Top News

Oh, it is so on. Amid Sam Altman poking fun at Meta's efforts for offering $100 million bonuses to poach OpenAI’s top talent, Meta just nabbed Trapit Bansal, a key OpenAI researcher behind its early reasoning models. TechCrunch has more here.

Meanwhile, Meta CTO Andrew Bosworth dismissed Altman’s $100 million signing bonus claims as overblown during a company all-hands, insisting Meta is successfully pulling top talent from OpenAI and will win by leaning into AI for entertainment rather than productivity. The Verge has more here. 

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This AI-Powered Startup Studio Plans to Launch 100,000 Companies a Year — Really

By Connie Loizos

Henrik Werdelin has spent the last 15 years helping entrepreneurs build big brands like Barkbox through his startup studio Prehype. Now, with his new, New York-based venture Audos, he’s betting that AI can help him scale that process from “tens” of startups a year to “hundreds of thousands” of aspiring business owners.

The timing certainly feels right. Mass layoffs across a variety of industries have left many workers reconsidering their career paths, while AI tools have markedly lowered the barrier to building digital products and services. At the center of that Venn diagram is Werdelin’s latest venture, with its promise to help “everyday entrepreneurs create million dollar AI companies” without requiring technical skills.

Werdelin’s journey from Prehype to Audos reflects the broader transformation happening in entrepreneurship right now. At Prehype, the focus was on working with tech founders to build traditional startups, the kind that might raise millions and aim for billion-dollar exits.

Now, he tells TechCrunch, “What we’re trying to do is take all that knowledge, all the methodology that we’ve created over the years of building all these big companies, and really trying to democratize it.”

The idea is that “everyday entrepreneurs” may sense a shift is afoot but may not be keen to experiment with so-called AI agents or know how to reach customers. Audos is more than happy to help them, supplying these individuals with AI tools to build sophisticated products using natural language, and taking advantage of social media algorithms to find them their niche customers.

Its approach seems to be working. Audos has helped launch “low hundreds” of businesses since its beta launch, with its own customers discovering the platform through Instagram ads asking “Have you ever thought about starting something, but don’t know where to go?

More here. 

Massive Fundings

Centific, a five-year-old Seattle startup based in Redmond, WA, that provides data collection, labeling, and testing services to help large companies train and deploy AI systems more effectively, raised a $60 million Series A round. Granite Asia was the lead investor. GeekWire has more here.

Raphe mPhibr, an eight-year-old Indian startup that builds unmanned aerial vehicles, engines, and control systems used by the Indian military and other defense agencies for surveillance, combat, and logistics, raised a $100 million Series B round. General Catalyst was the deal lead. The company has raised a total of $145 million. TechCrunch has more here.

Big-But-Not-Crazy-Big Fundings

AllSpice, a five-year-old Boston startup that makes collaboration software that helps electrical engineering teams review, manage, and improve hardware designs more efficiently, raised a $15 million Series A round led by Rethink Impact and including L'ATTITUDE Ventures, GingerBread Capital, and DNX Ventures as well as previous investors Root Ventures, Benchstrength, and Flybridge. The company has raised a total of $25 million. More here.

Certify, a four-year-old New York startup that provides software that helps health insurers and healthcare organizations verify and manage the credentials of doctors and other medical providers, raised a $40 million Series B round led by Transformation Capital, with additional participation from SemperVirens as well as previous investors General Catalyst and Upfront Ventures. Modern Healthcare has more here.

Clarify, a one-year-old Seattle startup that provides AI-powered software that automates customer relationship management tasks for sales teams at mid-sized and large businesses, raised a $15 million Series A round co-led by USVP and Gradient, with Madrona, Recall, Ascend, Essence, New Normal Fund, and Fika also stepping up. More here.

Climatiq, a four-year-old Berlin startup whose software helps companies measure and track the carbon emissions of their operations and products, raised an $11.7 million Series A round led by Alstin Capital, with Singular and Cherry Ventures also stepping up. EU-Startups has more here.

DataBahn, a one-year-old Dallas startup whose software helps large companies organize and analyze internal documents to answer complex business questions using AI, raised a $17 million Series A round led by Forgepoint Capital, with S3 Ventures as well as previous investor GTM Capital also engaging. More here.

Kognitos, a five-year-old startup based in San Jose, CA, whose AI software helps companies automate routine business tasks like invoicing, procurement, and onboarding, raised a $25 million Series B round led by Prosperity7, with Khosla Ventures, Wipro Ventures, Engineering Capital, Dentsu Ventures, and Alumni Ventures also taking part. More here.

Mandolin, a one-year-old San Francisco startup that uses AI to match patients with clinical trials and cutting-edge treatments by analyzing medical records and identifying those who meet eligibility criteria, primarily serving hospitals, cancer centers, and pharmaceutical companies, raised a $40 million round. Investors included Greylock, SignalFire, SV Angel, and Maverick. The Wall Street Journal has more here.

Niural, a three-year-old San Francisco startup that offers payroll, compliance, and contractor management software for startups and global businesses hiring across multiple countries, raised a $31 million round led by Marathon Management Partners, with previous investors M13, Inspired Capital, and Newform Capital also participating. More here.

Sibill, a four-year-old Milan startup that provides software that helps small and mid-sized businesses in Italy manage cash flow, invoices, and financial planning, raised a $14 million Series A round led by Creandum, with Keen Venture Partners also pitching in. The company has raised a total of $21.9 million. Tech.eu has more here.

