Thinking Machines, the AI startup founded by former OpenAI executive Mira Murati, is reportedly in talks to raise new funding at a roughly $50 billion valuation, quadrupling its July valuation. Bloomberg has more here.

China-backed hackers reportedly used Anthropic’s AI to automate up to 90% of a cyberattack campaign against corporations and governments, underscoring how generative tools are supercharging both offense and defense in cybersecurity. The Wall Street Journal has more here.

Affinity's Tech Stack Spotlight reveals how Picus Capital eliminated manual work and accelerated deal velocity with AI-powered workflows. Join us November 20 (10 AM PT / 1 PM ET) as Abhijay Thacker shares real automation strategies, firm-wide adoption tactics, and integration approaches with Affinity as the foundation. See exactly how a leading European early-stage fund built a system that drives competitive advantage. This quarterly series goes behind the scenes with firms winning through technology.

By Tim De Chant

When Hannan Happi started thinking about how to solve the AI power crisis, he kept one figure in mind: one cent per kilowatt-hour.

“We went through all sorts of configurations and designs,” Happi, co-founder and CEO of Exowatt, told TechCrunch. “They all look different from each other. We tried to learn from every one of them: How do I reduce structural costs? How do I reduce maintenance costs? How do I optimize for this?”

After years of brainstorming and building, Exowatt’s first step toward that goal is a simple box the size of a shipping container topped with a clear awning. Inside is similarly simple. If Exowatt can deliver on its promise of delivering cheap solar power that generates electricity 24-7, it could upend the data center market and broader energy world, delivering round-the-clock power at very low cost.

To scale production in pursuit of the one-cent per kWh target, Exowatt has raised an additional $50 million in an extension to its $70 million Series A round that closed in April, TechCrunch has exclusively learned. 

The extension was led by MVP Ventures and 8090 Industries with participation from Atomic, BAM, Bay Bridge Ventures, DeepWork Capital, Dragon Global, the Florida Opportunity Fund, Massive VC, New Atlas Capital, Overmatch, Protagonist, and StepStone. Previous investors include Andreessen Horowitz and Sam Altman.

Happi said that Exowatt wasn’t looking to raise additional capital after the April round, but “strong momentum we saw in the market” and “strong investor interest” encouraged him to take the new money at a higher valuation.

Alembic Technologies, a seven-year-old San Francisco startup that develops causal AI models to help enterprises understand what drives customer behavior, raised a $145 million Series B round co-led by Prysm Capital and Accenture, with Liquid 2 Ventures, NextEquity, Friends & Family Capital, WndrCo, and SLW also contributing. SiliconANGLE has more here.

Anysphere, the four-year-old San Francisco startup behind Cursor, an AI coding tool for software developers, raised a $2.3 billion round at a $29.3 billion post-money valuation. Investors included Accel, Thrive Capital, Andreessen Horowitz, DST Global, Coatue, Nvidia, and Google. CNBC has more here.

Beacon Biosignals, a seven-year-old Boston startup that combines wearable EEG technology with AI to develop brain diagnostics and precision medicines, raised an $86 million Series B round co-led by Innoviva, Google Ventures, Nexus NeuroTech Ventures, S32, Catalio Capital Management, and Takeda, with General Catalyst, Logos Capital, Casdin Capital, and Indicator Ventures also investing. The company has raised a total of $121 million. MassDevice has more here.

CHAOS Industries, a three-year-old Los Angeles startup that develops radar and sensor systems to detect drones, missiles, and other airborne threats, raised a $510 million round at a $4.5 billion post-money valuation. Valor Equity Partners was the deal lead, with 8VC and Accel also taking part. The company has raised a total of $1 billion. Dronelife has more here.

Exowatt, a company that builds modular solar thermal systems to provide continuous low-cost power for AI data centers, raised a $50 million Series A extension co-led by MVP Ventures and 8090 Industries, with Atomic, BAM, Bay Bridge Ventures, DeepWork Capital, Dragon Global, the Florida Opportunity Fund, Massive VC, New Atlas Capital, Overmatch, Protagonist, and StepStone also participating. TechCrunch has more here.

Fabric8Labs, a a ten-year-old San Diego company that develops electrochemical additive manufacturing technology for high-precision metal components, raised a $50 million round co-led by NEA and Intel Capital and including Lam Capital, TDK Ventures, SE Ventures, Marunouchi Innovation Partners, SK hynix, Ericsson Ventures, Masco Ventures, and Toppan Global Venture Partners. More here.

Forterra, a twenty-four-year-old company based in Clarksburg, MD, that develops autonomous military vehicle technology, raised a $188 million Series C round at a $1+ billion valuation. The round was led by Moore Strategic Ventures, with Salesforce Ventures, Franklin Templeton, Balyasny Asset Management, 645 Ventures, Hanwha Asset Management, and 9Yards as well as previous investors XYZ Venture Capital, Enlightenment Capital, and Hedosophia also piling on. The company also raised $50 million in debt. More here.

