Figma just rocketed 250% on day one and made Adobe's failed $20B acquisition offer look like pocket change.
Meanwhile, OpenAI and Anthropic are inhaling capital faster than a tech bro founder at an all-you-can-eat buffet, collectively raising over $11B while burning through cash at a rate that would make WeWork blush.
As we continue to build at Context Ventures, we've launched Startup Intros with a simple mission: to help early-stage founders find the right investors, faster and smarter.
🎯 BLUF: Bottom Line Upfront
Figma's IPO shattered records: 250% first-day pop to $67B valuation, proving the IPO window isn't just open, it's been blown off its hinges
AI giants are money-printing machines: OpenAI hit $12B revenue run rate; Anthropic at $5B and raising at $170B valuation
The talent wars are brutal: Meta keeps poaching Google researchers and now Apple AI experts in the past few weeks; entry-level jobs are vanishing
Sports leagues turned VCs: From NBA Equity to Utah Jazz owner's $1B fund, athletes and leagues are the new startup kingmakers
Quick hits: Ramp hit $22.5B valuation 45 days after last raise; Vanta at $4.15B; Anaconda at $1.5B; Klarna planning September IPO
🎨 Figma's Record-Breaking IPO Debut
📈 Design Platform Soars 250% on First Trading Day: Figma just pulled off the IPO of the year, with shares exploding from $33 to $115.50 on Thursday. It’s a 250% first-day pop that gave it a $67.7B valuation. With only 8% of shares available and $44.9M in Q1 profits (on $228M revenue, up 46% YoY), the design platform proved the IPO window is wide open.
💔 Failed Adobe Deal Becomes $67B Victory Lap: Remember when Adobe tried to buy Figma for $20B in 2022? European regulators killed the deal, leaving Figma with a $1B breakup fee and bruised ego. Now, Figma's now worth 3x that offer, and CEO Dylan Field (33) kept 74% voting control despite owning just 9% of shares.
💰 Early VCs Hit the Venture Capital Lottery: Index Ventures' Danny Rimer backed 19-year-old dropout Dylan Field in 2013 with a $1.8M Seed, investing $86.5M total over 12 years. The payoff was a stake worth $7B+, nearly 90x their investment. Greylock, Kleiner Perkins, and Sequoia are also sitting on billion-dollar positions.
🚀 IPO Pipeline Ready to Burst: Figma's moonshot could trigger an IPO avalanche. With 119 offerings year-to-date (up 45%), companies like Databricks, Canva, and Netskope are warming up. The recipe for success are its blue-chip clients (Netflix, Uber, Duolingo), AI integration that actually works, and fundamentals that don't require creative accounting.
🤖 AI Giants Race to Gobble Up Billions
💰 OpenAI's Oversubscribed $8.3B Round: OpenAI raised $8.3B at a $300B valuation in a round that was 5x oversubscribed. Dragoneer dropped a casual $2.8B check while Blackstone, TPG, and T. Rowe Price joined the party. Early investors are salty about reduced allocations as OpenAI brought in new friends. The cash is going straight to Stargate, their mega data center project with SoftBank, Oracle, and NVIDIA.
📈 OpenAI Doubles Revenue to $12B While Burning Cash: OpenAI's annualized revenue run rate hit $12B (some say $13B) after just seven months of 2025. ChatGPT crossed 700M weekly users while cash burn climbed to $8B annually. They're crushing Anthropic's $4-5B revenue, but that burn rate is giving WeWork flashbacks.
🚀 Anthropic Triples Valuation to $170B in 5 Months: Anthropic's raising $3-5B at a $170B valuation, nearly 3x its $61.5B price tag from March. Iconiq Capital's leading, while sovereign wealth funds (Qatar, Singapore's GIC) and possibly Amazon circle like sharks. Revenue has hit a $5B run rate, and at $170B, Anthropic proves it's the clear #2 in the AI race.
The Bottom Line: Together, these two giants are generating $18B in combined revenue, which is proof that the AI gold rush is very, very real as VCs throw money like it's 2021 again.
⚡ Startup Quick Hits: Ramp, Anaconda, and more!
💳 Ramp Gets $22.5B Valuation with $500M: The corporate card startup raised another half-billion led by Iconiq Capital and other notable investors just 45 days after its last round, jumping from $16B to $22.5B valuation (that's a 41% bump in six weeks). With $700M in annualized revenue and 40,000+ businesses on board, Ramp's AI agents are now catching expense policy violations fast.
