oncology raised a $175M Series C co-led by Lightspeed and Ascenta Capital with General Catalyst, Andreessen Horowitz, Delos, Digitalis, and more.

Payment Processing – San Francisco in-house payments startup Finix raised $75M Series C round co-led by Acrew, Leap, and Lightspeed, with Citi, Tribeca VP, and Insight Partners.

E-Commerce Automation – San Francisco AI robotic e-commerce ordering startup Nimble raised $106M Series C round at a $1B valuation co-led by FedEx and Cedar Pine.

Home Repair Services – New York home repair, maintenance app startup Zephyr raised $60M co-led by Elda River and Pritzker Org.

Robotics Rounds – 1. Seattle Laser farming robotics startup Carbon Robotics raised a $70M Series D led by Bond with NVentures and others. | 2. Colorado logistics yard automation startup Outrider raised a $62M Series D round co-led by Koch and NEA, with 8VC, ARK, NVentures and more. | 3. San Francisco Retail shelving Robots startup Simbe raised a $50M Series C led by Goldman Sachs.

MID-SIZE DEALS

Critical Data Management – San Mateo business data startup Concentric AI raised a $45M Series B co-led by Top Tier and HarbourVest, with Citi Ventures.

Healthcare AI - New York AI startup Tennr raised a $37M Series B round led by Lightspeed with a16z and Foundation joining at a valuation of $200M - $250M.

Surgical Robotics – Malibu eye surgery robotics startup Horizon Surgical raised a $30M Series A round led by ExSight, joined by Main Street Advisors and the UOC.

Sales Automation – San Francisco automated sales team efficiency startup Nooks raised a $43M Series B round led by Kleiner Perkins, joined by previous investors Lachy Groom and Tola Capital.

SMALLER DEALS

Banking Customer Automation – San Fran banking AI startup Interface.ai raised a $30M Series A led by Avataar VP in its first external funding round.

AI Content Marketplace – New York publishers AI marketplace TollBit closed a $24M Series A round led by Lightspeed.

AI-Powered Note-Taking – Delaware AI notebook/transcribing app Granola raised a $20M Series A led by Spark Capital joined by Nat Friedman and Daniel Gross, Lightspeed, Betaworks, Firstminute, and others.

Decentralized Social Media – DeSo startup Bluesky raised a $15M Series A round led by Blockchain Capital, with Alumni, True Ventures, and SevenX joining.

Space-Based Data Centers – Washington space startup Lumen Orbit, a YC-backed startup, raised over $10M from undisclosed investors.

Solar Automation – Aether, a San Francisco-based startup that uses AI to streamline rooftop solar installations, raised a $2.5M seed round led by Noa, with YC, Collab Fund, Amino, and Climate Capital also investing.

Professional Networking – New York startup Boardy, an AI platform that connects founders, executives, and investors, raised a $3M pre-seed round from HF0, 8VC, Precursor, Afore, FJ Labs, and NextView.

Exit Watch:

Pony AI – The Chinese robotaxi company has officially started its process to list for an IPO in the US, avoiding the SPAC route and opting for a more traditional public listing.

Vinted – The second-hand fashion marketplace, achieved a valuation of ~$5.4B through a secondary share sale totaling $367M.

Effectiv – ID verification and Fraud Detection company Socure acquired San Francisco startup Effectiv, offering real-time fraud detection tools to fintechs and banks, for $136M in cash and stock.

Companies to Watch:

One Zero – Tel Aviv AI for retail banking services startup is raising a $100M+ round. Previous investors include Tencent, OurCrowd, and SBI Ventures. The company’s total funding is approximately $242M.

Clay - AI for Sales startup is raising funds at a valuation of $1.3B suggesting significant sales traction and revenue potential.

Perplexity - The Bezos and Nvidia-backed AI search engine startup is seeking to raise $500M to double its valuation to $8B. Its ARR is ~$50M.

Pi - The stealth Robotics LLMs startup is in talks to raise funds at a $2B valuation. Backers include Thrive, Khosla, Lux, OpenAI, and Sequoia.

Beyond Presence - AI Avatar startup by Awais Shafique (previous exit by sale to Meta) raised $3.1M to develop realistic AI avatars for sectors like gaming, VR, and customer service.

Blackstone - The investment firm giant is planning an $8.2B investment in Spanish data centers to support AI infrastructure.

The Funding Buzz

Benchmark — The VC firm is raising a $170M "partners-only" fund from current partners, friends, and family.

General Catalyst — The VC firm has raised about $8B across several funds, its largest fund to date, focusing on AI, defense & intelligence, climate, energy, industrials, healthcare, and fintech startups.

NAACP — The organization has launched a $200M fund of funds to support fund managers addressing issues impacting people of color.

HRZ Han River — Co-founded by Coupang's Chris Koh, this Korean venture firm has secured $100M in capital for its debut fund.