SignalPulse:

WHAT’S INSIDE

• Tech Companies to Watch: Lovable, Merge, Babuschkin, AST Space, Tensor

• Big Movers: The Big tech movers, shakers and partnerships this week

• Making Waves: Companies making a buzz in the Tech world

• Open Deals: Startups raising capital this week

• In The Money: Significant raises last week and why they matter

• Exit Watching: Mergers & Acquisitions and IPOs

• The Funding Buzz: VC & PE Activity To Watch

BIG MOVERS

Big tech moves, movers and trends to watch this week

OpenAI — Launched GPT-5, boasting PhD-level expertise and improved reasoning and two open-weight AI reasoning models on Hugging Face. It is in early talks for an employee share sale valuing it at ~$500B pre IPO.

Apple — Announced an additional $100B investment in U.S. manufacturing, building on a previous $500B pledge. This includes a new facility in Houston and operations across 20 states, amid tariff pressures on foreign-made products.

xAI — Testing Grok 4.20, aiming to compete with GPT-5. The update enhances app-building with native multimodal capabilities, directly processing video and audio for better speech understanding. A potential launch is hinted for late August.

Anthropic — Offering Claude AI models to all U.S. government branches for $1/yr to boost federal AI integration including in scientific and health sectors. Also acqui-hired Humanloop's founding team to strengthen its enterprise AI capabilities.

Paramount — David Ellison, Paramount's new CEO, secured a $7.7B, seven-year deal with TKO Group Holdings for UFC broadcasting right, enhancing its streaming platform and CBS offerings, marking a shift from Disney’s pay-per-view model.

Ford — Investing $2B to revamp its Louisville Assembly Plant for affordable EV production, starting with a $30,000 pickup truck. The new "universal production system" reduces costs and complexity, aiming to compete with Chinese manufacturers.

Intel — The Trump administration is considering taking an equity stake in Intel to support its foundry business and expand in Ohio. This move, boosting stock by 7%, aims to secure US semiconductor dominance amid geopolitical tensions.

Teaming Up

Meta — Selected Pimco and Blue Owl Capital to lead a $29B financing for a data center in Louisiana. With Pimco handling $26B in debt and Blue Owl contributing $3B in equity, the project aims to boost Meta's AI capabilities.

IN PARTNERSHIP WITH PACASO

Former Zillow exec targets $1.3T

The top companies target big markets. Like Nvidia growing ~200% in 2024 on AI’s $214B tailwind. That’s why the same VCs behind Uber and Venmo also backed Pacaso. Created by a former Zillow exec, Pacaso’s co-ownership tech transforms a $1.3 trillion market. With $110M+ in gross profit to date, Pacaso just reserved the Nasdaq ticker PCSO.

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[OPEN DEALS] RAISING DOLLARS:

Startups, firms or funds raising capital this week

Pure Cipher - A deep-tech AI Security startup developing technologies to prevent AI data poisoning and compromise, targeting a $1.6T market of Enterprise and already secured DoD clients. Founded by AI & cybersecurity experts, led by a Wharton grad and former Bell Labs exec. Seeking SAFE and series A partners now.

Periodic Labs — Andreessen Horowitz is leading a $200M investment in the AI-driven material science startup, valuing it at $1B. OpenAI is also expected to join the funding round, signaling strong support from major AI players.

Lambda Inc. — This cloud infrastructure company supported by Nvidia is in talks to secure funding, potentially valuing it between $4B and $5B. It plans an IPO by year-end, with bankers already engaged in discussions.

Cerebras — The AI computing systems and wafer-scale chips startup is seeking a $1B funding round led by Fidelity. Based in California, Cerebras plans to go public this year, marking a significant growth phase.

Rivos — The AI chip startup based on RISC-V architecture is seeking $400-$500M in funding at a valuation over $2B. Founded in 2021, Rivos aims to challenge Nvidia with customizable, energy-efficient designs, despite legal challenges from Apple.

MAKING WAVES

Startups, trends and signals to watch in the USA this week

Lovable — The vibe coding startup is on track to reach $1 billion in ARR within the next year. With a current valuation of $1.8B and monthly ARR growth of $8M, it aims for $250M in ARR by year-end.

Palantir — Raised its annual revenue forecast to $4.14B-$4.15B, driven by strong demand for its AI services from businesses and the U.S. government. With shares more than doubling this year, Palantir is expanding hiring to attract top AI talent.

