Top News

China just banned its tech giants like ByteDance and Alibaba from buying Nvidia’s AI chips, a blow that cuts Nvidia off from the Chinese market and signals the U.S.-China chip war is now fully joined. TechCrunch has more here.

Beijing hailed the U.S.-China framework deal shifting TikTok’s American assets to U.S. owners as a “win-win,” although it warned it will scrutinize tech and IP transfers before Trump and Xi sign off later this week. Reuters has more here.

At Meta Connect 2025 today, Mark Zuckerberg unveiled $799 Ray-Ban smart glasses with a built-in display and a wristband that reads hand gestures. TechCrunch has more here.

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VC Firm Insight Partners Says Thousands of Staff and Limited Partners Had Personal Data Stolen in a Ransomware Attack

By Zack Whittaker

Venture capital firm Insight Partners has notified thousands of people, including the firm’s limited partners, that their personal information was stolen by hackers in an earlier data breach.

In a statement on September 4, the VC giant said it completed its review earlier in August following its data breach, which it described as a “social engineering attack” without further explanation.

The venture firm has now said  in a formal data breach notification filed with California’s attorney general this week that the hackers broke in during mid-October 2024 to the company’s human resources system. It said the hackers exfiltrated data from Insight’s servers and began encrypting the systems on January 16, 2025, a hallmark of a ransomware attack.

Insight separately also told the Maine attorney general this week in an official notice that the ransomware attack affects more than 12,600 people.

Neither of the data breach notification letters disclosed what specific personal data was taken from Insight’s systems.

But according to the company’s earlier statement, the stolen data included information about certain Insight Partners’ funds, management companies, and portfolio companies. The hackers also took banking and tax information, the company said, as well as personal information about its current and former employees and its limited partners — the typically private and unnamed investors who help provide capital to Insight’s venture funds.

Massive Fundings

Airia, a one-year-old Atlanta startup that provides security and governance for enterprise AI agents, raised a $100 million round from co-founder John Marshall, who invested $50 million upfront with a further $50 million commitment. SiliconANGLE has more here.

Dualitas, a two-year-old South San Francisco startup that develops next-generation bispecific antibody therapies for immune and inflammatory diseases, raised a $65 million Series A round co-led by Versant Ventures and Qiming Venture Partners USA, with SV Health Investors, Chugai Venture Fund, Eli Lilly, and Alexandria Venture Investments also participating. Reuters has more here.

ENTOUCH, a 17-year-old company based in Richardson, TX, that helps multisite operators cut energy use, streamline building operations, and meet sustainability goals through automated management software, raised a $50 million round. Respida Capital was the lead investor. Pulse 2.0 has more here.

EvoluteIQ, a six-year-old London startup that helps large enterprises streamline and automate business workflows through agentic AI-driven orchestration, raised a $53 million growth round led by Baird Capital. Tech Funding News has more here.

Groq, a nine-year-old Mountain View company that provides fast and affordable AI inference infrastructure for developers and enterprises, raised a $750 million round at a $6.9 billion valuation. The deal was led by Disruptive, with BlackRock, Neuberger Berman, Deutsche Telekom Capital Partners, Samsung, Cisco, D1, Altimeter, 1789 Capital, and Infinitum also contributing. TechCrunch has more here.

Imagine Pediatrics, a three-year-old Nashville startup that delivers 24/7 virtual and in-home pediatric care for children with special health care needs through integrated medical, behavioral, and social care, raised a $67 million Series B round from the Autism Impact Fund as well as previous investors Oak HC/FT, Optum Ventures, and Rubicon Founders. More here.

Irregular, a two-year-old San Francisco startup that partners with leading AI labs like OpenAI and Anthropic to test advanced models against real-world threats and set security standards for safe deployment, raised an $80 million round co-led by Sequoia Capital and Redpoint Ventures, with Swish Ventures, Assaf Rappaport, and Ofir Ehrlich also stepping up. CTech has more here.

Luminary Cloud, a six-year-old startup based in San Mateo, CA, that uses physics-based AI models to help engineering companies design and optimize real-world products like cars, aircraft, and electronics, raised a $72 million Series B round led by N47, with Sutter Hill Ventures and NVentures also engaging. More here.

Ollin Biosciences, a two-year-old Austin startup that develops bispecific antibody therapies for vision-threatening eye diseases such as wet age-related macular degeneration, diabetic macular edema, and thyroid eye disease, raised a $100 million round co-led by ARCH Venture Partners, Mubadala Capital, and Monograph Capital. More here.

Omnea, a three-year-old London startup that uses AI to streamline procurement and supplier relationship management for enterprises, raised a $50 million Series B round co-led by Insight Partners and Khosla Ventures, with Accel, Point Nine, First Round Capital, and Prosus also participating. The company has raised a total of $75+ million. More here.

PassiveLogic, a nine-year-old Salt Lake City startup that uses generative AI to create autonomous systems for designing, operating, and managing buildings and industrial infrastructure, raised a $74 million Series C round led by noa, with Prologis Ventures, Johnson Controls, PSP Growth, Addition, NVentures, Keyframe, and Brookfield also chipping in. More here.

