Thinking Machines Lands a Huge Deal with Nvidia

Top News

Thinking Machines, the one-year-old San Francisco startup founded by former OpenAI CTO Mira Murati, has struck a multiyear chip supply partnership with Nvidia worth tens of billions of dollars and secured another significant investment from the chipmaker. Financial Times has more here.

A former software engineer at Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency allegedly copied two tightly restricted Social Security Administration databases containing records for more than 500 million Americans onto a thumb drive and told colleagues he planned to use the data at a new job. TechCrunch has more here.

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This SpaceX Veteran Says the Next Big Thing in Space Is Satellites That Return to Earth

By Tim Fernholz

The reusable rocket has transformed the space industry in the last decade, and a new startup led by a SpaceX veteran wants to do the same for satellites.

Brian Taylor, who helped build satellites for networks like SpaceX’s Starlink and Amazon’s Leo, founded Lux Aeterna in December 2024 to develop satellite structures with a built-in heat shield that will allow them to return to Earth with their payloads intact.

The company, which came out of stealth last year, announced a new $10 million seed round Tuesday morning led by Konvoy, with participation from Decisive Point, Cubit Capital, Wave Function, Space Capital, Dynamo Ventures, and Channel 39. The company declined to disclose its valuation.

The capital will support the design and construction of Lux Aeterna’s Delphi spacecraft, which has a confirmed spot on a SpaceX rocket expected to launch in the first quarter of 2027. That mission will prove out Lux’s technology by offering customers a chance to test hosted payloads and materials that will then be returned to Earth at Australia’s Koonibba Test Range through a partnership with the aerospace company Southern Launch.

Bringing anything back from space requires diving back into Earth’s atmosphere at incredibly high speeds, which generates extreme heat. Spacecraft that want to survive the journey must be covered in materials that protect them from that heat, adding extra weight. Because that weight makes getting to space on a rocket more expensive, most spacecraft aren’t designed for a return journey.

That calculus typically limits reentry to vehicles that carry humans, like the Space Shuttle (which saw one vehicle lost due to the extreme environment of reentry) or SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft. SpaceX’s repeated attempts to land its massive Starship rocket have made that challenge vivid for anyone who’s watched them on YouTube.

Massive Fundings

AMI Labs, a Paris startup founded this year by Yann LeCun that creates AI world models designed to enable machines to understand the physical world, raised a $1.3 billion round at a $3.5 billion pre-money valuation. Investors included Cathay Innovation, Greycroft, Hiro Capital, HV Capital, Bezos Expeditions, Tim and Rosemary Berners-Lee, Jim Breyer, Mark Cuban, and Eric Schmidt. TechCrunch has more here.

Armadin, a one-year-old Menlo Park startup co-founded by Mandiant founder Kevin Mandia that uses AI-powered red teaming techniques to find and exploit security weaknesses, raised a $190 million seed round led by Accel, with additional support from GV, Kleiner Perkins, Menlo Ventures, and In-Q-Tel as well as previous investors 8VC and Ballistic Ventures. TechCrunch has more here.

Eridu, a three-year-old startup based in Saratoga, CA, that builds networking chips and systems designed for AI data centers, raised a $200 million Series A round co-led by Socratic Partners, John Doerr, Matter Venture Partners, Hudson River Trading, and Capricorn Investment Group, with SBVA, MediaTek, Bosch Ventures, TDK Ventures, Eclipse, and VentureTech Alliance also anteing up. The company has raised a total of $230 million. TechCrunch has more here.

Jazz, a one-year-old Tel Aviv startup that is building a data loss prevention platform that analyzes how organizational data moves and identifies potential data leak risks, raised a $61 million seed round. Glilot Capital Partners and Team8 were the co-leads, with Ten Eleven Ventures and Merlin Ventures also investing. The company has raised a total of $61 million. CTech has more here.

Juicebox, a two-year-old San Francisco startup whose AI recruiting platform is designed to identify and reach job candidates before they apply, raised an $80 million Series B round at an $850 million valuation. The investment was led by DST Global, with Sequoia, Coatue, Y Combinator, NFDG, and Verified Capital also contributing. More here.

Legora, a three-year-old Stockholm startup whose AI platform helps lawyers research, review, draft, and advise on legal matters, raised a $550 million Series D round at a $5.55 billion post-money valuation. The deal was led by Accel, with Alkeon Capital, Bain Capital, Firstmark Capital, Menlo Ventures, Salesforce Ventures, Sands Capital, and Starwood Capital as well as previous investors Benchmark, Bessemer, General Catalyst, ICONIQ, Redpoint Ventures, and Y Combinator also piling on. TechCrunch has more here.

