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Nvidia blew past Wall Street expectations with third-quarter revenue of $57 billion and net income of $32 billion, and its sales forecast of $65 billion for next quarter signaled that AI demand may still be accelerating. TechCrunch has more here.

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By Julie Bort

If you want insight into just how worried VCs (and Silicon Valley, generally) are over legal challenges to AI training on copyrighted material, look no further than AI music site Suno. 

Suno, which allows anyone to create AI-generated songs through prompts, announced on Wednesday that it has raised a $250 million Series C round at a $2.45 billion post-money valuation. The round was led by Menlo Ventures with participation from Nvidia’s venture arm NVentures, as well as Hallwood Media, Lightspeed, and Matrix. 

The company offers consumer monthly subscriptions (a free tier plus $8 or $24 per month plans) and launched a version of Suno for commercial creators in September. It has now hit $200 million in annual revenue, Suno told The Wall Street Journal. 

It previously raised a $125 million Series B in May 2024, led by Lightspeed Venture Partners, Nat Friedman, and Daniel Gross, Matrix, and Founder Collective, at an estimated $500 million valuation. 

But Suno has also been the poster child for AI training lawsuits by human artists. The company is battling a suit by three major record labels — Sony Music Entertainment, Universal Music Group, and Warner Music Group — which alleges Suno trained on copyrighted materials scraped off the Internet without permission.  

Doppel, a three-year-old San Francisco startup that provides social engineering defense software, raised a $70 million Series C round at a $600+ million post-money valuation. The deal was led by Bessemer Venture Partners, with NTT DOCOMO Ventures and Aurum Partners as well as previous investors Andreessen Horowitz, South Park Commons, Script Capital, 9Yards Capital, Sozo Ventures, and Strategic Cyber Ventures also stepping up. The company has raised a total of $124 million. More here.

Federato, a six-year-old San Francisco company that has built an AI-native insurance software platform, raised a $100 million Series D round led by Goldman Sachs Alternatives, with additional participation from Emergence Capital, Caffeinated Capital, StepStone Group, and Pear VC. The company has raised a total of $180+ million. More here.

Function Health, a three-year-old Austin startup that provides regular lab testing to help people track their health, raised a $298 million Series B round at a $2.5 billion valuation. The round was led by Redpoint Ventures, with Andreessen Horowitz, Aglaé Ventures, Alumni Ventures, Battery Ventures, and NFDG also anteing up. The company has raised a total of $350 million. TechCrunch has more here.

Guardio, a seven-year-old Tel Aviv startups that helps detect malicious code and phishing threats spawned by AI tools, raised an $80 million round led by ION Crossover Partners, with previous investors Union Tech Ventures, Vintage Investment Partners, and Emerge also engaging. TechCrunch has more here.

Kraken, a 14-year-old company based in Cheyenne, WY, that operates a major crypto exchange, raised a $200 million round at a $20+ billion valuation. Citadel Securities was the deal lead. The company has raised a total of $800 million and also announced today that it has confidentially filed to go public. (See the Going Public section below.) Fortune has more here.

Luma AI, a four-year-old Palo Alto startup that develops multimodal world models, raised a $900 million round at a $4+ billion valuation. Humain was the deal lead, with AMD’s venture arm as well as previous investors Andreessen Horowitz, Amplify Partners, and Matrix Partners also investing. CNBC has more here.

Nanoramic, a 17-year-old Boston company that develops and commercializes battery technology for higher-density, lower-cost energy storage, raised a $54 million round co-led by General Motors Ventures and Catalus Capital, with PEP Capital, Samsung Ventures, Top Material, ITOCHU Corporation, Fortistar Capital, and WindSail Capital Group also contributing. More here.

Numeric, a five-year-old San Francisco startup that has developed an AI accounting automation platform, raised a $51 million Series B round led by IVP, with Menlo Ventures, Founders Fund, Alkeon, 8VC, Socii Capital, Access Industries, Friends and Family Capital, Long Journey Ventures, and Fifth Down also piling on. The company has raised a total of $89 million. More here.

RapidSOS, a 14-year-old New York company that provides real-time emergency data to public safety agencies from connected devices, raised a $100 million round led by Apax Digital Funds. The company has raised a total of $450+ million. More here.

Ursa Major, an 11-year-old company based in Berthoud, CO, that develops solid rocket motors and hypersonic propulsion systems, raised a $100 million round at a $600 million post-money valuation. Eclipse led the investment, with Woodline Partners, Principia Growth, XN, and Alsop Louie Partners also taking part. Bloomberg has more here.

Automat, a three-year-old San Francisco startup that automates manual business processes from user-provided workflow demonstrations, raised a $15.5 million Series A round led by Felicis, with Initialized, Khosla Ventures, Y Combinator, K5 Global, and Input Capital also participating. The company has raised a total of $19.25 million. More here.