Big-But-Not-Crazy-Big Fundings

Aleph, a five-year-old New York startup that helps finance teams manage budgeting, reporting, and analysis through AI-driven FP&A tools, raised a $29 million Series B round led by Khosla Ventures, with Picus Capital, Bain Capital Ventures, and Y Combinator also digging in. The company has raised a total of $46 million. More here.

Fourth Power, a four-year-old Boston startup that provides modular, utility-scale thermal energy storage by converting electricity to heat stored in carbon blocks and back to power for flexible-duration grid storage, raised a $20 million Series A+ round led by Munich Re Ventures, with DCVC and Breakthrough Energy Ventures also contributing. TechCrunch has more here.

Genomines, a four-year-old Paris startup that produces battery-grade nickel through plant-based metal extraction, raised a $45 million Series A round co-led by Engine Ventures and Forbion BioEconomy, with DeepTech & Climate Fonds, Wind, Hyundai Motor Group, Teampact Ventures, Prospect Innovation, Raise Phiture, and AlphaTech Investment Group as well as previous investors Lowercarbon Capital, Entrepreneurs First, Elemental Impact, and Salida B.V. also piling on. The company has raised a total of $62 million. More here.

Kertos, a Munich startup that uses AI to automate compliance processes for European regulations such as GDPR, ISO, NIS2, DORA, SOC 2, and the EU AI Act, raised a $16.6 million Series A round led by Portage and including Pilabs, Redstone, 10x Founders, and seed + speed Ventures. The company has raised a total of $23+ million. Tech Funding News has more here.

Macroscope, a two-year-old San Francisco startup that helps developers find bugs and gives product managers visibility into engineering work, raised a $40 million round from GV, Lightspeed Venture Partners, and Thrive Capital. TechCrunch has more here.

MetalBear, a three-year-old Tel Aviv startup that helps developers test local code in realistic cloud environments through its open source Kubernetes tool, raised a $12.5 million seed round led by TLV Partners, with TQ Ventures, MTF, and Netz Capital also anteing up. CTech has more here.

Nofence, a 14-year-old Norwegian company that develops virtual fencing for livestock using solar-powered, GPS-enabled collars managed via a mobile app to enable rotational grazing and real-time herd management, raised a $35 million Series B round led by European Circular Bioeconomy Fund, with added support from Capagro, Nysnø Climate Investments, Climate Innovation Capital, and Speedinvest as well as previous investors Sandwater, Momentum, and Ferd. Silicon Republic has more here.

Stablecore, a Dallas startup founded this year that enables community and regional banks and credit unions to offer stablecoins, tokenized deposits, and digital asset products, raised a $20 million round led by Norwest, with Coinbase Ventures, Curql, BankTech Ventures, Bank of Utah, EJF Ventures, and Bankers Helping Bankers Fund also investing. More here.

Sympower, a 10-year-old Amsterdam company helps businesses, grid operators, and energy stakeholders balance electricity supply and demand through automated demand response and battery storage management, raised a $22.5 million Series B1 extension round. PGGM led the transaction. ESG Today has more here.

Turnout, a San Diego startup founded this year that uses AI and professional advocates to help Americans navigate complex government and financial processes such as tax debt relief and Social Security disability claims, raised a $21 million seed round co-led by Shine Capital and LGVP, with Swish Ventures, Jaz Capital Partners, Zeev Ventures, HoneyStone, Conversion, and Four Aces also stepping up. More here.

Smaller Fundings

Airbuds, a San Francisco startup that lets users share and discover music with friends through a social listening app, raised a $5 million round from Seven Seven Six. The company has raised a total of $10 million. TechCrunch has more here.

CreatorDB, a six-year-old Taipei startup that builds AI infrastructure for the creator economy, raised a $4.7 million Series A round led by Acorn Pacific Ventures, with additional participation from Pegatron, Meimaii Technology, AVA Ventures, and the National Development Fund. More here.

Eve Security, an Austin startup founded this year that provides observability and policy enforcement tools to secure agentic AI systems interacting with critical business operations, raised a $3 million seed round led by LiveOak Ventures, with Tau Ventures also taking part. More here.

Genoskin, a 14-year-old company based in Toulouse, France, that develops ex vivo human skin platforms to provide human-relevant alternatives to animal testing for drug and vaccine development, raised an $8.7 million Series A round led by OCCTE, with Captech Santé, GSO Innovation, and CA Toulouse 31 Initiatives also investing. More here.

GridStrong, a New York startup founded this year that automates electric grid compliance and operations for power asset owners, raised a $10 million seed round led by Congruent Ventures, with Energize Capital and Engie Renewables North America also pitching in. More here.

Icarus, a startup that develops dexterous embodied-AI robots to handle cargo logistics and maintenance tasks on the International Space Station, raised a $6.1 million seed round co-led by Soma Capital and Xtal, with investors including Nebular and Massive Tech Ventures. TechCrunch has more here.

