Startup Weekly: Fast and Furious
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This week, some startups that generated value at the speed of lightning confirmed that their defense technology is red heat.
The most interesting startup story of the week
Many startup stories this week have somehow happened in the Y-combinator trajectory. Israel was also once again responding to the reputation of “emerging countries.”
That was fast: No-Code Website Building Platform WIX has acquired 6 month bootstrap vibe coding startup Base44 (both Israeli companies). $80 million in cash.
That was also fast: Ramp rating in just 3 months I jumped at $16 billion Following Series E, the spending management startups rose from $13 billion that they made secondary sales earlier this year.
Friends and enemies: New details revealed It acquired 49% of Startup Scale AI, including potential dividend payments in Meta’s $14.3 billion deal. I also learned that Openai is Drop scale AI as a data provider Following the transaction.
Madness: Awarded by the US Department of Defense Directly worth up to $200 million in contracts with Openaicould further strain the startup’s relationship with Microsoft.
Icymi: Of all the teams announced at YC’s recent Spring 2025 demo day, here 11 startups investors talk about.
It didn’t happen: People are also still talking about police shutting down the day and after parties at YC demonstrations that the controversial AI startup has been trying to throw at him so much. Or as The CEO told TechCrunch“The most legendary party that never happened.”
Most Interesting VC and Funding News This Week
Most of the fundraising news was driven by defence technology, AI, or both, but there were also some surprises. Additionally, one VC company is aiming for the next fund.
Good intuitionApplied Intuition, a company that manufactures software for self-driving cars is protected 600 million dollar series F and public offering At a valuation of $15 billion.
New song: Munich-based defense technology startup Helsing Ended the 600 million euro investment Leading its VC company Prima Materia of Spotify founder Daniel Ek, it valued 12 billion euros and Helsing.
New UnicornIsraeli observability startup Corlalogix has since become a unicorn Efforts to raise $115 million series100 of its 550 employees will be used to double the staff in India, where it is currently based.
I said: Mach Industries, a two-year-old defense technology startup, confirmed it has risen $100 million funding A $470 million valuation led by Khosla Ventures and Bedrock.
Money flows: Aspora, a startup previously known as Vance, focused on promoting remittances from the Indian diaspora. Closed the $50 million series b Sequoia and Greylock co-led with a $500 million valuation.
Changes in the heart: Sword Health, an AI-powered digital health startup that began as a virtual physiotherapy solution, Locked $40 million at a $4 billion valuation In a fundraising round led by returning investors’ general catalyticists. It also pushed back the IPO plans to at least 2028.
Multiplier effect: Multiplier shares announced that they have risen $27.5 million for the entire Seed and Series A round After participating in the growth trend of purchasing legacy services businesses, in that case it was an accounting firm and expanded them with AI.
Where you shop: Startups that help you buy stocks from shopping brands, such as Grifin, app Walmart Secured $11 million in the Series A round.
From Sweden: Polar, a payment infrastructure platform for developers and AI-first businesses; raised a $10 million seed round It is led by Accel. The CEO previously co-founded Tictail, which was acquired by Shopify in 2018.
strong: Global VC Endeavour Catalyst We are trying to raise $300 million For the fifth fund. This is still the biggest as it appears to deepen the bets on burgeoning startups in emerging markets.
Last but not least, it’s important
Chime’s early investor, founder-turned founder, VC Alexa Von Tobel is ready for Fintech 3.0. “The next wave of innovation comes from not from superficial fine-tuning, but from the reinvention of basic deep products. A tool to meet economic change and a more diverse, digitally native population.” He spoke to TechCrunch in an interview.