🐍 Anaconda Raises $150M at $1.5B Valuation: The Python platform beloved by data scientists raised its Series C from Insight Partners and Mubadala, jumping from $222M to $1.5B valuation since 2021. With 21 billion downloads and 95% of Fortune 500 companies using their tools, Anaconda is basically the infrastructure layer for enterprise AI development that nobody talks about but everyone uses.
🛍️ Klarna Eyes September IPO as Fintech Stocks Heat Up: The Swedish buy-now-pay-later giant is reportedly reviving its NYSE IPO plans after pausing in April due to Trump's tariff tantrum. Originally seeking $1B+ at a $15B+ valuation, Klarna's timing might be perfect as fellow Affirm's stock has nearly doubled from April lows, and recent fintech IPO Chime is up 25% since debut.
⚡ Investor Quick Hits: From Startup Monasteries to Sports League VCs
🚀 The New Up-and-Coming Startup Accelerators: A new crop of accelerators is reshaping how early-stage founders find funding, mentorship, and in some cases, monastic seclusion. The very first startup accelerators appeared about two decades ago—a wave led most prominently by Y Combinator. Now Alex Perry highlights the ones that have risen to prominence in the last five years, including Sequoia Arc, a16z's Speedrun, and even Dave Fontenot's HF0.
🤖 GV Backs AI Rivals to Its Own Parent Company: Google Ventures (GV) isn't playing it safe by investing in startups that directly compete with Google products. Managing partners Dave Munichiello and Tom Hulme backed Thinking Machines Lab’s Seed at a $12B valuation, led Harvey's Series C at $1.5B (now worth $5B), and co-led OpenEvidence at $3.5B. As Munichiello puts it: "Amazing companies sometimes are at prices that feel very uncomfortable."
🏀 Sports Leagues Turn Into VCs with "Chummy" Style: Flush with record broadcast deals, leagues from the NBA to MLS are acting like venture firms and funding startups that boost fan experience and tech innovation. Utah Jazz owner Ryan Smith just launched a $1B fund (HXCO) targeting sports-tech, while NBA Equity backs AI analytics startups. Recent deals include League One Volleyball's $100M raise and Angel City FC's $123M round.
💼 Personnel Quick Hits: Playing Musical Chairs with Seven-Figure Salaries
🧠 Google's New AI Czar Has One Job: Google gave Koray Kavukcuoglu (former missile engineer) the role of AI Chief Architect with a simple mandate: embed Gemini into every single Google product. He's already yanked 200 engineers from search and reports, directly reporting to Sundar, all while an antitrust ruling next month could force Google to divest Chrome.
🍎 Meta's AI Talent Heist: Apple Edition: Meta's superintelligence team just snagged its fourth Apple AI researcher, multimodal expert Bowen Zhang, as part of a hiring spree that's decimating Apple Intelligence plans. Zuckerberg's strategy is simple: show up with blank checks that make even Apple's packages look cute, then promise researchers they can build AGI.
📉 Entry-Level Jobs Are Getting Taken by AI: While tech giants throw millions at senior AI researchers, they're using that same AI to eliminate entry-level positions that would train the next generation. College grads are discovering their dream jobs automated away before graduation, with white-collar career ladders missing their bottom rungs.
📊 Trump Fires BLS Chief Over "Rigged" Jobs Numbers: President Trump just pulled the first jobs-data-related firing in nearly a century, axing the Bureau of Labor Statistics chief after weak July numbers, which signals a warning for the economy. His supposed claim: "Today's Jobs Numbers were RIGGED to make Republicans, and ME, look bad."
💸 In Other Funding News
Here's a roundup of notable recent funding rounds across various sectors:
🤖 AI & Machine Learning
Fal: Raised $125M Series C led by Meritech Capital Partners to build a generative media platform that helps developers create applications using AI models.
SiMa.ai: Raised $85M Round led by Maverick Capital to develop ML to deliver a software-centric platform.
Conversion: Raised $28M Series A led by Abstract to offer AI tools for automating ad campaigns and website creation, including Adwin for ads and Crafta for websites.
E2B: Raised $21M Series A led by Insight Partners to develop cloud infrastructure tailored for AI agents and apps.
