Traded: Venture Capital

recent company Raises, Mergers & Acquisitions + memes • intel for those who don't have time

[Traded: Venture Capital @TradedVC]

Early backers in DeepSeek before the $15B round:

• High-Flyer: the quant fund that incubated it (2023)
• @TencentGlobal: biggest check in the first outside round (Jun 2026)

About $22B from outside investors in 4 months.

Powered by @harmonic_ai

[Traded: Venture Capital @TradedVC]

JUST IN: @deepseek_ai raised about $15B

@TencentGlobal $TCEHY and CATL among the biggest checks

• Second outside round in 4 months
• About $22B raised since June

[Traded: Venture Capital @TradedVC]

Turns out the $6M training run was just the pre-seed. https://t.co/6DoCiFXypb

[Polymarket @Polymarket]

JUST IN: China's DeepSeek reportedly raises $15,000,000,000.00 in major push to challenge America's dominance in artificial intelligence.

[Traded: Venture Capital @TradedVC]

Nike went from core position to scout check. https://t.co/0r5PMJIutm

[Evan @StockMKTNewz]

Nike $NKE is now the smallest holding in the Dow Jones

When you buy $10K of the Dow Jones, you are buying just $43 of Nike stock

[Traded: Venture Capital @TradedVC]

Proactive, works while you're away, checks in before acting.

Finally, an associate who actually reads the data room. https://t.co/zN64PU3PiF

[Claude @claudeai]

We’re opening a research preview of Claude Duet, a new app where Claude works as a proactive agent.

It comes to you with what needs your attention, completes tasks you ask of it, keeps working when you step away, and checks with you before it acts on your behalf.

[Traded: Venture Capital @TradedVC]

Early backers in Flapping Airplanes before the $1B round:

• @GVteam, @sequoia, @IndexVentures: co-led $180M seed (Jan 2026)
• @MenloVentures, @Lux_Capital, @conviction: seed
• Angels incl. Andrej Karpathy, @JeffDean

Seed to $6B in 9 months.

Powered by @harmonic_ai

[Traded: Venture Capital @TradedVC]

JUST IN: @flappyairplanes raised $1B at a $6B valuation

Co-led by @IndexVentures and @Lux_Capital

• Year-old AI lab
• Valuation up 4x since January

[Traded: Venture Capital @TradedVC]

Whop is building an all-in-one platform where anyone can create and run a business, from websites and ads to payments, with a mission to deliver everyone a sustainable income. Founded by teenage entrepreneurs Cameron Zoub and Steven Schwartz, Whop grew from selling sneaker bots to building a platform for entrepreneurs worldwide. At one point, the team consisted of 10 people living in a single apartment, and Cameron even slept in a closet while building the company.

Now, Whop has raised $200M in Series D funding at a $5.1B valuation, backed by Sequoia and Shopify. Its investors include Peter Thiel, Kevin O’Leary, Justin Mateen, Doug Leone, Jake Paul, and The Chainsmokers. The raise marks Doug Leone’s first deal back at Sequoia after a break. With this investment, Whop is pushing forward its vision of making entrepreneurship accessible to everyone.

FOUNDERS: Steven Schwartz & Cameron Zoub

INVESTORS: Sequoia Capital, Shopify, Peter Thiel, Kevin O’Leary, Justin Mateen, Doug Leone, Jake Paul & The Chainsmokers

ROUND: Series D
AMOUNT: $200,000,000

HQ: Brooklyn, New York

#VentureCapital #VC #StevenSchwartz #CameronZoub #TradedVC

[Traded: Venture Capital @TradedVC]

SendCutSend, a Reno, Nevada-based custom metal parts manufacturer founded by Jim Belosic in 2018, has raised a Series B round led by Spark, valuing the company at $2.1 billion, according to a report by Fortune on October 20. CRV, MHS, Sequoia and Paradigm also participated in the round, which comes about five months after the company’s $110 million institutional investment co-led by Sequoia, Paradigm and Stripe co-founders Patrick and John Collison at a valuation of approximately $1.01 billion. SendCutSend produces laser-cut metal parts for customers including Waymo, Anduril, Zipline and Relativity, and has shipped more than 30 million parts to over 300,000 customers. The latest funding highlights growing investor interest in U.S. manufacturing, with the company planning to invest in workers, expand production capacity and shorten delivery times.

