Katherine Davis / Axios: Vivodyne, which uses AI and robots to grow human tissues in the lab for drug discovery and development, raised a $40M Series A led by Khosla Ventures — Vivodyne, a San Francisco-based startup using lab-grown human tissues to discover and develop drugs, raised $40 million in a Series A led by Khosla Ventures.
Chris Metinko / Axios: Boston-based cloud cost management startup CloudZero raised a $56M Series C led by BlueCrest Capital Management and Innovius Capital — CloudZero raised $56 million to help companies rein in soaring AI-driven cloud costs, CEO Phil Pergola tells Axios Pro. — Why it matters …
Colin Demarest / Axios: CX2, a defense tech startup building software and hardware, including autonomous drones, for electronic warfare, raised a $31M Series A led by Point72 Ventures — Defense-tech upstart CX2 plans to hire more people and accelerate development of its electronic warfare tools on the heels of a $31 million raise, executives told Axios.
Ryan Barwick / Axios: Utah-based Awardco, which makes HR software that helps AT&T, Adobe, and other clients manage employee rewards, raised a $165M Series B at an over $1B valuation — Awardco announced Tuesday it has raised a $165 million Series B, valuing the employee rewards platform at more than $1 billion.
Dan Primack / Axios: Carta: VC deals are stalling at seed, with the Series A deal count falling by 79% between Q1 2022 and Q1 2025; 46% of seed deals were bridge rounds in Q1 2025 — Top of the Morning — Venture capital's series progression is stalling at seed, according to new data released this morning by Carta.
Aaron Weitzman / Axios: Boston-based PhaseV, which is developing AI software to accelerate clinical trials and drug development, raised a $50M Series A co-led by Accel and Insight — PhaseV, a clinical trial and development software startup, raised a $50 million Series A, CEO Raviv Pryluk tells Axios exclusively.
Katherine Davis / Axios: Pathos AI, which uses AI to develop oncology drugs, raised a $365M Series D at a $1.6B valuation, bringing its total funding to $467M, per PitchBook — Pathos AI, a New York drug development startup, raised $365 million in a Series D at a $1.6 billion valuation.
Ina Fried / Axios: IFI Claims: Google passes IBM to lead in generative AI-related patent applications in the US; Google and Nvidia lead agentic AI patent filings globally — Google has overtaken IBM to become the leader in generative AI-related patents and also leads in the emerging area of agentic AI …
Erin Brodwin / Axios: TSOLife, whose software is in use in 1,300 senior living facilities in 47 US states, raised a $43M Series B led by PeakSpan, bringing its total funding to $52M — TSOLife raised $43 million in Series B funds for home-grown senior living software, CEO David Sawyer tells Axios exclusively.
Aaron Weitzman / Axios: NYC-based Blooming Health, an online coordination network for social service agencies and aging care providers, raised a $26M Series A led by Insight Partners — Blooming Health, a social services and health care coordination network, raised a $26 million Series A led by Insight Partners, CEO Nima Roohi tells Axios exclusively.
Alex Isenstadt / Axios: In an hour-long Q&A with reporters, Elon Musk talked DOGE, including acknowledging its shortcomings, leaving the US government, working with Trump, and more — Elon Musk acknowledges his budget-cutting exercise known as DOGE hasn't been as successful as he hoped.
Ryan Lawler / Axios: Salsa, which provides APIs and UI components that let vertical SaaS platforms offer payroll as a feature to their customers, raised a $20M Series A led by Altos — Salsa, a startup providing embedded payroll infrastructure to vertical SaaS platforms, raised $20 million in Series A funding, CEO John Kramer tells Axios exclusively.
Erin Brodwin / Axios: NYC-based Healthee, whose AI assistant Zoe lets its clients' workers navigate health insurance and benefits options, raised a $50M Series B led by Key1 Capital — Health benefits navigation startup Healthee raised $50 million in Series B funds led by Key1 Capital.
Katie Fehrenbacher / Axios: Crux, a financing software provider for clean energy companies, raised a $50M Series B led by Lowercarbon Capital, taking its total funding to more than $77M — Crux, a clean economy financing software provider, raised a $50 million Series B round to expand its capital platforms, CEO Alfred Johnson tells Axios.
Ryan Lawler / Axios: API-based background check provider Checkr acquires income and employment verification startup Truework, which had raised $125M+ and was last valued at ~$480M — Checkr, an API-based background check provider, is acquiring income and employment verification startup Truework, Checkr CEO Daniel Yanisse tells Axios exclusively.
Sam Sabin / Axios: AI safety and security startup Virtue AI raised $30M in seed and Series A funding and says its customers include several frontier labs, Uber, and Glean — Virtue AI has raised a $30 million seed and Series A funding round led by Walden Catalyst Ventures and Lightspeed Venture Partners, the company exclusively shared with Axios.
