Greetings from beautiful Toronto, where I attended the Elevate startup event and sat down with Chris Lehane, public policy chief at OpenAI (and famous fixer and political operative before that). Lehane is very good at navigating difficult trade-offs — a job OpenAI is not making easier right now by leaning into a product that's bringing back dead celebrities, will require vast resources to power, and overshadows all talk of the company's interest in democratizing AI. Robin Williams' daughter Zelda summed up how many are feeling yesterday, telling those creating deepfakes of her father, "You're not making art. You're making disgusting, over-processed hotdogs out of the lives of human beings . . . Gross." It was an all-too-short conversation with Lehane, but we'll have more from that discussion soon.

In the meantime, Disrupt is officially just two weeks away, featuring Vinod Khosla, Will.i.am, Roelof Botha, Takedra Mawakana, Cluely's Roy Lee, Baiju Bhatt, Phoebe Gates, Anatoly Yakovenko, [takes breath] Kevin Scott of Microsoft, Elizabeth Stone of Netflix, and so many other people, including everyone speaking at (and attending) the StrictlyVC event inside Disrupt. Don't miss out; grab your (real) tickets now. — CL

Intercontinental Exchange, the $90 billion parent of the NYSE, is investing up to $2 billion in Polymarket at an $8 billion valuation, a massive vote of confidence that could help the once-banned prediction market stage a U.S. comeback under the Trump administration. The Wall Street Journal has more here.

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By Tim De Chant

The Department of Energy is looking to cut billions more in federal funding, and many promising startups as well as automakers Ford, General Motors, and Stellantis could be affected by the Trump administration’s decision.

The proposed cuts would cancel more than $500 million of contracts awarded to more than a dozen startups, according to a TechCrunch analysis of an internal document that has not become public yet. All of the proposed cuts are grants that had been awarded under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. The proposed cancellations, many of which have not been reported before, come on top of more than $7.5 billion in contracts the Trump administration said it would cut last week.

Startups might not be the only losers. Other companies slated to lose grants worth hundreds of millions of dollars include Daimler Trucks North America, Ford, General Motors, Harley-Davidson, Mercedes-Benz Vans, Stellantis, and Volvo Technology of America, according to the document viewed by TechCrunch. Sources confirmed with TechCrunch these are proposed cuts.

General Motors could lose at least $500 million in grant money issued from a federal Domestic Manufacturing Conversion Grant program. The money was going to be used to retool the Lansing Grand River Assembly Plant in Michigan. The automaker announced in July 2024 it planned to produce electrified vehicles, including hybrids, at the plant.

Some of the awards are significant and, if cut, will undoubtedly affect the startups’ operations. Several were included in a list of proposed cuts that leaked last week, but many are new and have yet to be announced. TechCrunch has reached out to several of the companies and will update this article if they reply.

EvenUp, a six-year-old San Francisco startup that uses AI to help personal injury law firms automate case preparation and improve settlements, raised a $150 million Series E round at a $2+ billion post-money valuation. The deal was led by Bessemer Venture Partners, with REV, B Capital, SignalFire, Adams Street, Bain Capital, HarbourVest, Lightspeed, and Broadlight Capital also stepping up. The company has raised a total of $385 million. More here.

Meanwhile, a four-year-old startup based in Hamilton, Bermuda, that offers bitcoin-denominated life insurance and savings products, raised an $82 million round co-led by Bain Capital Crypto and Haun Ventures, with Pantera Capital, Apollo, Northwestern Mutual Future Ventures, and Stillmark also engaging. CoinDesk has more here.

NanoPhoria Biosciences, a three-year-old Milan startup that develops a lung-to-heart drug delivery platform for heart failure, raised an $97.4 million Series A round co-led by XGEN Venture, Sofinnova Partners, and CDP Venture Capital, with Panakès Partners also investing. More here.

Affinia Therapeutics, a seven-year-old startup based in Waltham, MA, that is developing gene therapies for cardiovascular and neurological diseases, raised a $40 million Series C round led by New Enterprise Associates, with Eli Lilly, Alexandria Venture Investments, Atlas Venture, Avidity Partners, F-Prime, GV, Mass General Brigham Ventures, and Perceptive Advisors also piling on. CityBiz has more here.

Attuned Intelligence, a startup founded this year based in Orlando, FL, that uses supervised AI to handle hospital and health system call-center operations, raised a $13 million seed round co-led by Radical Ventures and Threshold Ventures. More here.

Energy Robotics, a seven-year-old German startup that provides AI software for autonomous industrial inspections, raised a $13.5 million Series A round co-led by Blue Bear Capital and Climate Investment, with Futury Capital, Hessen Capital, Kensho VC, and TADTech also taking part. The Robot Report has more here.

FurtherAI, a two-year-old San Francisco startup that uses AI to automate insurance workflows across underwriting, claims, and compliance, raised a $25 million Series A round led by Andreessen Horowitz, with Nexus Venture Partners, Y Combinator, Xceedance, and BTV also anteing up. The company has raised a total of $30 million. Forbes has more here.

OpenSolar, an eight-year-old Sydney startup that provides software for solar installers, raised a $13.1 million round. Investors included Titanium Ventures, Google, and 2150 Sustainability Fund. PVTech has more here.

