Latest Startups & Entrepreneurship News
Anthropic Nears $20B Funding Round at $350B Valuation
Anthropic is finalizing a $20 billion capital raise, doubling initial targets due to high demand, with participation from Sequoia, Lightspeed, and strategic partners Nvidia and Microsoft. The AI firm recently launched coding agents boosting productivity and new models impacting data firms.
This follows a $13B raise five months ago amid compute costs and competition with OpenAI.
TRM Labs Secures $70M for Blockchain Analytics
San Francisco-based TRM Labs raised $70M, bringing total funding to $219.9M, backed by Bessemer, Goldman Sachs, and Y Combinator. The company provides blockchain transaction monitoring for financial institutions and governments.
Founded in 2018 by Esteban Castano and Rahul Raina.
Fundamental AI Research Firm Raises $225M
Fundamental, a San Francisco AI company tackling machine learning challenges, secured $225M for a total of $255M. Backed by Battery Ventures, Salesforce Ventures, and others, it was founded in 2024 by Gabriel Suissa and Jeremy Fraenkel.
Focuses on fundamental AI research innovations.
Forerunner Geospatial Platform Gets $26.3M
San Francisco's Forerunner, aiding governments with AI-powered geospatial data for operations and resilience, raised $26.3M totaling $40.5M. Backers include Citi Impact Fund and Wellington Management; founded in 2018 by JT White and Susanna Pho.
Also noted in contech funding at $39M for asset management.
Daytona Lands $24M for AI Agent Cloud Infrastructure
New York-based Daytona raised $24M for secure cloud environments enabling autonomous AI agents, totaling $38M. Founded in 2023 by Goran Draganic and team, backed by Figma Ventures and FirstMark.
Targets fast, isolated tool and code execution for AI.
Tomorrow.io Boosts Weather Tech with $175M Raise
Boston's Tomorrow.io, offering real-time weather forecasting for climate threats, raised $175M, reaching $433.9M total. Founded in 2016 by Itai Zlotnik and others, backed by HarbourVest and Square Peg.
Helps predict and respond to weather risks.
Bedrock Robotics Raises $270M for Autonomous Construction
San Francisco's Bedrock Robotics secured $270M to develop retrofit autonomy for excavators and bulldozers. Follows a prior $80M round in July 2025; focuses on construction machinery automation.
Emerges as key contech funding news.
FoodTech World Cup 2026 Opens Applications
Nestlé and FoodHack launched applications for the second FoodTech World Cup, targeting early-stage Food BioTech startups until Feb 27. Focuses on proteins, microbiome, and climate-positive biotech; 15 shortlisted for HackSummit.
Winners announced in Lausanne, connecting to investors.
Dataline Labs Secures $1M Pre-Seed for AI Data Analysis
London-based Dataline Labs raised $1M pre-seed led by Haatch Ventures, with British Business Bank. Funds team growth, MIRA AI platform rollout, and UK Ministry of Defence projects.
Founded for enterprise AI data infrastructure.
Deel Launches $15M Global Startup Tournament 'The Pitch'
Deel announced a $15M tournament engaging over 20,000 startups across seven regions for founders worldwide. Offers opportunities for global exposure and funding.
Aims to support startup growth internationally.
TechCrunch Opens 2026 Startup Battlefield 200 Nominations
Nominations are open for TechCrunch Disrupt 2026's Startup Battlefield 200, offering $100K equity-free funding and VC exposure. Targets pre-Series A founders with MVPs; alumni include Dropbox and Fitbit.
Closes mid-June for early-stage competition.