Micron Technology — This memory chip producer has raised its Q4 revenue forecast to $11.2B due to growing AI infrastructure demand, boosting shares by 3%. With plans to invest $30B in the U.S., capitalizing on strong AI-driven pricing power.

Merge Labs — Sam Altman co-founded a brain-computer interface startup to rival Elon Musk's Neuralink. Potentially backed by OpenAI, Merge Labs aims to transform human-device interaction. Valued at $850M.

Babuschkin Ventures — Igor Babuschkin, co-founder of Elon Musk's xAI, has launched an investment firm focused on AI safety research. Following key exits from xAI, Babuschkin aims to support startups in the competitive AI sector.

AST SpaceMobile — Aiming to launch 45 to 60 satellites by 2026, the Texas-based company, backed by $1.5B, seeks to rival SpaceX's Starlink in space-based broadband. AST has successfully tested 5G phone calls from space.

Multiverse Computing — The AI startup has unveiled two compact models designed for IoT and smartphones with its CompactifAI tech compressing models without losing performance. Negotiating integration with major tech firms.

Tensor — Affiliated with Chinese company AutoX, Tensor plans to launch the first consumer-ready autonomous vehicle by 2026. The vehicle will feature extensive sensors as a personal "robocar".

IN THE MONEY

Companies that raised money in the past week and why they matter

Massive Deals

OpenAI — OpenAI secured $8.3B in funding, reaching a $300B valuation in an oversubscribed round backed by Dragoneer, Blackstone, and TPG to support expansion as it negotiates a potential IPO with Microsoft.

Cognition — The San Fran AI coding startup raised a $500M Series C at a $9.8B post-money valuation led by Founders Fund, with participation from several other notable investors.

Cohere — The Toronto enterprise AI startup has reached a $6.8B valuation after raising $500M. Key investors include AMD, Nvidia, and Salesforce. Cohere focuses on security-first enterprise models, setting itself apart from consumer-focused AI.

Celestial AI — The Silicon Valley AI startup closed a $255M Series C1 round to boost its Photonic Fabric for enhanced AI performance and efficiency. New backers include VentureTech Alliance and Samsung Catalyst, joining existing investors Fidelity, BlackRock, and AMD Ventures.

Periodic Labs — Andreessen Horowitz leads a $200M investment in the AI-driven material science startup, valuing it at $1B. OpenAI is also expected to join the funding round, signaling strong support from major AI players.

Decart — The real-time generative AI video startup raised $100M at a $3.1B valuation to enhance R&D, infrastructure, and workforce growth. Their tech reduces video generation costs and has 1M+ users with significant cloud provider contracts.

Large Deals

Titan — The NYC-based IT services company raised $74M led by General Catalyst. It also acquired RFA, a financial sector managed service provider, to boost its augmented AI capabilities and enhance service delivery for modern MSPs.

Appcharge — The Tel Aviv-based direct-to-consumer platform for mobile game publishers raised $58M in a Series B round led by IVP, with participation from Playrix and others. The funding will enhance its platform and products.

XOPS — The San Fran-based autonomous IT company raised $40M led by Activant Capital and FPV Ventures. Enhances enterprise systems for Fortune 500 companies with h operational intelligence, enabling significant cost savings and error reduction.

Citizen Health — The U.S. health tech company secured $30M in Series A funding to develop an AI Advocate for patients with rare diseases. The platform combines AI, community engagement, and health data, with pharma company partnerships.

Topline Pro — The AI-powered platform which automates marketing, sales, and operations for home service businesses raised $27M in Series B funding led by Northzone. It has already facilitated over $655M in booked work.

Smaller Deals

Protege — The AI training data platform company raised $25M in a Series A round led by Footwork. The funding aims to enhance product offerings and expand into new verticals, following a projected 20x growth in 2025.

Jump — The NYC-based sports tech startup, founded by Jordy Leiser, Marc Lore, and Alex Rodriguez, raised $23M in Series A funding. Led by Alexis Ohanian’s Seven Seven Six, Jump offers a platform for ticketing and gameday operations.

Fountain Life — Tony Robbins and Peter Diamandis founded longevity health company raised an $18M Series B to expand its centers focusing on early detection and regenerative therapies. With plans to train other facilities to enhance accessibility.

