WHAT’S INSIDE

• Tech Companies to Watch: Startup news and deals from the last week

• Big Movers: The Big tech movers, shakers and partnerships this week

• Making Waves: Companies making a buzz in the Tech world

• Open Deals: Startups raising capital this week

• In The Money: Significant raises last week and why they matter

• Exit Watching: Mergers & Acquisitions and IPOs

• The Funding Buzz: VC & PE Activity To Watch

BIG MOVERS

Big tech moves, movers and trends to watch this week

Google — Reported a 19% profit increase to $28.2B and a 14% revenue rise to $96.4B in Q2, driven by AI investments. Also partnered with OpenAI to provide cloud computing. YouTube unveiled new AI features for Shorts using Veo 2.

Tesla — Announced a new affordable Model Y variant, launching in Q4 2025 at $25,000. Opened a new retro-futuristic diner in Hollywood with Optimus robot waiters, entertainment screens.

Meta — Decided not to sign the EU's voluntary AI code of practice raising questions about its potential impact on the company's operations within the EU.

Xiaomi — The Chinese smartphone giant sold over 200,000 units of its first electric SUV, the YU7, within three minutes, showing the wider shift underway in China among many mobile tech startups into automotive.

Intel — Intel beat Q2 revenue estimates but posted wider losses amid massive turnaround efforts under new leadership; implemented drastic cost cuts while completing most of its planned 22% workforce reduction.

Teaming Up

Airtel x Perplexity — Airtel partners with Perplexity to provide 360M Indian customers free Perplexity Pro access for one year, democratizing professional-grade AI for students and professionals.

Netflix x Runway — Netflix adopts Runway AI's video generation tools for content creation, showcasing its commitment to cutting-edge technology despite ongoing Hollywood debates about AI's role in production.

IN PARTNERSHIP WITH IMMERSED

🚀 Google, Microsoft, & Meta Partnered With This XR Startup

As tech reshapes how people work, a $250B+ opportunity is up for grabs¹²³. With the help of partners like Meta, Microsoft, and Google, Immersed is perfectly positioned to seize it.

Immersed combined the world’s most-used remote work XR software ($127B by 2030)¹, AR/VR hardware ($100B+ by 2026)², and AI productivity tools ($36B)³ to create a productive, communal, and helpful virtual workspace. That’s why 1.4M+ professionals, including Fortune 500 teams, already use it.

Now, Immersed is shipping the first units of its productivity-designed Visor headset. 75,000+ already waitlisted, representing $71M in projected first-year sales. No wonder leaders at Intel and Meta have already invested.

Join them as an investor by July 30th to receive up to a 16% discount and share in Immersed’s growth today.

Disclaimer: This is a paid advertisement for Immersed’s Regulation CF offering. Please read the offering circular at https://invest.immersed.com/

1. https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/ai-productivity-tools-market-23074

2. https://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/ai-productivity-tools-market-report 

3. https://www.giiresearch.com/report/grvi1512062-ai-productivity-tools-market-size-share-trends.html 

[OPEN DEALS] RAISING DOLLARS:

Startups, firms or funds raising capital this week

Anthropic — Plans a funding round at $100B+ valuation following revenue surge to $4B ARR (up from $3B), after previously raising $3.5B at a $61.5B valuation.

Greptile — An AI code review startup founded by Daksh Gupta is raising a $30M Series A at a $180M valuation led by Benchmark. despite intense competition.

Zerohash — The crypto infrastructure startup aiding financial institutions to offer crypto and stablecoins is planning a $100M raise at a $1B valuation led by Interactive Brokers, following a successful Series D in 2022.

MAKING WAVES

Startups, trends and signals to watch in the USA this week

Delve — Raised a $32M Series A for its AI-driven compliance platform serving 500+ businesses, automating compliance tasks to reduce manual processes and help companies focus on growth and efficiency.

Polymarket — The crypto-betting platform plans US return by acquiring QCX derivatives exchange after being pushed offshore by regulators, following its 2024 surge with significant political event betting.

TSMC — The Taiwanese semiconductor manufacturer surpassed $1T market valuation on AI chip demand, with revenue forecast up 30% and shares rising nearly 50% since April, becoming first Asian trillion-dollar stock since 2007.

CVector — An industrial AI startup based in the US, focusing on sectors like chemicals, automotive, and energy. Founders Richard Zhang and Tyler Ruggles emphasize independence from VCs to build trust.

Astronomer — The Cincinnati-based data orchestration company faced recent turbulence as CEO Andy Byron resigned following a viral kiss cam incident. This led to over $7M in bets on prediction markets.

