• Xpanceo, a Dubai-based maker of night-vision contact lenses, raised $250m in Series A funding at a $1.35b valuation led by Hong Kong's Opportunity Venture (Asia). axios.link/3GzXX3V • Huspy, a UAE proptech for finding homes and mortgages, raised $59m in Series B funding. Balderton Capital led, joined by Founders Fund, Peak XV Partners, ExBorder Partners, Turmeric Capital, COTU Ventures, BY Ventures, Dara Management, and KE Partners. axios.link/3TuqbjB ⚡ PetroApp, a Saudi provider of fuel management software, raised $50m. Jadwa Investment led, joined by Bunat Ventures. axios.link/45TmtYd ⚡ Tulum Energy, a developer of clean hydrogen for industry, raised $27m in seed funding. TDK Ventures and CDP Venture Capital led, joined by Doral Energy-Tech Ventures, MITO Tech Ventures, and TechEnergy Ventures. axios.link/4ljuvOY • Arago, a German developer of low-power photonic chips, raised $26m in seed funding from Earlybird, Protagonist, Visionaries Tomorrow, Generative IQ, and C4 Ventures. axios.link/4nBRbvn • Ekho, a platform for online vehicle purchases to OEMs and auto dealers, raised $17.3m in seed and Series A funding, per Axios Pro. Backers include Activant Capital, JPMorgan Payments, Winnebago Industries, and YC. axios.link/44khheP • Filics, a German warehouse robotics startup, raised €13.5m from Sandwater, Alven, F-Log Ventures, Amazon Industrial Innovation Fund, Bayern Kapital, Capnamic, and 10x Founders. axios.link/4lEX0q3 • Gradient Labs, a London-based agentic AI startup focused on regulated industries, raised $13m in Series A funding. Redpoint Ventures led, joined by Localglobe, Puzzle Ventures, Liquid 2 Ventures, and Exceptional Capital. axios.link/3GslFPO • Kuru, a trading platform built on the Monad blockchain, raised $11.6m in Series A funding led by Paradigm. axios.link/40DMAih |