Dan Primack / Axios: Brooklyn-based Underdog, a fantasy sports and sports betting app, raised $70M in a first Series C tranche at a $1.23B valuation from Spark Capital — Underdog, a Brooklyn-based fantasy sports and sports betting app, tells Axios that it raised $70 million in Series C funding at a $1.23 billion valuation from Spark Capital.
Aaron Weitzman / Axios: Cambridge, Massachusetts-based Lumafield, which manufactures industrial CT scanners with cloud-based analysis software, raised a $75M Series C led by IVP — Exit Content Preview — Lumafield, a developer of industrial CT technology used by medical device companies, raised a $75 million Series C …
Kerry Flynn / Axios: NYC-based Firsthand, whose tools let marketers and publishers engage consumers through AI agents on their own sites or other sites, raised a $26M Series A — - The New York-based startup previously raised $6.6 million in seed funding, led by Radical Ventures.
Axios: President Trump plans to speak at the first-ever White House Crypto Summit on March 7, to be chaired by David Sacks, amid a global sell-off in cryptocurrencies — - The Trump family launched the Official Trump (TRUMP) and Melania Meme (MELANIA) coins Jan. 17 and Jan. 18 …
Lucinda Shen / Axios: Renaissance Capital: 12 of 40 fintech firms that went public in the US since 2020 have given positive investor returns; only Shift4 and AppLovin are profitable — All topics — Situational awareness: OpenAI co-founder Ilya Sutskever is raising over $1 billion for his startup Safe Superintelligence …
Dan Primack / Axios: Texas-based humanoid robot startup Apptronik raised a $350M Series A co-led by B Capital and Capital Factory and plans a series of pilot programs in 2025 — embargo moved to thurs... Apptronik, a Texas-based developer of humanoid robots, announced Wednesday that it's raised $350 million in Series A funding.
Sam Sabin / Axios: Document: President Trump plans to nominate ex-RNC executive Sean Cairncross as national cyber director, his administration's first major cybersecurity pick — - The office, which has more than 80 employees, is designed to be the president's principal adviser on cybersecurity matters.
Ina Fried / Axios: Sam Altman says “OpenAI is not for sale” and “OpenAI's mission is not for sale”, especially to “a competitor who is not able to beat us in the market” — - “OpenAI is not for sale. … - Altman said the board has not determined a valuation for OpenAI's operations yet …
Brady Dale / Axios: Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong endorses a US bitcoin strategic reserve in a blog post on “economic freedom” that calls on world leaders to embrace crypto — - This is the first time Coinbase has specifically addressed the idea of a strategic bitcoin reserve, doing …
Sara Fischer / Axios: OpenAI will fund the expansion of Axios to Pittsburgh, Kansas City, Boulder, and Huntsville, as part of a broader content-sharing and technology deal — - Google struck a deal with McClatchy to fund the creation of three digital-only local newsrooms in 2019.
Colin Demarest / Axios: Overland AI, which is developing off-road self-driving systems for military purposes, raised a $32M Series A led by 8VC — Overland CEO Byron Boots told Axios the millions will be used to hire more people, sharpen software development and wade into hardware.
Angrej Singh / Axios: Zuckerberg says Meta's fact-checking was “something out of 1984” and criticized the media for hounding Facebook to clamp down on misinfo after the 2016 election — - Zuckerberg told Rogan, who was a prominent sceptic of the COVID-19 vaccine, that the Biden administration would …
Michael Flaherty / Axios: Getty Images Holdings and Shutterstock agree to merge in a deal that creates a $3.7B company; Getty CEO Craig Peters will remain CEO of the combined business — - Shutterstock shareholders get one of the following: $28.84 per share in cash ($1.03 billion based on Shutterstock's outstanding shares) …
Mike Allen / Axios: Sources: Tim Cook will personally donate $1M to President-elect Trump's inaugural committee in the spirit of unity; Apple is not expected to donate — The company is not expected to give. — Cook, with a consistent presence in Washington, has made it clear over the years that he believes …
Kerry Flynn / Axios: Rembrand, which offers AI tools to add product placements in social media videos, raised a $23M Series A and plans to expand to CTV content and add a free tier — Exit Content Preview … The startup began with YouTube and expanded to LinkedIn, TikTok and Instagram.
Angrej Singh / Axios: Some conservative critics of Elon Musk allege censorship and claim they were stripped of their X verification badges after challenging his views on H-1B visas — - Since Musk purchased Twitter and implemented sweeping staff cuts, it's often been difficult to get answers as to whether …
Dan Primack / Axios: Sources: Founders Fund seeks ~$3B for its third growth equity fund; it raised $3.4B for its second growth fund and $1.8B for its eighth early-stage fund in 2022 — - It also will have access to the incoming White House, thanks to Thiel's longtime support of President-elect Trump and the firm's numerous investments with Elon Musk.