Deep Cogito: Raised $13M Seed led by Benchmark to build general superintelligence via advanced reasoning and iterative self‑improvement LLMs outperforming peers.
Julius AI: Raised $10M Seed led by Bessemer Venture Partners to develop an AI platform that analyzes data with computational AI.
Runloop AI: Raised $7M Seed led by General Partnership to build a complete platform for building, testing, and scaling AI software engineering products.
Entrada: Raised $6M Round to help customers modernize their data + AI capabilities leveraging the Databricks platform.
Rapidise: Raised $4M Seed to provide IoT & AI Product, Design, Development, Rapid Prototyping, Electronics Manufacturing, and Full Product Assembly Services.
AssetHub: Raised $2M Seed led by Archetype Ventures to create an AI 3D modeling tool that enables game developers to create and edit 3D assets.
Neurvona: Raised $600K Pre-Seed led by Boost VC & Draper Associates to develop AI Digital Twin Personas.
Flexprice: Raised $500K Pre-Seed led by TDV Partners to create an open-source billing and metering platform for AI and agentic companies.
Tzafon: Raised $6M Pre-Seed led by HV Capital to broaden the lightcone of awareness by pushing the boundaries of machine intelligence.
🏥 Healthcare & Biotech
MapLight Therapeutics: Raised $373M Series D led by Forbion Capital Partners, Goldman Sachs Alternatives to offer a biopharma platform designed to discover and develop therapeutics for brain disorders.
Ambience Healthcare: Raised $243M Series C led by a16z & Oak HC/FT to develop an AI OS used for documentation, coding, and clinical workflows in healthcare.
Arbital Health: Raised $31M Series B led by Valtruis to provide neutral adjudication services for outcomes-based healthcare contracts.
Versa Vascular: Raised $27M Round led by Santa Cruz Ventures to develop an implant system designed to treat tricuspid regurgitation.
Mirvie: Raised $24M Round to create precise, actionable, and non-invasive tests for maternal-fetal health.
Maui Imaging: Raised $14M Series D led by Acertara Acoustic Laboratories to provide comprehensive ultrasound capability.
Hipp Health: Raised $6M Seed to build an AI clinical platform for mobile healthcare delivery, reducing time spent on tasks like data collection and clinical notes.
Outfox Health: Raised $2M Pre-Seed led by Two Ravens to build an AI copilot for health benefits navigation.
💼 Enterprise Software
Sparrow: Raised $35M Series B led by SLW to provide HR tech with leave solutions to support employees during significant life events.
Hightouch: Raised $10M Series C to develop a data platform that helps sync customers data from the data warehouse to CRM, marketing, and support tools.
Metaforms: Raised $9M Series A led by Peak XV Partners to make market research firms more efficient and increase their revenue.
Streamline AI: Raised $9M Series A led by Blumberg Capital to create AI intake, workflow automation, and matter management software purpose-built for legal teams.
Caseflood.ai: Raised $3M Seed to build a legal tech company that qualifies, intakes, closes, and retains clients with AI agents.
Comp AI: Raised $3M Pre-Seed led by OSS Capital L.P. to provide compliance automation made easy as an open source alternative to Drata & Vanta.
Tensorevo: Raised $2M Seed to transform raw data into automated visual inspection.
Shiplab: Raised $750K Round to build a B2B data platform that automates cost/shipment data from parcel shipping carriers for modern data teams.
Intugle: Raised $500K Pre-Seed to create agent‑ready semantic fabric that converts enterprise data into live knowledge without replication.
Blind: Raised $468K Round to build an anonymous workplace network where verified professionals connect to discuss what matters most.
🔧 Developer Tools & Infrastructure
Observe: Raised $156M Series C led by Sutter Hill Ventures to offer an observability cloud solution to speed up troubleshooting apps and resolving incidents.
Oxide Computer Company: Raised $100M Series B led by US Innovative Technology Fund to make server racks for on-premises compute infrastructure.
Multibeam: Raised $31M Series B led by Lam Capital, Onto Innovation to provide breakthrough e-beam lithography solution for producing semiconductors.
Cline: Raised $27M Series A led by Emergence Capital & Pace Capital to develop an open‑source AI coding agent that automates software creation tasks within IDEs.