Evertune — The NYC-based AI marketing platform secured $15M in Series A funding led by Felicis Ventures, with notable angel investors participating. It aids brands to optimize AI presence in B2B software, automotive, and healthcare sectors.

Cache — The San Fran fintech raised a $12.5M Series A led by First Round Capital. Cache democratizes advanced financial instruments, managing over $625M in platform assets and $600M within its Exchange Funds.

Create — The San Fran-based AI startup raised $8.5M led by Bessemer, with participation from Shopify's Tobi Lütke. Founded by former Google leaders, its Anything AI tool is used for developing mobile and web apps by over 500,000 users.

Infinity Loop — The NYC-based AI-native contract intelligence platform raised a $5M Seed led by Glasswing Ventures and TIAA Ventures. Funds will enhance contract mgmt through AI, optimizing 3rd-party spend in finance, CPG, pharma.

EXIT WATCHING

Mergers & Acquisitions and IPOs

Anthropic — Acqui-hired Humanloop's founding team to strengthen its enterprise AI capabilities. This move follows a $1B government deal, enhancing competitiveness against OpenAI and Google DeepMind.

SoftBank — Acquired Foxconn's electric vehicle plant in Ohio to advance its $500B Stargate AI data center project with OpenAI and Oracle. The plant will be used for AI server manufacturing, enhancing SoftBank's position in AI-supporting hardware.

Perplexity — The tech company has made a $34.5B bid to acquire Chrome from Google, pledging to keep it open source and invest $3B more. This follows a DOJ push for Google to divest due to antitrust issues. Perplexity is valued at $18B.

Rumble — Rumble plans to acquire Northern Data in an all-stock deal valued at $1.17 billion, excluding its bitcoin mining division. The acquisition, backed by major shareholder Tether, aims to enhance Rumble's AI cloud services. To close late 2025.

AppsFlyer — The Israeli marketing analytics firm is in advanced talks for acquisition by a private equity firm, valued between $3.5B and $4.5B. It employs 1,300 people, generates $400M annually, and is investing in AI to drive growth.

IPO WATCH

Bullish — The Peter Thiel-backed Cayman Is. crypto exchange debuted on the NYSE at $90, far exceeding its $37 IPO price. The stock peaked at $118 triggering trading halts, before closing at $68. Seeks to raise $2.7B by offering 30M shares.

StubHub — The San Francisco-based ticketing platform has resumed its IPO plans for September, after a delay in April. Reported 10% revenue growth in Q1 with $2.08B in gross merchandise sales. Seeks $16.5B valuation amid Ticketmaster rivalry.

Hong Kong IPOs — Over 20 Chinese companies, including Shein and Zelos Tech, have filed confidentially for listings in Hong Kong. New rules allowing private filings for biotech and tech firms bolster it as a preferred fundraising venue vs New York.

Lambda Inc. — This cloud infrastructure company supported by Nvidia is in talks to secure funding, potentially valuing it between $4B and $5B. It plans an IPO by year-end, with bankers already engaged in discussions.

THE FUNDING BUZZ

VC & PE Activity To Watch

[Open Fund] Frictionless Capital — This Miami-based blockchain VC firm is aiming to raise $60M for its third fund, per an SEC filing. The firm has yet to secure funds for its second fund initiative.

[Open Fund] GoalVest Venture Capital — The firm has completed the first close of its Venture Growth Fund II, targeting $50M. Net IRR of 40% from its first fund, it focuses on faster distributions, lower fees, and diversified investments across sectors.

JMI Equity — The Baltimore-based growth-stage PE firm has closed its twelfth flagship fund, JMI XII, at $3.1B, bringing total commitments to over $11B. Focused on software investments ranging from $40M to $400M+.

Hatteras Venture Partners — The NC-based VC firm raised $200M across two new funds, celebrating 25 years of investing in early-stage biopharmaceutical and health technology companies, managing over $900M.

Scenius Capital — The Miami-based digital assets investment firm has raised $20M for a new fund of crypto VC funds, featuring a strategic GP stake from ParaFi Capital. Offers global investors access to curated crypto & blockchain opportunities.

Slow Ventures — The VC firm has invested $2M from its $60M Creator Fund into Jonathan Katz-Moses, a woodworking content creator. This investment supports creators transitioning into business ownership.

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