Lucinda Shen / Axios: Tether says it is on track for a record $10B net profit in 2024 and expects to invest $2.5B to $3B in 2025 across AI, finance, biotech, education, and mining — Exit Content Preview … - Ardoino says the company is tracking toward a record $10 billion in net profits this year.
Sara Fischer / Axios: The digital ad market, helped by US political ads, AI ad tools, and consumer spending, drove strong Q3 revenue growth for Alphabet, Meta, Snap, Reddit, and Roku — - Google's advertising revenue jumped more than 10% year-over-year, thanks in part to election-related ad spend, especially on YouTube …
Sara Fischer / Axios: Sources: Meta strikes a multi-year deal with Reuters to use its news content to provide real-time answers to user queries in Meta AI chatbot, a first for Meta — - Meta has backed away from news content in its platforms' main feeds amid regulatory scrutiny, but news content may prove harder …
Dan Primack / Axios: PitchBook: VCs in the US invested $37.5B via 2,794 deals in Q3 2024, down 32% QoQ, despite some big AI rounds, as a lack of exits restricts new deal activity — Venture capital's lack of exits is restricting new deal activity, according to the latest PitchBook-NVCA Venture Monitor.
Dan Primack / Axios: Ben Horowitz says he and his wife plan to make a “significant” personal donation to Harris' campaign; Horowitz and Marc Andreessen endorsed Trump in July — - At the time, President Biden was still running for reelection. … - He notes that he and Felicia have known Harris …
April Rubin / Axios: Snap launches new safety tools and resources for US educators, and says Snapchat has 20M+ US teen users; Pew says 51% of US teens used Snapchat daily in 2023 — - Snapchat was the third most used app among teens in a 2023 Pew study, behind YouTube and Instagram.
Dan Primack / Axios: FanDuel founders and other early shareholders sue KKR and Shamrock Capital over the 2018 Paddy Power Betfair merger that wiped out the value of their holdings — - The case has gone through several travails, including being dismissed and having that dismissal successfully appealed.
Joann Muller / Axios: Walmart and DroneUp end drone delivery in all 18 Phoenix, Salt Lake City, and Tampa hubs to focus on Dallas-Fort Worth; DroneUp cuts 70, or ~17% of its staff — - The three cities were part of a splashy rollout in 2022 that was described as the first large-scale drone delivery operation in the U.S.
Jacob Knutson / Axios: How Win With Black Women and other groups are using Zoom calls to organize and fundraise for Kamala Harris; virtual rallies for Harris raised $10M+ this week — - “What we're seeing now at the moment is a beautiful intersection of concerned citizens utilizing digital media and virtual technology …
Sara Fischer / Axios: A group of 16 US lawmakers ask Meta to delay shutting down CrowdTangle for at least six months, citing concerns about the limitations of Meta Content Library — A group of bipartisan lawmakers on Wednesday sent Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg a letter asking the firm to delay shutting down CrowdTangle for six months.
Ina Fried / Axios: Google Cloud announces deals, including with Moody's, Thomson Reuters, and ZoomInfo, to “ground” responses from its enterprise AI chatbots in real-world facts — - Now, Google is offering an additional option: using third-party data to help ground AI results.
Ina Fried / Axios: IBM and Xerox PARC engineer Lynn Conway, who helped shape the way chips are designed and undertook a gender transition in 1968, died last weekend at age 86 — - In the 1970s, Conway helped author “Introduction to VLSI Systems,” a seminal book in the field of chip design that became …
Sam Sabin / Axios: TikTok says it has fixed a vulnerability that allowed user accounts to be hijacked after clicking on a malware-laced DM — - TikTok confirmed to Axios that the unidentified hackers were able to take over CNN's account. — Reports suggest that they also attempted to hijack Paris Hilton's TikTok account.
Ina Fried / Axios: OpenAI's new ChatGPT voice assistant jokes, chides, apologizes, pretends to blush, and deals with interruptions, thanks to training GPT-4o on speech end-to-end — - The bot spoke in a sprightly female voice, responding far faster to queries than previous generations of voice-bots …
Sara Fischer / Axios: A look at news publishers' conflicting approaches toward AI companies, and how the lack of a data marketplace makes it hard for buyers and sellers to set rates — - The new suits add heft to the Times' claims. … Several other large news publishers, including the Financial Times …
Kia Kokalitcheva / Axios: Source: Y Combinator is inviting some alumni entrepreneurs to invest a minimum of $250,000, which will be split among the three funds it is currently raising — - The accelerator is requiring limited partners invest in all three of its new funds, a somewhat bold move in the current environment.
Hope King / Axios: AT&T plans to invest an additional $3B by 2030 to help close the US digital divide, after initially committing $2B by 2024, which helped nearly 5M Americans — - Many Americans want Congress to handle threats to affordable and reliable internet access, Axios' Maria Curi has reported.