In a Los Angeles trial over claims that social media platforms harm young users’ mental health, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg testified that the company discussed Instagram’s beauty filters with outside experts and internal teams before allowing them and denied that increasing engagement was a formal goal despite internal Instagram targets of 40 minutes in 2023 and 46 minutes in 2026. CNBC has more here.

Kalshi lost a key bid to keep operating in Nevada after a federal appeals court rejected its request to halt the state’s enforcement action, escalating a fight over whether sports and event contracts fall under state gaming law or CFTC oversight. The Wall Street Journal has more here.

Palantir won a partial court victory against three former employees who left to found Percepta, an AI startup backed by General Catalyst, with a judge finding they likely breached confidentiality and non-solicitation agreements but declining to block them from continuing to operate the new company. Bloomberg has more here.

Harmonic 

 "Scout, I’m hanging out in Back Bay this afternoon - find seed founders to grab coffee with who are building applied AI for the real economy” 

 Agents built for investing. 

 See more 

By Connie Loizos

The internet today has a permissions problem. As non-humans — chatbots, AI agents, and automated systems — have proliferated on the web, so has the need to provide them with credentials, permissions, and identities. That’s one major reason identity and access management startups that help manage this new kind of digital workforce are raking in venture capital.

Now, a 35-person Israeli-American startup called Venice is emerging from stealth with fresh cash and a plucky claim: that it’s already replacing industry stalwarts like CyberArk and Okta at Fortune 500 companies.

Venice, founded just over two years ago, says it raised $20 million in Series A funding in December, led by IVP, with participation from Index Ventures, which led its earlier seed round.

Unlike many of its well-funded rivals — which include Persona (raised a $200 million Series D last April), Veza (closed a $108 million Series D last May), and GitGuardian SAS (raised $50 million last week) — Venice is tackling both cloud-based and on-premises environments, a technical choice that has made the product harder to build but positioned it to win over the large enterprises still running legacy systems alongside modern cloud infrastructure.

At its helm sits 31-year-old Rotem Lurie, whose path to entrepreneurship pretty much ticks every box on VCs’ checklists. The daughter of two programmer parents in Israel (her mother was one of the country’s first female software engineers), Lurie spent four-and-a-half years as a lieutenant in Unit 8200, Israel’s elite intelligence corps, before joining Microsoft as a product manager working on what would become Defender for Identity.

ChipAgents, a one-year-old startup based in Santa Clara, CA, that automates chip design and verification workflows using AI, raised a $50 million round led by Matter Venture Partners, with Bessemer Venture Partners, Micron, MediaTek, and Ericsson also contributing. More here.

Cogent Security, a two-year-old San Francisco startup whose AI platform automates vulnerability investigation, prioritization, and remediation, raised a $42 million Series A round led by Bain Capital Ventures, with Greylock Partners and Definition also anteing up. The company has raised a total of $53 million. SecurityWeek has more here.

DG Matrix, a four-year-old startup based in Raleigh, NC, that develops solid-state transformer systems that route and manage power for data centers, raised a $60 million Series A round led by Engine Ventures, with ABB, Cerberus Ventures, Chevron Technology Ventures, Clean Energy Ventures, Fine Structure Ventures, Helios Climate Ventures, MCJ, and Piedmont Capital also taking part. TechCrunch has more here.

Efficient Computer, a four-year-old Pittsburgh startup that makes energy-efficient processors for AI and other workloads, raised a $60 million Series A round led by Triatomic Capital, with Eclipse, Overlap Holdings, Union Square Ventures, RTX Ventures, Toyota Ventures, and Overmatch Ventures also investing. The company has raised a total of $76 million. SiliconANGLE has more here.

Heron Power, a two-year-old startup based in Scotts Valley, CA, that produces solid-state transformers for data centers, solar installations, and grid-scale batteries, raised a $140 million Series B round co-led by Andreessen Horowitz and Breakthrough Energy Ventures, with Capricorn Investment Group, Energy Impact Partners, Gigascale Capital, and Valor Atreides AI Fund also participating. TechCrunch has more here.

Ineffable Intelligence, a one-year-old London startup founded by Google DeepMind researcher David Silver that aims to train AI systems using reinforcement learning based on interaction and feedback, is reportedly in the market to raise a $1 billion round at a $4 billion post-money valuation. The purported lead is Sequoia Capital. Tech Funding News has more here.

Novig, a five-year-old New York startup that runs a commission-free peer-to-peer sports prediction exchange, raised a $75 million Series B round led by Pantera Capital, with Multicoin Capital, Makers Fund, and Edge Equity as well as previous investors Forerunner, Perceptive Ventures, and NFX also piling on. The company has raised a total of $105+ million. Sport Business Journal has more here.