Smaller Fundings

Antler Bio, a five-year-old Dublin startup that provides genetic analysis tools that help dairy farmers monitor the health and productivity of their herds by tracking gene expression in cows, raised a $4.3 million round led by The First Thirty Ventures, with Endgame Capital and Generation-RE also participating. The company has raised a total of $8.5 million. Tech Funding News has more here.

Blank Metal, a Minneapolis startup founded this year that is developing software to help companies monitor, test, and troubleshoot AI applications in real time to ensure they work reliably when moved from pilot projects into daily operations, raised a $3 million seed round. Rally Ventures, Traction Capital, and Pure Play Partners invested in the deal. More here.

Insight Health, a two-year-old Austin startup that provides AI tools that automate administrative tasks like patient intake, follow-up, and insurance verification for medical practices and health systems, announced that it raised a $4.6 million round last year led by Kindred Ventures. Fierce Healthcare has more here.

Jarsy, a one-year-old Palo Alto startup that runs an online platform that lets individuals invest small amounts of money in private companies alongside institutional investors, raised a $5 million pre-seed round led by Breyer Capital, with Karman Ventures also opting in. More here.

Jobright, a two-year-old startup based in Santa Clara, CA, whose AI tool helps job seekers find and apply for roles that match their skills and preferences by automating resume reviews and applications, raised a $3.2 million round led by Translink Capital, with HR Tech Investments also taking part. More here.

Juniper Genomics, a four-year-old Toronto startup that offers genetic testing services to fertility clinics to help identify viable embryos for IVF patients, raised a $4.6 million seed round led by Company Ventures and including Innospark Ventures, MBX Capital, Amboy Street Ventures, Dria Ventures, and Blue Collective. Femtech World has more here.

Qunnect, an eight-year-old New York startup that builds hardware that enables quantum computers and networks to securely transmit data over long distances, raised a $10 million Series A extension round. Airbus Ventures led the financing, with Cisco Investments and Quantonation also anteing up. The Quantum Insider has more here.

Sitch, a one-year-old New York startup whose app uses AI and human input to help people find romantic partners through group-based matchmaking, raised a $5 million seed round led by M13, with previous investor Andreessen Horowitz also chiming in. TechCrunch has more here.

Waypoint AI, a one-year-old Berkeley startup that builds navigation software that helps small robots move around indoor spaces like warehouses and retail stores without needing GPS, raised a $3.1 million pre-seed round co-led by 42Cap and Dreamcraft Ventures, with Berkeley SkyDeck Fund and Lumiere AI Ventures also investing. More here.

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New Funds

Sorenson Capital, a 21-year-old Salt Lake City and Palo Alto venture firm, has raised a $150 million third fund to double down on early-stage enterprise software and cybersecurity bets. Fortune has more here. 

Galaxy Digital, a newly formed New York venture firm that is a division of Galaxy Asset Management, just closed its debut fund with over $175 million to back early-stage startups working on blockchain-based financial tools, payments tech, and token infrastructure. More here. 

Exits

Meta is reportedly in talks to acquire PlayAI, a five-year-old Palo Alto startup that builds AI tools for real-time voice interaction in assistants and smart devices. Bloomberg has more here. 

People

Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff says AI is already handling 30-50% of key company functions like engineering and support, a stat he’s using to argue that Salesforce is ahead of the curve in using AI to cut heads. Bloomberg has more here. 

Uber is reportedly in talks to help ousted founder Travis Kalanick buy Pony.ai’s U.S. arm, a move that would put him back in the self-driving race as Uber scrambles to counter Waymo and Tesla’s robotaxi momentum. The New York Times has more here. 

"Big Balls" is back. While Edward Coristine is no longer working at DOGE, he has not left government service: he is now a special government employee with the Social Security Administration. Wired has more here. 

Essential Reads

The Senate parliamentarian has stated that President Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill cannot place a 10-year moratorium on states regulating AI unless the funding restrictions are tied to a new $500 million AI infrastructure fund. Politico has more here. 

OpenAI is warning that Zhipu AI, a six-year-old Chinese startup with deep ties to Beijing and over $1.4 billion in state support, is quietly exporting its infrastructure to foreign governments and could end up locking Chinese AI standards into emerging markets before the West can catch up. CNBC has more here. 

Tesla’s bare-bones robotaxi launch in Austin is drawing more attention to Alphabet’s Waymo, which now operates in five cities with over 1,500 fully autonomous vehicles and may be worth up to $150 billion. The Wall Street Journal has more here.

Battery recycling company Redwood Materials announced Thursday that it's entering the energy storage business, leveraging thousands of collected EV batteries to provide power to customers. The company said it recovers more than 70% (!) of all used battery packs in North America. TechCrunch has the scoop here.

Detours

Fueled in part by the red-hot AI market, San Francisco homebuyers have purchased more $20+ million homes in the past year than ever before, and their lavish renovations suggest they’re not leaving anytime soon.

The Wall Street Journal digs into Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sánchez’s mega-wedding this weekend in Venice. 

The New Yorker on why Gen Z is so chaste.

Retail Therapy

Chedington Court, a 19th-century Jacobean Revival estate in Dorset, England, just hit the market for $13.5 million, offering 58 acres, silk-lined bedrooms, a solar-assisted marble steam room, and what might be the largest Japanese redwood in the county.

A Mini restomod with a price tag that's none too tiny.

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