FluidCloud: Raised $8M Seed led by Unusual Ventures to pioneer portable cloud infrastructure.
FOSSA: Raised $5M Round to provide the developer's choice for managing open source risk and reporting.
🔒 Security & Defense
Safe Security: Raised $70M Series C led by Avataar Venture Partners to provide cyber risk management solutions to manage enterprise‑wide cyber risk in real time.
Wallarm: Raised $55M Series C led by Toba Capital to build an API security platform that automates real-time protection and testing for APIs, apps, and microservices.
Lumana: Raised $40M Series A led by Wing Venture Capital to provide AI video surveillance and safety technology with unparalleled visibility in any area.
Prophet Security: Raised $30M Series A led by Accel to deliver an AI security operations center (SOC) that automates alert triage, investigation, and response.
Reach Security: Raised $10M Series A led by M12 to build defensive posture management, helping organizations deliver.
Pilgrim: Raised $4M Seed led by Cantos to build the warfighter of tomorrow.
💰 Fintech
Salient: Raised $60M Series A led by a16z to create an AI-driven loan servicing platform explicitly built for consumer finance and auto lending industries.
Car IQ: Raised $8M Round led by Financial Technology Partners to enable vehicles to initiate, validate, and complete authorized transactions.
Caspian: Raised $5M Seed led by Primary Venture Partners to help companies reclaim customs duties, taxes, and fees, faster and easier than ever before.
Merso: Raised $3M Seed to offer financing solutions for digital assets in the gaming sector.
⚡ Energy & Climate
Natel Energy: Raised $15M Round to support healthy rivers & a reliable grid by designing FishSafe™ hydroelectric turbines.
Planted Solar: Raised $12M Series A led by Piva Capital to design and build solar power plants using software and robots.
🏠 Real Estate & PropTech
Pacaso: Raised $35M Funding Round to modernize the generations-old practice of co-owning a second home.
Raise Robotics: Raised $8M Seed led by MaC Venture Capital to develop construction robotics.
Geolava: Raised $4M Seed led by Luge Capital to bring spatial reasoning to the built world.
🚗 Other
Motive: Raised $150M Round led by Kleiner Perkins to develop a fleet management platform that helps improve safety, productivity, and profitability.
Farmers Business Network: Raised $50M Round to build a digital marketplace that helps farmers buy inputs, access financing, and join marketing programs.
Total Deals: 58, totaling $10.3B
Please note that we're still working on building our data pipelines to identify pre-seed rounds as they come.
💸 New Venture Funds
Frazier Life Sciences raised $1.3B: The Palo Alto VC raised its 12th fund focused on biopharmaceutical companies.
CRV raised $750M for its 20th flagship fund: Focuses on Seed and Series A, and is smaller than the $1B+ early-stage fund closed in the fall of 2022.
🤝 M&A Activity
Palo Alto Networks acquired CyberArk for $25B: The cybersecurity giant is buying the identity security leader CyberArk to create an end-to-end security platform.
Silvaco acquired Mixel: The Electronic Design Automation (EDA) software company acquired Mixel, a provider of mixed-signal connectivity IP solutions.
Nextracker acquired OnSight Technology: The global leader in solar tracking acquired OnSight's solar tech platform to enhance its smart solar capabilities.
🌟 Editor's Note
At Startup Intros, our mission is to bring the latest founder-investor news straight to your inbox, keeping you ahead in the fast-paced world of Silicon Valley. Our free weekly newsletter delivers curated insights, deals, and trends to help you navigate the startup ecosystem.
Stay tuned for our upcoming paid daily newsletter, packed with deeper dives, plus weekly spotlights on top VCs, investors, and founders, and practical tips for raising your next round.
💭 Parting Thoughts
That's all for this week's descent into capitalism's beautiful chaos, where missile engineers run AI empires and basketball teams write venture checks.
Remember: In a world where Figma can triple Adobe's offer in public markets, anything is possible except maybe getting your entry-level job back from ChatGPT.
Till next time,
Dev Chandra
CEO @ Startup Intros
Associate @ Context VC
LinkedIn: /in/devchandra
Tim Hsia
Investor @ Context VC
Co-Founder @ Startup Intros
LinkedIn: /in/timhsia
P.S. Raised this week, and we missed you? Want to be featured? Have tips or funding questions? Reply or DM us as we’re here to help.
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