Utility Global, an eight-year-old Houston startup that produces hydrogen and concentrated CO₂ streams from industrial off-gases for decarbonizing industrial facilities, announced a $100 million first close for its Series D round. Ara Partners and APG Asset Management were the co-leads. Pulse 2.0 has more here.

Vestwell, a 10-year-old New York company that operates a digital savings platform that administers retirement, education, and emergency savings programs for employers and employees, raised a $385 million round at a $2 billion post-money valuation. The deal was co-led by Blue Owl Capital and Sixth Street Growth, with additional participation from Neuberger Berman, Silver Lake Waterman, Morgan Stanley, Franklin Templeton, TIAA Ventures, and HarbourVest Partners. The company has raised a total of $660 million. Crunchbase News has more here.

World Labs, a two-year-old San Francisco startup that develops neural networks that generate interactive 3D virtual environments, raised a $1 billion round. Investors included Nvidia, Advanced Micro Devices, and Autodesk. The company has raised a total of approximately $1.2 billion. TechCrunch has more here.

Avantos, a two-year-old New York startup whose AI-powered operating system automates client onboarding and servicing for financial institutions, raised a $25 million Series A round led by Bessemer Venture Partners and including The Guardian Life Insurance Company of America, SEI, and Vanguard. WealthManagement has more here.

Dataro, a nine-year-old San Francisco startup whose AI platform analyzes donor data to guide fundraising decisions for nonprofits, raised a $14.3 million Series A round led by Blueprint Equity. Pulse 2.0 has more here.

GelMEDIX, a six-year-old startup based in Cambridge, MA, that develops injectable hydrogel-based cell therapies to restore vision in patients with retinal degeneration, raised a $13 million seed round. Safar Partners led the transaction, with HTL Biotechnology, Beacon Angels, TiE Boston Angels, and Boston Harbor Angels also chiming in. More here.

Kana, a one-year-old San Francisco startup that offers customizable AI agents that automate data analysis, audience targeting, and campaign management for marketers, raised a $15 million seed round led by Mayfield. TechCrunch has more here.

Lightworks, a one-year-old Toronto startup that delivers enterprise AI control systems that govern and secure AI agent deployments for regulated organizations, raised a $12 million round led by Round13 Capital. Pulse 2.0 has more here.

Metafuels, a five-year-old Zürich startup that produces synthetic aviation fuel using methanol-to-jet technology, raised a $24 million Series A round led by UVC Partners, with previous investors Energy Impact Partners, Contrarian Ventures, RockCreek, Verve Ventures, and Fortescue also engaging. StartBase has more here.

Moab, a three-year-old New York startup that provides an operating system that manages dispatch, billing, accounting, and fleet operations for equipment rental and dealership businesses, raised a $16 million seed round. Elad Gil was the deal lead, with Ironspring Ventures also stepping up. More here.

Onodrim Industries, a one-year-old Amsterdam startup that builds defense manufacturing, multi-domain sensing, and networked systems for European security operations, raised a $47.3 million seed round. Founders Fund, Lakestar, and General Catalyst co-led the deal. More here.

Payra, a recently founded Nashville startup that automates accounts receivable and cash application for construction and industrial suppliers using legacy ERP systems, raised a $15 million round. Edison Partners was the deal lead. More here.

ProSomnus, a ten-year-old company based in Pleasanton, CA, that offers non-CPAP oral devices to treat obstructive sleep apnea, raised a $35 million round. Catalio Capital provided the funding. MassDevice has more here.

Seasats, a six-year-old San Diego startup that builds long-endurance autonomous surface vessels for defense, commercial, and scientific use, raised a $20 million Series A round led by Konvoy Ventures, with Shield Capital, DNS Capital, Techstars, Tanis Venture Management, Crumpton Ventures, and Dorado Group also digging in. More here.

Selector Software, a seven-year-old startup based in Santa Clara, CA, that provides an AI platform for network monitoring and troubleshooting, raised a $32 million round at a $375 million valuation. The deal was led by AVP, with Ansa Capital, Two Bear Capital, Sinewave Ventures, and Singtel Innov8 also taking stakes. SiliconANGLE has more here.

Stake, a five-year-old Dubai startup that has built a digital platform to enable fractional investment in real estate and private property funds, raised a $31 million Series B round led by Emirates NBD, with Mubadala and Middle East Venture Partners also participating. Wamda has more here.

VulnCheck, a five-year-old startup based in Lexington, MA, that provides real-time exploit and vulnerability intelligence for cybersecurity teams, raised a $25 million Series B round led by Sorenson Capital, with National Grid Partners, Ten Eleven Ventures, and In-Q-Tel also pitching in. SiliconANGLE has more here.