Nexthop AI, a two-year-old Santa Clara startup that provides networking hardware and software for AI and cloud data centers, raised a $500 million Series B round at a $4.2 billion post-money valuation. The deal was led by Lightspeed Venture Partners, with Andreessen Horowitz, Altimeter, and existing investors also participating. More here.

Nitra, a four-year-old New York startup that embeds AI agents into healthcare practice operations to automate financial, commerce, inventory, and patient management workflows, raised a $50 million Series B round. Investors included Actions Capital, AppWorks, Comma Capital, Dunamu & Partners, Era Funds, NEA, Pantera Capital, Sazze Partners, AAF, Gaingels, Hyphen Capital, K8, Mana Ventures, Necessary Ventures, PIDC/Uni-President, Purestone Silks, SignalRank, Simu Liu/Markham Valley, and Soma Capital. The company has raised a total of $90 million in equity. PYMNTS has more here.

Rhoda AI, a two-year-old startup based in San Jose, CA, that trains industrial robots using AI models built from publicly available internet videos, raised a $450 million round at a $1.7 billion post-money valuation. The deal was led by Premji Invest, with Khosla Ventures, Temasek Holdings, and John Doerr also pitching in. Bloomberg has more here.

Slide, a three-year-old startup based in Norwalk, CT, that provides business continuity and disaster recovery software for managed service providers, raised a $70 million Series B round led by General Catalyst, with Base10, Outsiders Fund, futurepresent, Vine Ventures, Glynn Capital Management, Benchstrength, Top Down Ventures, and Connecticut Innovations also taking stakes. The company has raised a total of $95 million. CRN has more here.

Uzum, a four-year-old Uzbekistan startup that operates an e-commerce marketplace and provides digital banking and fintech services, raised an $81.5 million round at a $2.3 billion post-money valuation. The deal was led by sovereign wealth funds from Oman, with previous investors Tencent, VR Capital Group, and FinSight Ventures also taking part. It also secured $50 million in debt. TechCrunch has more here.

Vitestro, a nine-year-old Dutch startup that provides an autonomous robotic system that performs diagnostic blood draws in clinical settings, raised a $70 million Series B round. Investors included Labcorp Venture Fund, Mayo Clinic, Sutter Health, InterVest, MGFO, PGGM, Puma Venture Capital, and ROM Utrecht as well as prior backers Invest-NL, EIC Fund, Fred Moll, NYBC Ventures, and Sonder Capital also pitching in. More here.

Big-But-Not-Crazy-Big Fundings

Amigo AI, a two-year-old New York startup that builds AI agents that interact directly with patients across healthcare workflows including intake, triage, care navigation, and support, raised an $11 million Series A round led by Madrona, with Optum Ventures also anteing up. The company has raised a total of $17 million. Pulse 2.0 has more here.

Avvoka, a 10-year-old London company whose AI-powered drafting infrastructure converts legal documents into structured templates for law firms, raised an $18.7 million round led by Valhalla Ventures. Tech.eu has more here.

Dify, a three-year-old startup based in Sunnyvale, CA, that is developing an open-source platform for building, deploying, and operating AI applications and agentic workflows, raised a $30 million pre-Series A round at a $180 million valuation. The deal was led by HSG, with GL Ventures, Alt-Alpha Capital, 5Y Capital, Mizuho Leaguer Investment, and NYX Ventures also engaging. More here.

Escape, a five-year-old Paris startup that uses AI agents to simulate attacker behavior and identify security vulnerabilities in live applications, raised an $18 million Series A round led by Balderton Capital, with Uncorrelated Ventures as well as previous investors IRIS and Y Combinator also stepping up. SiliconANGLE has more here.

Outpost, a four-year-old Austin startup that provides infrastructure that manages payments, tax compliance, and regulatory obligations for cross-border commerce, raised a $17.5 million Series A round led by Ribbit, with previous investor Better Tomorrow Ventures also digging in. EU-Startups has more here.

PactFi, a five-year-old New York startup that is building a secure platform for executing and servicing private credit transactions and managing workflows across counterparties, raised a $25 million Series A round led by 7Ridge and including Vestigo Ventures. More here.

Qevlar AI, a three-year-old Paris startup that uses AI to automate security alert investigations in security operations centers, raised a $30 million round co-led by Partech and Forgepoint Capital International, with EQT Ventures also chipping in. Tech Funding News has more here.

Saltz, a four-year-old Vilnius startup that connects professional kitchens directly with verified food suppliers through a digital marketplace, raised a $23.3 million Series A round. Investors included EBRD, Inovo, Lifeline Ventures, and Change Ventures. EU-Startups has more here.

Sandbar, a three-year-old New York startup that makes a smart ring that records voice notes and connects to an AI assistant, raised