Gate Bioscience, a five-year-old startup based in Brisbane, CA, that develops small molecule medicines designed to eliminate disease-causing proteins at their source, raised a $65 million Series B round led by Forbion, with Eli Lilly and Company, Versant Ventures, Andreessen Horowitz, GV, and ARCH Venture Partners also digging in. The company has raised a total of $135 million. More here.

Gopuff, a twelve-year-old Philadelphia company that operates an instant delivery service for groceries and everyday essentials, raised a $250 million round at an $8.5 billion valuation, according to Bloomberg. The deal was co-led by Eldridge Industries and Valor Equity Partners, with Baillie Gifford, Robinhood, and Equalis Capital also participating. More here.

Harbinger, a three-year-old Los Angeles startup that builds medium-duty electric truck chassis, raised a $160 million Series C round. The round was co-led by FedEx, Capricorn’s Technology Impact Fund, and THOR Industries, with Ridgeline as well as previous investors Tiger Global, Leitmotif, Maniv Mobility, Schematic Ventures, Overture Climate, Ironspring Ventures, ArcTern Ventures, Litquidity Ventures, and The Coca-Cola System Sustainability Fund also joining in. The company has raised a total of $358 million. TechCrunch has more here.

Parallel Web Systems, a two-year-old Palo Alto startup that builds web search infrastructure for AI agents, raised a $100 million Series A round at a $740 million post-money valuation. The round was co-led by Kleiner Perkins and Index Ventures, with Spark Capital as well as previous investors Khosla Ventures, First Round Capital, and Terrain also pitching in. SiliconANGLE has more here.

Zilch, an eight-year-old London startup that offers buy-now-pay-later and other consumer credit services, raised a $177 million round at a flat valuation of $2 billion. The deal was co-led by KKCG and BNF Capital, with Deutsche Bank also participating. Bloomberg has more here.

Agency, a two-year-old Boston startup that develops AI agents to help companies manage customer relationships by analyzing communications and support data, raised a $20 million Series A round led by Menlo Ventures, with Sequoia, Felicis, Snowflake Ventures, and Databricks Ventures also opting in. Fortune has more here.

Anzen, a five-year-old San Francisco startup that provides a platform to submit, quote, and bind commercial insurance, raised a $16 million round led by Madrona, with Sandbox Industries, Andreessen Horowitz, Tokio Marine, and MS&AD Ventures also investing. The company has raised a total of $26 million. Coverager has more here.

Arrived, a six-year-old Seattle startup that lets people buy fractional shares of single-family rental and vacation homes, raised a $27 million round led by Neo, with Forerunner Ventures, Bezos Expeditions, and Core also chiming in. The company has raised a total of $60+ million. GeekWire has more here.

BoomPop, a six-year-old San Francisco startup that provides AI-native event planning software for company offsites and retreats, raised a $25 million round led by Wing VC, with Atomic, Acme, Four Rivers, Thayer Investment Partners, the Fund of Operators Guild, and Gaingels also participating. The company also raised $16 million in debt. More here.

Code Metal, a three-year-old Boston startup that develops AI-driven code translation software that automatically converts and optimizes code across programming languages, raised a $36.5 million Series A round led by Accel, with RTX Ventures, Bosch Ventures, Smith Point Capital, Overmatch VC, AE Ventures, Shield Capital, J2 Ventures, and Fulcrum Venture Group also stepping up. CNBC has more here.

Joy, a five-year-old San Francisco startup that offers an AI-powered parenting app providing on-demand guidance from certified experts, raised a $14 million Series A round co-led by Forerunner Ventures and Raga Partners and including Magnify Ventures, Ingeborg Investments, Rogue Venture Partners, and Next Legacy Partners. Femtech Insider has more here.

Modulight Biotherapeutics, a four-year-old Boston company that develops an optogenetic platform for neurological disorders, raised a $12.2 million seed round co-led by Jibe Ventures and LocalGlobe, with Nexus Neurotech Ventures, RedSeed VC, Secret Chord Ventures, Fresh Fund, Saras Capital, SilverArc Capital, and Sha'ar Mivnim also digging in. The Pharma Letter has more here.

myTomorrows, a 13-year-old Amsterdam company that connects patients, physicians, and biopharma partners to enable access to pre-approval treatments, raised a $29 million round led by Avego. Tech Funding News has more here.

Rebel, a seven-year-old startup based in Charlotte, NC, that helps retailers resell returned and overstock goods via a returns recommerce marketplace, raised a $25 million Series B round led by MarcyPen Capital Partners. More here.

Red Queen Bio, a San Francisco startup that develops AI-driven tools to identify and defend against biological threats, raised a $15 million seed round led by OpenAI, with Cerberus Ventures, Fifty Years, and Halcyon Futures also participating. Reuters has more here.

Sunday, a four-year-old Atlanta startup that builds a restaurant payments and guest engagement platform, raised a $21 million Series B round. DST Global Partners invested in the deal. Restaurant Business has more here.

Adclear, a one-year-old London startup that automates compliance checks for financial marketing materials, raised a $2.7 million seed round led by Outward VC, with additional participation from AFG Partners, Tenity, Haatch, and Force Over Mass Capital. Tech Funding News has more here.