Avanzanite, a five-year-old Amsterdam startup that commercializes rare disease medicines, raised a $34.6 million Series A round. MVM Partners was the deal lead. More here.

Bedrock Data, a four-year-old Menlo Park startup that provides data-centric security and governance for enterprise data across cloud and AI environments, raised a $25 million Series A round led by Greylock Partners, with Mangusta Capital, Mantis Venture Capital, and Pier 88 Investment Partners also chiming in. More here.

Biocentis, a three-year-old London and Milan company that uses genome engineering to develop insects with fertility-reducing traits for safer, targeted population control, raised a $13 million seed round led by The Grantham Foundation and Algebris Investments. The round included Neurone, Corbites, Novaterra, and several entrepreneurs, with an additional $6 million award from Wellcome also contributing to the $19 million total. Axios has more here.

Datum, a two-year-old New York startup that provides distributed internet infrastructure tools for cloud and AI builders, raised a $13.6 million seed round led by Amplify, with CRV, Encoded, ex/ante, Step Function, and Vine also stepping up. More here.

Deblock, a four-year-old French startup that provides a fully on-chain banking service combining a regulated euro account with a self-custodied crypto wallet, raised a $32.3 million Series A round led by Speedinvest, with CommerzVentures, Latitude, 20VC, Headline, Chalfen Ventures, and Kraken Ventures also investing. Tech Funding News has more here.

Flocean, an Oslo startup that develops subsea desalination systems using deep-ocean pressure to produce low-carbon freshwater, raised a $22.5 million Series A extension round led by Xylem, with Burnt Island Ventures, Freebird Capital, Katapult Ocean, Nysnø Climate Investments, Ari Emanuel, Orion, Rypples, and the Water Unite Impact Fund also digging in. More here.

GetVocal, a three-year-old Paris startup that develops AI agents for businesses to use in customer support, raised a $26 million Series A round led by Creandum, with Speedinvest and Elaia also pitching in. The company has raised a total of $30 million. Tech.eu has more here.

Method Security, a two-year-old New York startup that builds autonomous cyber systems for security teams, raised a total of $26 million in seed and Series A funding. The round was co-led by Andreessen Horowitz and General Catalyst, with Blackstone Innovations Investments, Crossbeam Ventures, NFDG, Forward Deployed Ventures, Pax Ventures, WndrCo, and Aaron Levie also stepping up. More here.

Modern Life, a five-year-old New York startup that provides AI tools for life insurance advisers, raised a $20 million Series A round led by Thrive Capital, with New York Life Ventures, Northwestern Mutual, and Allegis also joining in. The company has raised a total of $35 million. SiliconANGLE has more here.

Onepot, a two-year-old South San Francisco startup that helps biotech and pharma companies synthesize small molecules for drug discovery, raised a $13 million seed round led by Fifty Years and including Khosla Ventures, and Speedinvest. TechCrunch has more here.

OpenHands, a one-year-old Boston startup that is developing an open platform for autonomous cloud coding agents, raised an $18.8 million Series A round led by Madrona, with support from Menlo Ventures, Obvious Ventures, Fujitsu Ventures, and Alumni Ventures. CityBiz has more here.

TMT ID, a nine-year-old London startup that provides age and identity verification using mobile network data, raised a $39.2 million round led by BGF. More here.

TULU, a five-year-old New York startup that lets residents in multifamily buildings rent household appliances, lifestyle products, and essentials from smart self-service units, raised a $17 million Series A extension round co-led by GreenSoil PropTech Ventures, Bosch Ventures, and New Era Capital Partners and including Regeneration.VC, Good Company, Aviv Growth Ventures, and i3 Partners. CTech has more here.

VahatiCor, a five-year-old startup based in Santa Clara, CA, that is working on a coronary sinus device to improve myocardial perfusion and relieve angina in patients with coronary microvascular dysfunction, raised a $23 million Series B round led by S3 Ventures, with Intuitive Ventures and an unnamed strategic investor also engaging. More here.

Xenia, a five-year-old Chicago startup that provides software that helps multi-unit businesses manage daily operations and compliance tasks, raised a $12 million Series A round led by PSG. Built In has more here.

Asseta AI, a three-year-old New York startup that provides accounting software for family offices, raised a $4.2 million seed round co-led by Nyca Partners and Motive Partners. More here.

Barker, a three-year-old New York startup that provides insurer-backed valuations for illiquid assets, raised a $3.5 million seed round led by Walkabout VC. Citybiz has more here.

Big Rentals, a three-year-old Los Angeles startup that provides rental-management software for independent equipment owners, raised a $2.8 million seed round led by SNAK Venture Partners, with Ironspring Ventures, EquipmentShare, Forum Ventures, LAUNCH Fund, and NuFund Venture Group also taking part. More here.