Keplar, a two-year-old San Francisco startup that uses voice AI to conduct customer interviews and speed up market research, raised a $3.4 million seed round led by Kleiner Perkins, with SV Angel, Common Metal, and South Park Commons also participating. TechCrunch has more here.

Nestimate, a three-year-old startup based in Lincoln, NE, that provides analytics to help 401(k) plan fiduciaries evaluate and implement retirement income solutions, raised a $3 million round led by S3 Ventures, with PruVen Capital, TIAA Ventures, and Invest Nebraska also opting in. More here.

Overmind, a four-year-old London startup that helps engineering teams predict the impact of infrastructure changes before they happen to prevent outages and reduce review time, raised a $6 million seed round led by Renegade Partners, with Four Rivers, Operator Collective, Dan Scheinman, and Walter Kortschak also taking part. More here.

Plumerai, an eight-year-old London and Amsterdam startup that develops on-device AI for cameras and other embedded devices, raised an $8.7 million Series A round co-led by OTB Ventures and Partech, with Acclimate Ventures also joining in. The company has raised a total of $17+ million. Vestbee has more here.

Rulebase, a one-year-old London startup that uses AI agents to automate compliance, dispute resolution, and other back-office workflows for financial services firms, raised a $2.1 million pre-seed round. Bowery Capital was the deal lead, with Y Combinator, Commerce Ventures, and Transpose Platform VC also weighing in. TechCrunch has more here.

Sonair, a three-year-old Oslo startup that builds 3D ultrasonic sensors to give robots and industrial machines a real-time, safer view of their surroundings, raised a $6 million round from Scale Capital, Investinor, and ProVenture. TechCrunch has more here.

Terra Oleo, a two-year-old Singapore startup that develops microbes to transform agricultural waste into oils for use in cosmetics and pharmaceuticals as a sustainable alternative to palm oil, raised a $3.1 million seed round. Investors included ADB Ventures, Better Bite Ventures, Elev8.vc, and The Radical Fund. TechCrunch has more here.

Time Atlas Labs, a one-year-old Helsinki startup helps people log activities, places, and personal notes in a private timeline to better recall and understand their lives, raised a $2.1 million round led by Lifeline Ventures. Tech.eu has more here.

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New Funds

BNVT Capital, a London VC firm that invests in early-stage AI-first and technology-driven companies addressing global challenges, raised a $145 million debut fund. EU-Startups has more here.

Going Public

In India’s hottest IPO of the year, home-services giant Urban Company popped 58% on debut in Mumbai, handing Accel a 45x paper win and proving how profitable it can be to bring order and scale to India’s traditionally fragmented world of plumbers, cleaners, and beauticians. TechCrunch has more here.

StubHub slid 6% in its long-delayed NYSE debut, raising $800 million at an $8.1 billion valuation. TechCrunch’s Marina Temkin traces Eric Baker’s long, winding road to taking StubHub public

People

Entrepreneurship clearly runs in the Gates family: Phoebe Gates (daughter of Bill and Melinda) just raised a seed round of funding for Phia, an AI-powered shopping app she launched with her former Stanford roommate and climate activist, Sophia Kianni. Fortune has more details here.

Essential Reads

At the ICPC World Finals, the Olympics of collegiate programming where student teams race to solve a dozen grueling algorithmic problems in five hours, OpenAI says its system cracked all 12 problems while Google’s Gemini managed 10, underscoring how LLMs are now pulling ahead of even the best human coders. The Decoder has more here.

In an interesting twist in the ride-sharing wars, Lyft is teaming up with Waymo to roll out driverless rides in Nashville next year, a first for the pair that spiked Lyft’s stock and establishes a fresh front in Lyft’s battle with Uber. TechCrunch has more here.

European researchers have unveiled Delphi-2M, a model trained on millions of patient records that can forecast an individual’s risk of more than 1,000 diseases years in advance, hinting at a future where checkups come with predictive roadmaps instead of just lab results. The Guardian has more here.

The Trump administration is apparently miffed at Anthropic’s refusal to let law enforcement use its AI for domestic surveillance, a stance that has put any future deals with the U.S. government at risk. Semafor has more here.

A new CrowdStrike study found China’s DeepSeek AI spits out buggier code when prompts mention “Falun Gong,” “Tibet,” or “Taiwan,” fueling concerns that Beijing’s political red lines are quietly shaping how its tech behaves. The Washington Post has more here.

Detours

Runners are at war over downhill marathons that make it easier to snag a qualifying time for the Boston marathon, and now the race’s organizers are docking minutes from those times, a move that’s only stoked more outrage on both sides.

Robert Redford once lured U2 to his outlaw bar for day drinks at Sundance, leaving a reporter to score the ride-along of a lifetime, complete with drunken banter, self-deprecation, and a bootleg listen to the band’s then-unreleased album.

Where are they now? All your high-school crushes.

Brain Rot

One step above raw dogging?

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Retail Therapy

A $16.6 million Cherry Hills Village mansion with an indoor putting green, bocce court, sauna, and custom wine room just listed, offering deep-pocketed buyers a shot at joining Peyton Manning and other sports royalty in Denver’s priciest neighborhood.

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