Latest Startups & Entrepreneurship News
Elon Musk’s xAI raises $20 billion Series E, signaling sustained AI funding boom
Generative AI startup **xAI** secured a massive **$20 billion Series E** round, one of the largest private startup raises on record. The Grok chatbot maker has now attracted about **$42.7 billion** in reported debt and equity, underscoring investor conviction that foundational AI models will keep driving outsized venture returns.
Andreessen Horowitz amasses over $15 billion for new venture funds
Venture firm **Andreessen Horowitz (a16z)** closed more than **$15 billion** in fresh capital across multiple new funds, its largest raise to date. The firm plans to pour money into AI, defense, bio, and other “hard tech” sectors, reinforcing a shift away from consumer apps toward capital-intensive, deeptech-style startups.
Lux Capital closes $1.5 billion, doubling down on deeptech and defense startups
Deeptech investor **Lux Capital** raised **$1.5 billion** for its largest fund ever, expanding its firepower for sectors like defense tech, robotics and AI. Lux, an early backer of Anduril and Applied Intuition, says it will continue supporting frontier-technology startups that bridge government, security and advanced computing.
OpenAI acqui-hires Convogo team to bolster enterprise AI offerings
**OpenAI** is acquiring the team behind executive-coaching AI startup **Convogo** in an all-stock deal that excludes the startup’s IP and product. Convogo’s founders will join OpenAI’s AI cloud group, highlighting how leading AI platforms are absorbing specialized SaaS talent rather than competing directly at the app layer.
Meta to acquire general AI agent startup Manus, expanding agentic AI strategy
**Meta** is buying Singapore-headquartered **Manus**, a fast-growing general AI agent startup reportedly valued between **$2–3 billion**. Manus, which hit over **$100 million in ARR** just eight months after launch, will power autonomous agents across Meta AI, Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp business tools.
Global startup ecosystems shifting, with Europe and APAC gaining ground
A new **Startup Ecosystem Stars 2025** report finds that since 2000, **$4.2 trillion** has gone into startups, producing nearly **98,000 scaleups** worldwide. North America still dominates with 43% of scaleups and 50% of scaleup capital, but Europe is gaining share in earlier stages while APAC now accounts for 27% of global scaleups.
Multipolitan’s ‘Startup Friendly Cities 2026’ index shows new entrepreneurial hubs emerging
The **Startup Friendly Cities Index 2026** highlights a changing geography of entrepreneurship, with several mid-sized and nontraditional cities improving startup conditions. The report points to factors such as migrant-friendly policies, cost of living, and local support infrastructure as key drivers of where founders choose to build companies.
Physical-world AI and robotics take center stage at CES 2026 for startups
Coverage of **CES 2026** shows a surge of startups focused on **“physical AI”**—robotics and perception systems that bring AI off the screen and into hardware. Companies such as **Lyte**, which disclosed **$107 million** in funding to give robots better vision and safety, exemplify investor enthusiasm for AI that operates in the real world.
Biotech and healthtech startups land mega-rounds to tackle obesity and rare diseases
Biotech startup **Parabilis Medicines** raised **$305 million** in a Series F round aimed at advancing peptide oncology therapies. Other sizable financings include **Diagonal Therapeutics** with **$125 million** for rare disease treatments and **Alveus Therapeutics** with **$160 million** focused on obesity, underscoring deep investor interest in health-focused innovation.
AI infrastructure and security startups attract large rounds as enterprise adoption accelerates
AI security startup **Cyera** raised **$400 million** at about a **$1.7 billion** valuation, reflecting growing demand for tools to manage AI-era data risks. AI benchmarking platform **LMArena** secured **$150 million Series A** funding at a **$1.7 billion** post-money valuation, cementing evaluation and safety as critical parts of the AI stack.
Impact and frontier markets see growing startup investment, led by Africa’s Kayko
Rwanda-based **Kayko** closed a **$1.2 million seed** round to expand its software and embedded financing for small businesses in frontier markets. Impact-focused investors are increasingly backing such ventures, which combine SaaS models with credit infrastructure to serve underbanked SMEs.
Early-stage AI and automation startups continue to raise pre-seed and seed capital
Belgian legal AI startup **Alice BV** raised a **€1 million pre-seed** round led by NewSchool and Seeder Fund to build workflow automation for lawyers. Reports on November–December 2025 deal flow show ongoing pre-seed and seed activity in AI copilots and automation tools like **GammaAI** and Scribe, despite macro headwinds.