Cavela, a two-year-old San Francisco startup that helps brands automate supplier sourcing, raised a $6.6 million seed round co-led by XYZ Venture Capital and Susa Ventures, with Crossover Capital also contributing. TechCrunch has more here.

Chromologics, a nine-year-old Copenhagen startup that develops fermentation-derived natural food colours, raised an $8.1 million round. Investors included Novo Holdings, EIFO, Döhler Ventures, Collateral Good Ventures, and Synergetic. The company has raised a total of $23 million. More here.

Emm, a six-year-old London startup that has built a smart menstrual cup that uses onboard sensors to measure flow volume and track cycle metrics, raised a $9 million seed round led by Lunar Ventures, with the Labcorp Venture Fund, Tiny VC, BlueLion Global, and Alumni Ventures also anteing up. TechCrunch has more here.

FamilyWell Health, a four-year-old Boston startup that provides virtual mental health care for women, raised an $8 million Series A round. New Markets Venture Partners was the deal lead, with .406 Ventures, GreyMatter Capital, The Alix Foundation, The Donna Fund, and The Lee Foundation also opting in. Behavioral Health Business has more here.

Lumia, a five-year-old Boston startup that develops smart earrings that measure real-time blood flow to the head, raised a $7 million seed round. Investors included J2 Ventures and BonAngels Venture Partners. Tech Funding News has more here.

Sunday, a one-year-old startup based in Mountain View, CA, that develops personal home robots, announced that it raised a $35 million round this past December. The deal was co-led by Benchmark and Conviction. Wired has more here.

Voltrac, a one-year-old startup based in Valencia, Spain, that builds autonomous electric tractors for agricultural and logistics use, raised an $8.1 million seed round led by Extantia and including FoodLabs, Antler, PUSH, and Prototype Capital. Tech Funding News has more here.

WellBeam, a seven-year-old startup based in Redwood City, CA, that connects acute and post-acute providers through EMR-integrated interoperability tools, raised a $10 million Series A round led by Wittington Ventures, with F-Prime, Advocate Health, and Oncology Ventures also anteing up. More here.

Private capital is facing its most complex market in over a decade. IPO windows are unpredictable, M&A selective, and valuations under pressure as LPs demand liquidity and fundraising tightens.  According to Affinity’s 2026 Predictions Survey, 54% of investors cite proving fund value as their top challenge, while 67% expect more deals despite exit uncertainty. 

Join Northwestern Mutual, Armira, and Affinity to explore how firms are adapting strategies to thrive in 2026. 

Pipedream, a San Francisco–based six-year-old company that provides an integration platform for building and deploying AI agents and connecting them to more than 3,000 business applications, is being acquired by Workday for an undisclosed sum. More here.

Palo Alto Networks is acquiring Chronosphere, a six-year-old New York startup that provides large-scale observability software for modern cloud and AI workloads. Terms were not disclosed. More here.

Spotify has acquired WhoSampled, a 17-year-old London company that maintains a community-run database of more than one million songs and hundreds of thousands of samples, covers, and remixes. The parties did not disclose the purchase price. TechCrunch has more here.

Kraken, a 14-year-old company based in Cheyenne, WY, that runs a major crypto exchange, confidentially filed for a U.S. IPO as digital asset firms move to list ahead of potential regulatory uncertainty tied to the 2026 midterms. Reuters has more here.

Yann LeCun is leaving Meta to start a new company built around his world-model vision for AI, a departure that can’t help but raise questions about rifts inside Meta’s AI ranks. Bloomberg has more here.

In a move that surprised no one, former Harvard president and Treasury Secretary Larry Summers resigned today from OpenAI’s board. TechCrunch has more here.

New studies show that 87 of the 100 top Chinese A.I. researchers working in the U.S. in 2019 are still at American labs, highlighting how much of the country’s A.I. progress depends on Chinese talent despite rising political backlash. The New York Times has more here.

The European Commission today proposed easing GDPR data-sharing limits and delaying strict AI Act rules until 2027, a move that marks the EU’s sharpest retreat yet from its aggressive tech-regulation stance. The Verge has more here.

TikTok is rolling out a new control that lets users dial up or down the amount of AI-generated content in their feeds. TechCrunch has more here.

A wave of ultra-pricey private wellness clubs, some requiring referrals or committee approval, is turning cold plunges, biometric testing, and sober socializing into the new baseline for the self-optimization set.

Ach du lieber! The turbo version of Porsche’s new 2026 Cayenne Electric boasts 1,139 horsepower (the most powerful production car Porsche has ever built) and hits zero-to-60 in just 2.4 seconds.

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