Bindwell, a one-year-old San Francisco startup that uses AI to discover new and safer pesticides, raised a $6 million seed round co-led by General Catalyst and A Capital, with SV Angel, Character Capital, and Paul Graham also pitching in. TechCrunch has more here.

BluePill, a Seattle startup founded this year that aims to help brands simulate and predict consumer behavior using artificial intelligence, raised a $6 million seed round led by Ubiquity Ventures and including Pioneer Square Labs and Flying Fish Partners. GeekWire has more here.

District Cover, a New York startup that provides insurance to small and midsize businesses in urban areas, raised a $6 million round led by IA Capital, with Mosaic, Impact America Fund, a16z, Amwins, Liquid2, and Vantage Risk also taking part. Fintech Finance has more here.

Forgis, a one-year-old Zurich startup that develops edge software to connect and orchestrate factory machines, PLCs, and robots, raised a $4.5 million pre-seed round led by Redalpine. More here.

Milestone, a three-year-old Tel Aviv startup that measures the adoption and ROI of AI coding tools across engineering teams, raised a $10 million seed round co-led by Heavybit and Hanaco Ventures, with Atlassian Ventures also chipping in. TechCrunch has more here.

Sage Haven, a one-year-old San Francisco startup that develops an AI-moderated messaging app for kids to prevent cyberbullying, raised a $2 million pre-seed round co-led by Hustle Fund, LaunchTN, NextBlue, and Gaingels. More here.

Seismic, a two-year-old New York startup that is building an encrypted blockchain designed to permit fintechs to process crypto transactions without exposing customer data, raised a $10 million round led by Andreessen Horowitz, with Polychain, Amber Group, TrueBridge Capital, dao5, and LayerZero Labs also participating. The company has raised a total of $17 million. The Block has more here.

Sensetics, a one-year-old startup based in Princeton, NJ, that is working on technology to enable machines and humans to digitally capture, edit, and transmit touch, raised a $1.75 million pre-seed round co-led by MetaVC Partners and Fitz Gate Ventures, with Blue Sky Capital and AIC Ventures also investing. More here.

Skycore Semiconductors, a five-year-old Copenhagen startup that develops power chips for next-generation AI data centers, raised a $5.8 million seed round led by the Amadeus APEX Technology Fund, with First Momentum, Mätch VC, and Balnord also engaging. The company has raised a total of $8.3 million. Tech Funding News has more here.

Theo Ai, a Palo Alto startup that develops an AI-driven prediction platform for corporate legal teams and general counsels, raised a $3.4 million seed extension led by Run Ventures. The company has raised a total of $10+ million. More here.

Turkish entrepreneurship ecosystem ranked among the top 10 in EMEA. TÜSİAD’s report highlights the ecosystem’s growth in recent years and its potential as a regional entrepreneurship hub for tech companies. Türkiye ranks in the top 10 in the EMEA across several verticals: gaming, fintech and defense. With 3,000+ startups, unicorns, tax advantages, young and digital friendly population, the ecosystem opens its doors to global entrepreneurs and investors who embody the spirit of entrepreneurship. Learn more about the Turkish entrepreneurship ecosystem. 

Salesforce is acquiring Doti AI, a one-year-old Tel Aviv startup that builds AI software to help companies find and apply information from their own systems more efficiently, in a deal estimated at $100 million. CTech has more here.

Grayscale, a 12-year-old company based in Stamford, CT, that manages cryptocurrency investment products, filed to go public after reporting $319 million in revenue for the first nine months of 2025. Bloomberg has more here.

Jack Dorsey, who shut down Vine while CEO of Twitter, is backing diVine, a nonprofit-funded revival that restores over 100,000 archived Vine clips and lets users post new human-verified videos on an open, decentralized network. TechCrunch has more here.

Red Bull Racing's new CEO, Laurent Mekies, tells Connie a password manager (among other things) is giving the F1 team a competitive edge. TechCrunch has more here.

Blue Origin successfully landed its New Glenn rocket booster on a drone ship and launched twin NASA spacecraft to Mars, marking a major milestone that could position Jeff Bezos’s company to challenge SpaceX’s dominance in orbital launches. TechCrunch has more here.

The Boring Company, Elon Musk’s Las Vegas tunneling venture, is under scrutiny after firefighters and employees suffered chemical burns from materials used in its tunnels, prompting an OSHA probe and allegations of political interference. TechCrunch has more here.

Apple’s knitted iPhone Pocket made in collaboration with Japanese designer Issey Miyake is being mocked online as “$230 for a cut up sock” while others come to its defense.

When two attendees at a Jonas Brothers concert spied a fellow concertgoer scrolling through a resume for a telecom worker named Scott Kelly, they posted a video of the odd moment, never suspecting that they would transform Kelly into a viral sensation.

Valve just unveiled the Steam Machine, a plug-and-play console that brings PC gaming to living rooms through its vast Steam library, signaling a fresh challenge to Sony and Microsoft’s console dominance.

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