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Astute, a New York-based B2B marketing startup founded in 2025 by Vida Stanić and Abhishek Manikandan, raised an oversubscribed US$1.2 million pre-seed round and launched its creator-partnership platform. The financing included Flyer One Ventures, Silicon Gardens, Marathon Fund, Entrepreneurs Roundtable Accelerator and strategic angels. The
Trajectory, a San Francisco company building what it calls a continual learning platform for AI agents, has raised US$40 million in Series A funding at a US$300 million post-money valuation. Sequoia Capital led the round, with participation from NVIDIA and Bessemer Venture Partners. The deal was first
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Palona AI, a Palo Alto, California company legally incorporated as Proactive AI Lab Inc., announced on August 17, 2026 that it had closed its Series A financing and unveiled what it calls a multimodal AI operating layer for physical businesses. The company said the round brings total funding to US$
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Naran, a mobility financing and fleet infrastructure company registered in the United Arab Emirates, said on August 13, 2026 that it had raised US$10 million in a combination of equity and debt from Landel, a UAE investment firm. The company was founded in 2025 by Bayaskhalan Alexeev, who serves
Accel has closed US$3.5 billion across four funds aimed at early-stage artificial intelligence companies worldwide. The capital is divided into a US$1.35 billion global expansion vehicle, a US$800 million US fund, a US$800 million fund for Europe and Israel, and a US$550
Sequoia Capital is committing US$10 billion to artificial intelligence and what it calls reindustrialization, the largest capital commitment in the firm's 54-year history. The decision was made under Alfred Lin and Pat Grady, who became co-stewards of the firm in November 2025 after Roelof Botha
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Pyra, a London defence technology startup founded by Nick Blair, son of former British prime minister Tony Blair, is in talks to raise approximately US$200 million, according to Financial Times reporting cited by Sifted. Terms remain under discussion and the figure could change. Pyra Group UK Limited was incorporated
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Thrive Holdings has raised US$2 billion at a US$12 billion valuation from SoftBank, D1 Capital Partners, and Altimeter Capital. The company is a spinout of Thrive Capital, the venture firm Josh Kushner founded 16 years ago and one of OpenAI's largest investors, and was established as
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Coursera (NYSE: COUR) has made a US$100 million strategic equity investment in LearnVector, a newly formed AI-native learning company founded and led by Andrew Ng, acquiring a one-third ownership interest on a fully diluted basis. Because Ng co-founded Coursera and sits on its board, the transaction
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Mindgard has raised US$30 million in a Series A round led by Album VC, with participation from Karma Ventures, .406 Ventures, Atlantic Bridge, IQ Capital, and Lakestar, bringing total funding to roughly US$42 million. The company operates from London and Boston and sells an automated red-teaming and
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Preview, a platform that manages professional video production workflows built around generative AI, has raised US$12 million led by Sequoia Capital, with participation from The General Partnership and investor Badrul Farooqi. The announcement came on August 13. The round also drew angel investors including Frame.io co-founder Emery
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Billionaire investor Josh Kushner and former Disney CEO Bob Iger have agreed to buy the Los Angeles Lakers for $12.5B, a record price for a U.S. professional sports franchise, ESPN reported Wednesday, citing multiple sources. The deal comes barely a year after Mark Walter, CEO of holding company