Breaker, a two-year-old Austin startup that builds voice-controlled AI software that enables operators to command teams of autonomous military systems, raised a $6 million seed round led by Bessemer Venture Partners, with Main Sequence also participating. The Wall Street Journal has more here.

Resurrect Bio, a five-year-old London startup that develops gene-edited crops that restore native disease resistance traits, raised an $8.1 million Series A round led by Corteva, with Calculus Capital, Pymwymic, UKI2S, SynBioVen, and AgFunder also opting in. More here.

Sphinx, a one-year-old San Francisco startup that is developing browser-based AI agents that automate AML, KYC, and KYB compliance workflows inside existing financial systems, raised a $7.1 million seed round. Cherry Ventures was the deal lead, with Y Combinator, Rebel Fund, Deel Ventures, and Singularity Capital also investing. FinTech Futures has more here.

Fidelity 

Your Pitch Isn’t the Only Thing Investors Are Evaluating.  

Investors don’t just listen to what you say—they look at how your company operates. Is ownership clear? Do your numbers match your story? Can you answer follow-up questions without digging through spreadsheets? The Fundraise-Ready Startup Kit equips founders with the materials investors expect to see, before pressure is on. Because confidence in the room doesn’t come from slides. It comes from preparation. 

Battery Ventures, a 43-year-old Boston VC firm that invests across software, AI, infrastructure, industrial tech, and life sciences, raised a fifteenth fund in the amount of $3.25 billion. Approximately 80% of the capital came from existing LPs. Tech Funding News has more here.

Etsy is selling secondhand fashion marketplace Depop to eBay for $1.2 billion in cash nearly five years after acquiring it for $1.62 billion as it refocuses on its core platform. Meanwhile, Depop brings seven million active buyers, more than three million sellers, and roughly $1 billion in 2025 gross merchandise sales to eBay. TechCrunch has more here.

Robinhood plans to launch a $1 billion IPO of a closed-end fund that will give retail investors exposure to private companies like Databricks, Oura, Revolut, and Stripe, betting demand for pre-IPO shares will fuel a new retail trading cycle. Bloomberg has more here.

OpenClaw creator Peter Steinberger is joining OpenAI to help build the next generation of personal agents despite receiving a personal outreach from Mark Zuckerberg and a reportedly higher offer from Meta. Steinberger felt more aligned with OpenAI’s vision, according to Sources, which has more here.

OpenAI has hired longtime Instagram executive Charles Porch as its first VP of global creative partnerships, tasking him with courting talent and studios as the company pushes tools like Sora deeper into music, film, fashion, and sports amid lingering industry distrust of AI. Vanity Fair has more here.

Michael Burry of The Big Short fame flagged a disclosure in Palantir’s latest 10-K showing the company spent $17.2 million in 2025 on CEO Alex Karp’s use of his own aircraft, a figure that analysts estimate could imply 1,147 to 2,457 flight hours and far exceeds comparable private jet expenses at peers like Meta and Palo Alto Networks.

Klarna CEO Sebastian Siemiatkowski said the company expects to shrink from about 3,000 employees today to fewer than 2,000 by 2030, attributing much of the reduction (as he has with past reductions) to AI. Fast Company has more here.

Anthropic’s standoff with the Pentagon is spilling into public view, with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s team reviewing its relationship with Claude and weighing whether to force contractors to certify they are not using Anthropic’s models. The fight centers on Anthropic’s refusal to allow certain military uses, even while rivals have agreed to “any lawful” deployments. The Wall Street Journal has more here.

Saudi-backed AI firm Humain announced today that it has invested $3 billion in Elon Musk’s xAI, becoming a significant minority shareholder ahead of xAI’s $1.25 trillion combination with SpaceX. Humain and SpaceX are also planning to launch a 500 megawatt data center in Saudi Arabia. Bloomberg has more here.

Six skiers caught in an avalanche near Lake Tahoe used Apple’s Emergency SOS satellite texting feature to stay in contact with rescuers for 4 hours. The New York Times has more here.

Land art pioneer Michael Heizer has finally finished City, a monumental earthwork in the Nevada desert that took more than 50 years to build and covers roughly 2,000 acres, with massive geometric concrete and earth forms plus deep trenches stretching up to nearly a mile. The New York Times has more here.

Just in time for this year’s World Cup, Richard Mille has teamed up with Audemars Piguet to offer a limited edition, $1.94 million chronograph that lets well-heeled soccer fans manually record match time and goals on their wrist.

Ring is releasing a drone that can fly around your house and spy on your kids, spouse, and pets. Oh, and catch bad guys, too.

Please send all of your hot gossip to [email protected] or [email protected].

To book ads directly, contact us at [email protected].