All articles tagged with #venture capital
AI startup Taktile closed a $110 million Series C led by Goldman Sachs with Tiger Global, Index Ventures, and Y Combinator to turn AI models into dedicated agents for sensitive financial tasks, such as processing insurance claims and expediting payouts. The funds will further build out the platform and support a new São Paulo office.
SpaceX’s IPO has rewarded backers, but there’s ongoing anxiety about a mass sell-off when lock-up periods end. The IPO uses staggered unlocks, with some large holders pledging not to sell until mid-2027, and a wave of tradable shares is expected this fall, which could boost volatility even as long-time investors and Musk loyalists say they’ll hold for the mission’s horizon.
Following the Trump administration’s move to curb Anthropic’s advanced models over cybersecurity concerns, some AI researchers and rival labs have grown cooler toward Anthropic, arguing its public stance on risk and regulatory advocacy helped provoke the crackdown. Separately, AGI House alumni have raised about $25 million for a new fund, signaling ongoing investor interest in AI despite tensions surrounding Anthropic.
SpaceX’s historic IPO has vaulted its backers into the top tier of inflation-adjusted venture-capital gains, with multiple funds (Valor Equity Partners, Founders Fund, DFJ Growth, Sequoia, 137 Ventures, and others) posting multibillion-dollar, inflation-adjusted returns. The piece shows SpaceX investors now dominate the 10 biggest VC checks of all time, eclipsing classic bets like eBay via Benchmark; many of these gains remain paper profits due to lock-ups, and Google-backed deals are noted as excluded from the top ten for methodological reasons.
Biotech IPOs are back in force, led by Parabilis Medicines’ $670 million Nasdaq listing—the latest in a wave of late-stage, data-rich offerings—following Kailera Therapeutics’ $625 million IPO earlier this year. Experts say a years-long funding drought is thawing as venture capital and big pharma capital flow back into the sector, enabling firms to build multi-drug portfolios and scale toward commercialization, though early-stage startups may face continued funding headwinds if the market cools.
Parabilis Medicines, formerly FogPharma, priced its IPO at $20 and closed its Nasdaq debut at $31.60, raising about $670 million and becoming the largest VC-backed biotech IPO. Led by lead candidate zolucatetide and buoyed by a 2025 FDA Fast Track designation and a Regeneron collaboration, the momentum follows six venture rounds as the biotech window reopens for public listings.
Founders publicly roasted venture capitalists on social media after recounting blunt feedback, odd pitch moments, and dismissive behavior during fundraising, with Vinod Khosla defending himself and others weighing in, sparking a viral debate about the culture and honesty in VC funding.
The EU’s tech sovereignty package marks a shift from defensive regulation to proactive innovation, aiming to triple EU data-center capacity with about €200bn of mostly private investment, boost chip manufacturing and cheaper energy, promote open-source AI to accelerate adoption and reduce US software spend, and seed a €5bn Scaleup Europe Fund to mobilize VC. Europe remains dependent on US tech but has strong science and startups in materials, pharma and robotics that could scale with deeper market integration and faster public procurement reforms, positioning the region for faster AI-driven growth.
NewLimit, a South San Francisco longevity biotech, secured $435 million in a Series C led by Founders Fund (with Thrive Capital, Lilly Ventures, Nat Friedman, and Daniel Gross) valuing the company at about $3.1 billion as it moves toward its first liver-focused clinical trial. Founders include Brian Armstrong, Blake Byers, and Jacob Kimmel, with prior rounds of $130 million in May 2025 and $45 million in October 2025.
Generative AI and the ChatGPT moment have triggered a private-market valuation reset, leaving hundreds of pre-AI unicorns inflated by the 2021–2022 boom with little fresh funding and shrinking exits. Companies that last raised in 2021 or 2022 have seen steep declines, and many aren’t raising new money, pushing investors toward AI-native firms or discounted acquisitions as the likely path to liquidity. Legacy software players face pressure to pivot to AI-first models and new pricing schemes as the landscape shifts away from growth-at-any-cost toward AI-driven efficiency.
Canadian entrepreneur Cathy Tie, nicknamed the “Biotech Barbie,” is pursuing openly regulated germline gene editing to prevent inherited diseases through Origin Genomics, after a controversial past with He Jiankui and a string of biotech ventures. She argues for regulator-approved, transparent research and says the field’s progress is inevitable, while critics warn about safety and the ethical implications for future generations. The piece frames her effort against a backdrop of private funding, a race among biotech startups, and the broader debate over embryo editing versus embryo selection.
Europe is becoming a serious AI-powered startup hub, with firms like Lovable and Legora scaling rapidly and a rising VC scene aided by AI-driven lean scaling. A “flywheel” effect from Spotify and Klarna is attracting talent and capital, frontier AI labs like AMI Labs are signaling deeper commitments, and Stockholm is emerging as a tech hub (often dubbed Silicon Valhalla). While US valuations remain higher, Europe is drawing more tech talent from the US and broadening capital access as visa dynamics and a growing European ecosystem accelerate scale-up prospects.
SpaceX’s IPO is expected to be the largest ever, potentially delivering more than $60 billion in gains to top backers including Founders Fund and Valor Equity Partners, with Valor’s roughly 4% stake could be worth about $65 billion if SpaceX is valued near $1.75 trillion at IPO.
Business Insider’s Seed 40 honors 40 women who consistently spot and mentor early‑stage startups, using Termina data and the Seed 100 methodology to highlight female leaders across fintech, AI, healthtech, and consumer tech, while underscoring the ongoing gender diversity gap in venture capital and the push to broaden who shapes tech’s future.
Business Insider’s Seed 100 for 2026 names the top 100 early‑stage investors who back founders before there is a product, highlighting how AI has driven seed rounds into the tens of millions and intensified competition for elite teams. The list spans veteran partners and angel investors from firms like Firestreak Ventures, Heavybit, 2048 Ventures, Weekend Fund, and giants such as Andreessen Horowitz and Sequoia, with notable bets including OpenAI and Anthropic. Compiled with data from Termina, the Seed 100 underscores a founder‑first, high‑conviction approach in a fast‑moving startup ecosystem driven by AI advances.