FOUNDERS: Jim Belosic & Jacob Graham

INVESTORS: Spark, CRV, MHS, Sequoia, Paradigm, Stripe co-founders Patrick Collison & John Collison

ROUND: Series B
VALUATION: $2,100,000,000

HQ: Reno, Nevada

#VentureCapital #SendCutSend #JimBelosic #JacobGraham #TradedVC

[Traded: Venture Capital @TradedVC]

Ultra Security (UltraSecurity), a Detroit, Michigan-based agentic security platform focused on securing autonomous runtime environments, has emerged from stealth after raising $10 million in seed funding. With participation from Ludlow Ventures, Entree Capital, Hidden Capital, Detroit Venture Partners, Firedrop and FDVC. Founded by Chase Lee, Ultra Security aims to address the security challenges that come with autonomous systems. Lee previously built Trustpage, a trust-center platform that became Vanta’s first acquisition, and then spent three years as a VP of New Product at Vanta. While developing agentic features there, he observed that agents could access sensitive systems via MCP, but security tooling hadn’t yet matched agentic capabilities. So he went back to building, this time creating the security layer for agents.

FOUNDER: Chase Lee

INVESTORS: Ludlow Ventures, Entree Capital , Hidden Capital, Detroit Venture Partners , Firedrop & FDVC

ROUND: Seed
AMOUNT: $10,000,000

HQ: Detroit, Michigan

#VentureCapital #TradedVC #UltraSecurity #TradedPartner #ChaseLee

[Traded: Venture Capital @TradedVC]

Pigment, a French AI software company that helps businesses forecast finances, create presentations and plan operations, raised $250 million in a funding round at a $2.3 billion valuation. Co-founded and led by CEO Eléonore Crespo, the company secured the investment from Scaleup Europe Fund, which led the round, alongside Nvidia, World Innovation Lab and existing investors Iconiq, IVP and Meritech Capital. Founded in 2019, Pigment plans to use the funding to expand in Asia and develop AI agents that integrate with enterprise software, as it competes with Microsoft, SAP, Oracle and Anaplan.

FOUNDERS: Eléonore Crespo & Romain Niccoli

INVESTORS: Scaleup Europe Fund, Nvidia, World Innovation Lab, Iconiq, IVP & Meritech Capital

AMOUNT: $250,000,000
VALUATION: $2,300,000,000

HQ: Paris, France

#VentureCapital #Pigment #EléonoreCrespo #RomainNiccoli #TradedVC

[Traded: Venture Capital @TradedVC]

@justinmateen @exec_sum 🐐

[Traded: Venture Capital @TradedVC]

Stellios Technologies, an Austin, Texas-based startup developing high-power microwave systems for counter-drone defense and industrial applications, emerged from stealth with an oversubscribed $5 million pre-seed funding round. Founded and led by CEO Dr. Richard Starson, who previously co-founded microwave-powered space launch company Escape Dynamics, Stellios had already secured $2 million in customer purchase orders before raising the round. The funding was backed by Sofreh Capital, Wave Function Ventures, Cubit Capital, Mana Ventures, Atoms & Bits, Output Capital, Erik Bruckner, and other strategic investors. The company plans to use the proceeds to deliver its first contracted microwave systems, establish U.S. research and pilot manufacturing facilities, expand its team and government business development, and advance its AI-native engineering platform and longer-term compact fusion research.

FOUNDER: Dr. Richard Starson

INVESTORS: Sofreh Capital, Wave Function Ventures, Cubit Capital, Mana Ventures, Atoms & Bits, Output Capital, Erik Bruckner

ROUND: Pre-Seed
AMOUNT: $5,000,000

HQ: Austin, Texas

#VentureCapital #StelliosTechnologies #DrRichardStarson #SofrehCapital #TradedVC

[Traded: Venture Capital @TradedVC]

Firefly, a New York-based physical safety AI startup founded in 2024 by CEO James Batt Buckley and CTO Alex Penn, emerged from stealth on Oct. 20 with a $20 million Series A round led by Definition Capital, with participation from BoxGroup and Susa Ventures. The company combines AI software and purpose-built hardware with existing safety infrastructure, including cameras and radios, to detect incidents and coordinate emergency responses in real time. Firefly will use the funding to develop additional products, expand its engineering and go-to-market teams, and grow across education, healthcare and enterprise markets.

FOUNDERS: James Batt Buckley & Alex Penn

INVESTORS: Definition Capital, BoxGroup & Susa Ventures

ROUND: Series A
AMOUNT: $20,000,000

HQ: New York, New York

#VentureCapital #Firefly #JamesBattBuckley #AlexPenn #TradedVC

[Traded: Venture Capital @TradedVC]

Straia, a San Francisco-based AI startup helping colleges improve student retention, raised $3.1 million in a seed round led by Andreessen Horowitz’s Speedrun accelerator, bringing its total funding to $4.5 million. Founded by Ryan Lau, Gautam Narasimhan and Nikki Dansey, the company’s platform consolidates data from student information systems, learning management systems and CRM tools, enabling administrators to identify at-risk students and intervene earlier.

