🧑‍🚀 Top Deals You Can’t Miss

1️⃣ SpaceX – ~$1.25T total value merger with xAI, unifying AI research, satellite infrastructure, and launch operations under a single platform.

2️⃣ Waymo – $16B growth round at a $126B valuation, accelerating autonomous ride-hailing expansion across major U.S. markets.

3️⃣ Bachan’s – $400M acquisition by Marzetti, bringing the fast-growing premium sauce brand into a scaled CPG distribution engine.

🧠 Dopamine Dealflow

🌳 Series B+ & Growth

• SpaceX, a Hawthorne, California-based aerospace company, merged with xAI, a San Francisco-based AI lab, in a ~$250B transaction. SpaceX led the deal, consolidating Elon Musk’s AI and space ambitions.

• Waymo, a Mountain View, California-based autonomous driving company, raised $16B in growth funding at a $126B valuation. Dragoneer, DST, and Sequoia led the round alongside Alphabet and major crossover funds.

• Polestar, a Gothenburg, Sweden-based EV maker, raised $400M in equity financing led by Feathertop Funding Limited.

• Skyryse, an El Segundo, California-based aviation automation company, raised $300M in Series C funding.

• Midi Health, a U.S.-based virtual women’s health clinic, raised $100M in Series D funding led by Goodwater Capital.

• Shield Technology Partners, a Tampa Bay-based IT services platform, raised $100M in growth funding from Thrive Holdings.

• Overland AI, a Seattle-based defense autonomy startup, raised $100M led by 8VC.

• Kings League, a Barcelona-based creator-led football league, raised $63M to fuel global expansion.

• GenLogs, an Arlington, Virginia-based logistics intelligence startup, raised $60M in Series B funding led by Battery Ventures.

🚀 Series A

• Linq, a Birmingham-based AI messaging startup, raised $20M in Series A funding led by TQ Ventures.

• Kasada, a New York-based bot mitigation platform, raised $20M in growth funding led by EQT.

• Loop AI, a San Francisco-based AI back-office platform for restaurants and retail, raised $14M in Series A funding.

🌱 Seed & Early Rounds

• Breezy, a Los Angeles-based AI platform for real estate professionals, raised $10M in pre-seed funding.

• Ditto, a Berkeley-based matchmaking app for college students, raised $9.2M in seed funding.

• Breakthrough Ventures, a Stanford-based student accelerator, raised $2M to launch its national program.

🤝 Strategic, M&A & Undisclosed

• Marzetti, a Columbus, Ohio-based food manufacturer, acquired Bachan’s, a California-based sauce brand, for $400M.

• GrubMarket, a San Francisco-based food supply chain platform, acquired Procurant for undisclosed terms.

• Fleet, a Paris-based IT equipment subscription company, completed its first external investment at a €100M valuation.

💸 VC Funds Raised & Raising

• Ariel Investments, a Chicago-based asset manager, raised $250M for its women’s sports-focused fund.

• Yosemite, an oncology-focused venture firm, closed $200M for Fund II and is targeting $350M.

Founders: Want to be featured on @tradedvc? → traded.co/submit/vc

📚 Read of the Day

🤖 Clawdbot Isn’t Viral. It’s Asymmetric.

Clawdbot’s breakout moment looked like mass adoption, but the data tells a different story. A small cohort of highly engaged power users drove most usage, feedback, and visibility, while casual users churned quickly.

The takeaway for founders and investors is clear: early buzz can mask narrow but deep product-market fit. Tools like Clawdbot may still win big, but only if they either broaden the core user base or fully commit to serving power users as the primary customer.

👉 Read The Whole Story Here: https://tomtunguz.com/moltbook-participation-inequality/

📚 Read of the Day

🤖 A Deep Dive Into Clawdbot/Moltbot/OpenClaw

Clawdbot’s breakout moment looked like mass adoption, but the data tells a different story. A small cohort of highly engaged power users drove most usage, feedback, and visibility, while casual users churned quickly.

The takeaway for founders and investors is clear: early buzz can mask narrow but deep product-market fit. Tools like Clawdbot may still win big, but only if they either broaden the core user base or fully commit to serving power users as the primary customer.

👉 Read The Whole Story Here: https://tomtunguz.com/moltbook-participation-inequality/

🌴 Florida Funders Venture Summit 2026

We’re excited to be the official media partner for Venture Summit 2026, Florida Funders’ flagship gathering of top founders, operators, and investors shaping the next generation of venture-backed companies. The event features high-signal conversations, curated networking, and unfiltered insights on building, scaling, and exiting companies — with Braxton Berrios and Geoffrey Woo among the featured voices.

This isn’t a conference for spectators. It’s built for founders and operators who want real takeaways and real connections inside the Florida Funders ecosystem.

👉 Sign up for Venture Summit 2026

📰 Other News You Don’t Want To Miss

💰 Y Combinator will let startups receive funding in stablecoins — YC is allowing founders in its Spring 2026 batch to receive their standard investment via stablecoins, signaling deeper crypto normalization in startup finance.

🧠 Intel will start making GPUs, a market dominated by Nvidia — Intel is assembling a dedicated GPU team as it attempts to challenge Nvidia’s dominance and regain relevance in AI compute.

🚀 Musk’s SpaceX to merge with xAI at $1.25T total value — Elon Musk is consolidating his AI and space ambitions into a single entity spanning launch, satellites, and frontier AI.

🧑‍💻 OpenAI launches the Codex macOS app — OpenAI quietly released a native desktop app for its Codex coding agent, pushing AI-assisted software development deeper into daily workflows.

🚗 China moves to ban hidden electronic car door handles — New safety rules will require mechanical door releases by 2027, forcing automakers to rethink Tesla-style design trends.

⚖️ X’s Paris HQ raided by French prosecutors — French authorities searched X’s offices as part of an investigation tied to regulatory and governance compliance.