Startup news covering emerging companies, founders, funding rounds, accelerators, and entrepreneurship developments in the tech and business world.
PhysicsX, a British startup, raised $300 million in Series C funding led by Singapore's Temasek, valuing the company at $2.4 billion. The company develops AI models for manufacturing components like jet engines and semiconductors. Existing backers include Nvidia and Applied Materials.
Moonshot AI, developer of the Kimi chatbot, is seeking up to $2 billion in a new funding round that would value the startup at $30 billion. The company has held early talks with prospective investors to raise over $1 billion, and is nearing a separate $20 billion valuation round led by Meituan.
This commentary argues that female founders' growing optimism about fundraising, despite stagnant capital shares, may be due to AI enabling them to do more with less. It suggests that shifting investor behavior and increased community support also contribute, while cautioning that AI mega-rounds for elite founders skew the data.
Former DOGE members Nate Cavanaugh and Justin Fox founded Special, a holding company backed by a16z and other ex-DOGE members, to apply government efficiency methods to the private sector. Its first target is senior care via FigureHealth, with plans to expand into construction and manufacturing.