Peer AI, a three-year-old San Francisco startup that uses agentic AI to accelerate regulatory documentation for life sciences companies, raised a $12.1 million pre-seed and seed round co-led by Flare Capital Partners and SignalFire and including Greycroft, Atria, Alumni Ventures, Gaingels, and Mana Ventures. More here.

SwarmFarm Robotics, a fourteen-year-old Australian company that develops autonomous farming robots and software, raised a $19.8 million round led by Edaphon, with Clean Energy Finance Corporation and QIC as well as previous investors Tenacious Ventures, Emmertech, Tribe Global Ventures, Access Capital, and GrainInnovate also contributing. Business New Australia has more here.

Akua, a one-year-old Bogotá startup that provides an AI-powered, cloud-native payments platform for emerging markets, raised an $8.5 million seed round co-led by Flourish Ventures and Cathay Latam, with Atlantico, Honey Island 4UM, Krealo, and Simma Capital also investing. The company has raised a total of $13 million. More here.

AltStore, a six-year-old New York startup that runs one of Europe’s first alternative app marketplaces, raised a $6 million Series A at a $40 million post-money valuation. Pace Capital was the deal lead. TechCrunch has more here.

Bettani Farms, a six-year-old Berkeley startup that makes protein-rich, dairy-free cheeses using a proprietary plant-based casein ingredient called Caseed, raised a $6.5 million Series A round led by S2G Investments, with additional participation from At One Ventures, Gratitude Railroad, Manta Ray Ventures, and Toba Capital. Green Queen Media has more here.

ConCntric, a six-year-old startup based in Greenbrae, CA, that uses AI to streamline preconstruction planning for builders, raised a $10 million Series A round led by 53 Stations, with Argonautic Ventures also chipping in. Tech Funding News has more here.

Hipp Health, a one-year-old San Francisco startup that uses AI to streamline administrative work, clinical documentation, and compliance for behavioral health practices, raised a $6.2 million seed round led by RTP Global, with Swift Ventures, Rackhouse Venture Capital, and Difference Partners also opting in. More here.

HyperSpectral, a three-year-old startup based in Alexandria, VA, that uses AI and spectroscopy to rapidly detect bacterial pathogens, raised a $7 million Series A-2 round co-led by RRE Ventures and Kibo Ventures, with Avalanche Thinking also participating. More here.

Terra Robotics, a six-year-old Greek startup that makes laser weeding robots for farms, raised a $2.1 million round led by Uni.Fund. More here.

Tycho AI, a three-year-old Boston startup that develops navigation and AI systems for unmanned vehicles, raised a $10 million Series A round led by FirstMark, with Pillar VC also joining in. Drone Life has 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.

Crystal Venture Partners, a two-year-old New York City VC firm that backs early-stage founders using AI to modernize insurance and other complex regulated industries, raised its first fund in the amount of $33 million. Fintech FInance News has more here.

BillionToOne, a seven-year-old Menlo Park, CA, diagnostics startup that develops single-molecule genetic testing technology for prenatal and cancer applications, filed for a U.S. IPO despite the ongoing government shutdown. The company’s backers include Norwest Venture Partners, 500 Global, HOF Capital, Adams Street Partners, and Y Combinator. Bloomberg has more here.

xAI has tapped former Morgan Stanley banker Anthony Armstrong, who advised Elon Musk on the Twitter deal, as its new CFO, filling a key vacancy amid a wave of executive departures across xAI and X. TechCrunch has more here.

Yoni Rechtman has been promoted to Partner at Slow Ventures, where he’ll lead the firm’s efforts in New York. More here.

JPMorgan says debt tied to AI companies has surged to $1.2 trillion, overtaking U.S. banks as the largest segment of the investment-grade market and underscoring how lenders are chasing the same AI boom as equity investors. Bloomberg has more here.

Anthropic is partnering with IBM to embed its models into IBM’s developer software and expand its enterprise reach, marking a major bid to win corporate customers from rivals like OpenAI and Microsoft. The Wall Street Journal has more here.

OpenAI’s reveal of its internal AI tools (including one dubbed DocuGPT, a DocuSign alternative) briefly wiped billions from software stocks as spooked investors misread the demos as competitive threats to firms like Docusign, HubSpot, and Salesforce. Wired has more here.

Tesla has dropped its plan to build 10,000 Optimus humanoid robots this year after running into technical problems with their hands, undercutting Elon Musk’s pitch that the bots could soon eclipse the company’s EV business in value. The Information has more here.

OpenAI’s headline-grabbing deal yesterday to buy billions in AMD GPUs could end up paying for itself under a structure that grants it up to 160 million AMD stock warrants tied to the chipmaker’s soaring share price. TechCrunch has more here.

Good news, “Heat” fanatics: Michael Mann’s “Heat 2,” the long-awaited sequel to his 1995 crime drama starring Al Pacino and Robert De Niro, is finally gaining traction.

Why you’re not a hypocrite, unlike those other hypocrites.

Sardinia!

Cartier just unveiled the first-ever titanium version of its 121-year-old Santos watch, giving the brand’s iconic dress piece a tougher, sportier edge. Yours for $11,500.

AI isn’t just for productivity anymore. It is quickly becoming entertainment. Consumers are beginning to engage with AI in new ways, fueling the rise of AI companions that combine conversation, play, and personality. These companions are creating entirely new forms of interaction and signaling a major shift in how technology will be experienced. Have a portfolio company interested in exploring AI companions? Reach out to Genies here or learn more about their tech stack for AI companions here. 

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