FOUNDERS: Ryan Lau, Gautam Narasimhan, and Nikki Dansey

INVESTORS: Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) Speedrun, Reach Capital & JFF Ventures

ROUND: Seed
AMOUNT: $3,100,000

HQ: San Francisco, California

#VentureCapital #Straia #RyanLau #AndreessenHorowitzSpeedrun #TradedVC

[Traded: Venture Capital @TradedVC]

Reliable Robotics, a Mountain View, California-based developer of autonomous aircraft systems, raised an additional $115 million in new capital, expanding its Series D round from $160 million to $275 million and pushing its valuation above $1 billion. The round was led by returning investor Nimble Partners, with participation from new investors Gideon Capital, RockCreek, Geek Ventures, Gold Hill Capital and Sparkwave Capital, alongside returning investor Island Green Partners. The funding includes a $25 million term loan from Silicon Valley Bank and will support fleet expansion, production facilities and engineering hiring as Reliable advances FAA certification for its autonomous flight technology and expands commercial and military applications.

FOUNDERS: Robert Rose & Juerg Frefel

INVESTORS: Nimble Partners, Gideon Capital, RockCreek, Geek Ventures, Gold Hill Capital, Sparkwave Capital, Island Green Partners, Silicon Valley Bank

ROUND: Series D
AMOUNT: $115,000,000
VALUATION: $1,000,000,000

HQ: Mountain View, California

#VentureCapital #ReliableRobotics #RobertRose #JuergFrefel #TradedVC

[Traded: Venture Capital @TradedVC]

Foursquare, the New York-based location-data company co-founded by Dennis Crowley, was acquired by ad-tech firm Infillion last month in a deal that left shareholders with no payout. Despite raising approximately $412 million in debt and equity and reaching a $450 million valuation in 2019, the company’s preferred and common stock were canceled without compensation. Crowley, who served as CEO for seven years and remained on the board for 17 years, blamed leadership installed in 2021 while acknowledging his own share of responsibility. Foursquare reported more than $100 million in annual revenue from 2019 to 2021, and most of its roughly 150 remaining employees are expected to join Infillion’s 650-person team. Backers included Andreessen Horowitz, Union Square Ventures, Microsoft, Silver Lake and The Raine Group.

FOUNDERS: Dennis Crowley & Naveen Selvadurai

HQ: New York, New York

#VentureCapital #Foursquare #DennisCrowley #NaveenSelvadurai #TradedVC

[Traded: Venture Capital @TradedVC]

Legora, an AI-powered operating system for legal professionals, raised $550 million in a Series E round at an $8.8 billion valuation, led by Atreides Management, with participation from new investors including Baron Capital, Capital Group, Fidelity, Glade Brook Capital Partners and J.P. Morgan, alongside existing backers. Co-founded and led by CEO Max Junestrand, the company surpassed $200 million in annual recurring revenue (ARR), with the new funding earmarked for expansion across North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific and further development of its agentic operating system.

FOUNDERS: Max Junestrand, August Erséus & Sigge Labor

INVESTORS: Atreides Management, Baron Capital, Capital Group, Fidelity Management & Research Company, Glade Brook Capital Partners, J.P. Morgan, Accel, Benchmark, Bessemer Venture Partners, General Catalyst, ICONIQ, Insight Venture Partners, Redpoint Ventures, Salesforce Ventures & Sands Capital

ROUND: Series E
AMOUNT: $550,000,000
VALUATION: $8,800,000,000

HQ: Stockholm, Sweden

#VentureCapital #Legora #MaxJunestrand #AtreidesManagement #TradedVC

[Traded: Venture Capital @TradedVC]

@cultured @sequoia @Shopify @jakepaul WHOPPER

[Traded: Venture Capital @TradedVC]

https://t.co/7PU8IfCpUn raised $320 million in non-dilutive growth financing from General Catalyst’s Customer Value Fund to fuel global expansion. The AI transcription company, led by CEO Sam Liang, plans to double enterprise revenue next year by scaling sales and marketing, expanding internationally, and developing features that connect meeting conversations to tools like CRMs. https://t.co/7PU8IfCpUn has more than 40 million users, adoption at 86% of Fortune 500 companies, and 1 billion meetings transcribed.

FOUNDERS: Sam Liang & Yun Fu

AMOUNT: $320,000,000

HQ: Mountain View, California

#VentureCapital #Otterai #SamLiang #YunFu #TradedVC