IN THE MONEY

Companies that raised money in the past week and why they matter

Massive Deals

Perplexity— The San Fran AI search startup reached $18B valuation in a recent funding round, up from $14B just two months ago, showing rapid growth and strong market interest.

Aidoc — The NYC-based provider of a clinical AI platform, raised $150M led by General Catalyst and Square Peg, with NVentures, Hartford HealthCare, Mercy, Sutter Health and WellSpan Health.

HeroDevs — HeroDevs LLC, based in Utah, raised $125M to support legacy open-source projects and tackle security risks in deprecated software. The company also launched a $20M Sustainability Fund to aid o-s creators.

Reka — The Sunnyvale-based multimodal AI company raised $110M from NVIDIA, Snowflake and others to expand ops and development of efficient training infrastructure for their multimodal models, including Reka Flash.

Large Deals

Yieldstreet — The New York-based platform for private market investments raised $77M, led by Tarsadia Investments with participation from RedBird Capital Partners. This funding aims to democratize access to private market.

LegalOn Technologies — The Japanese AI contract review company raised a $50M Series C to enhance its platform used by 7,000 organizations and expand into the U.S. and U.K with an OpenAI partnership in place.

Delve — Raised a $32M Series A for its AI-driven compliance platform serving 500+ businesses, automating compliance tasks to reduce manual processes and help companies focus on growth and efficiency.

Smaller Deals

BetterComp — The compensation technology firm secured $33M in Series A funding to enhance its platform. The investment will drive innovation, market expansion, and AI tool development.

Bitzero — The Norwegian sustainable blockchain mining company raised $25M to expand its operations. This investment will fund advanced mining hardware, projected to add $10M in ARR. It operates its data center on hydropower.

Rune Technologies — The AI-enabled military logistics software startup raised a $24M Series A to enhance logistics ops by integrating gen AI for real-time analysis to modernize supply processes for the U.S. military.

Lightyear — London-based startup aiming to rival Robinhood, raised $23M led by NordicNinja. Founded by ex-Wise employees, it offers investments in 5,000+ stocks and funds. The funds will enable expansion into five markets and AI feature launche.

Memories.ai — The San Fran AI research lab building visual memories for AI, raised an $8M seed led by Susa Ventures, with Samsung Next, Crane, Fusion Fund, Seedcamp and Creator Ventures.

EXIT WATCHING

Mergers & Acquisitions and IPOs

Bee — Amazon acquired the AI wearable startup creating devices for conversation recording to aid task management via its $49.99 bracelet and app. Highlights Amazon's shift towards wearable AI, despite privacy concerns.

Strategy — Michael Saylor's company is increasing its preferred stock offering from $500M to $2B to provide regular dividends at a 9% rate. Shares are priced at $90. This move aims to bolster its bitcoin acquisitions valued at ~$72B.

Deal Pipeline Revival — Blackstone beat Q2 earnings estimates with strong retail and evergreen fund profits; AUM exceeded $1.2T as the firm reports its strongest deal pipeline since 2021 while preparing portfolio companies for IPOs.

IPO Market Thaws — Nasdaq beat Q2 estimates on success with large-cap listings and signaled improved IPO market momentum, suggesting a potential recovery in the public offerings landscape.

IPO WATCH

Unitree Robotics — The Chinese humanoid robot maker preparing for first-of-its-kind IPO on the mainland stock exchange with Citic Securities, highlighting industry shift from research to commercialization.

Figma — The design software company is launching an IPO allowing shareholders to sell 24.7M shares. CEO Dylan Field plans to sell 2.35M shares for around $62M. It could raise ~$1.5B, with Field retaining 74% voting rights.

THE FUNDING BUZZ

VC & PE Activity To Watch

Elad Gil — The solo VC is raising a $1.5B fund (potentially $2B) to capitalize on fast-moving sectors like AI. His portfolio includes major tech companies Cambridge Terahertz ($12M), Hadrian ($260M), and Lovable ($200M).

Booz Allen Hamilton — The consulting firm has tripled its venture capital commitment from $100M to $300M to support early-stage technology companies focused on AI, cyber, and defense technology and reindustrialization.

High River Resources — The oil and gas focused firm closed its second fund at $205M, exceeding its target by 35%. The company acquires and optimizes U.S. energy assets and has completed its first acquisition in the Texas Panhandle Field.

TECH BUZZ DIRECTORY
Featured Products*

SEO Bot — A fully autonomous "SEO Robot" with AI agents for busy founders.

Memelord — Meme Software for marketing memes, tech memes, & sales memes.

Otonomos — Incorporate your Delaware C-corp or tax advantaged foundation and get 5% OFF.

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!
⏰ — leaving soon.

FOR EMPLOYERS
Job Candidates

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