🧑‍🚀 Top Deals You Can’t Miss

1. Accel — $5 billion fund close, the firm's largest late-stage AI vehicle yet, on the back of Anthropic and Cursor markups.

2. Lucid — $750 million growth round led by Saudi PIF's Ayar Third Investment and with participation from Uber.

3. Sygaldry Technologies — $105 million Series A for quantum-accelerated AI server infrastructure.

Dopamine Dealflow

Series B+ & Growth

• Lucid | $750M | Growth | Newark, CA

  Designs and manufactures luxury EVs and autonomous driving platforms. Saudi PIF's Ayar Third Investment led with $550 million in preferred stock and were joined by Uber, which invested $200 million in common stock.

• Glydways | $170M | Series C | San Francisco, CA

  Builds autonomous robocar transit networks for cities and campuses. Suzuki Motor Corporation, ACS Group, and Khosla Ventures co-led the round with participation from Obayashi Corp., Gates Frontier, and Mitsui Chemicals.

• nEye.ai | $80M | Series C | Santa Clara, CA
  Develops optical circuit switching hardware that replaces electrical switches inside AI data center fabrics to cut latency and power draw.

• Adcendo | $75M | Series C | Copenhagen, Denmark
  Clinical-stage biotech advancing a pipeline of antibody-drug conjugates targeting underserved solid tumors. The round funds pipeline expansion into late-stage trials.

• Mintlify | $45M | Series B | San Francisco, CA
  Builds AI-ready documentation infrastructure now powering docs for Microsoft, Anthropic, Coinbase, and PayPal, with more than half of read traffic now coming from AI agents. Andreessen Horowitz and Salesforce Ventures co-led at a $500 million valuation.

• Bluefish | $43M | Series B | New York, NY

  Powers agentic marketing for the Fortune 500, helping brands manage visibility across AI tools like ChatGPT and Gemini. Threshold Ventures and NEA co-led the round.

• Synera | $40M | Series B | Bremen, Germany
  Agentic AI platform for industrial engineering workflows, helping manufacturers automate simulation and design pipelines.

• Calyxo | $40M | Series F | Pleasanton, CA
  Medical device company commercializing a minimally invasive system for kidney stone removal. Funds push commercial rollout and expanded hospital coverage.

• Spiral Therapeutics | $27M | Series B | San Francisco, CA
  Clinical-stage biotech developing therapies for inner ear disorders including sudden sensorineural hearing loss.

Series A

• Sygaldry Technologies | $105M | Series A | Ann Arbor, MI
  Designs quantum-accelerated server infrastructure that pairs quantum co-processors with AI compute for high-value scientific and enterprise workloads.

• Critical Loop | $26M | Series A | Los Angeles, CA

  Deploys modular microgrids that help industrial sites bypass multi-year grid queues and get power in days. Conifer Infrastructure Partners and Hanover co-led the round and were joined by Better Ventures, Climate Capital, Adapt Nation Capital, and Cyrus Ventures.

• Phonely | $16M | Series A | San Francisco, CA

  AI voice platform that handles inbound calls for businesses, booking 20% more appointments than human call centers at 80% lower cost. Base10 Partners led the round and was joined by Y Combinator, Etech Global Services, TSA Group, and Engage CX.

• Ratio | $15.8M | Venture Round | San Francisco, CA

  Operates an AI fintech platform that helps B2B tech scale-ups solve cash flow constraints, with $100 million in lending capacity secured alongside the round.

• Wamo | €10M | Series A | London, UK

  Provides a financial operating platform for SMEs across Europe with over 15,000 customers. 3TS Capital Partners led the round with participation from Oleka.

Seed & Early Rounds

• Pillar | $20M | Seed | New York, NY
  Uses AI to parse contracts, ERPs, spreadsheets, and messaging apps to manage real-time commodity price risk for metals, food, and airline firms. Andreessen Horowitz led, joined by Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi, Crucible Capital, and Gallery Ventures.

• Prefix | $7.5M | Seed | New York, NY

  Offers an AI-powered facility management platform for multisite restaurant and retail operators, serving nearly 2,000 locations. Collide Capital and Slow Ventures co-led the round.

• Round | $6M | Seed | London, UK

  Automates finance operations for high-growth companies, combining treasury, AP, FX, and payroll in one AI-powered platform. Alstin Capital led the round and were joined by Backed VC, Love Ventures, and Passion Capital.

• Flora Fertility | $5M | Seed | Calgary, Canada and Chicago, IL

  Launched the first individually-owned fertility insurance platform with policies starting at $20/month. ManchesterStory led the round and were joined by Slauson & Co., TruStage Ventures, and BDC Capital.

• Orbital | Undisclosed | Seed | Los Angeles, CA

  Plans to put AI data centers in low-Earth orbit, with its first test mission on SpaceX Falcon 9 in April 2027. a16z Speedrun led the round.

Strategic, M&A & Undisclosed

• Amazon acquires Globalstar | $11.57B | Acquisition | Covington, LA

  The deal gives Amazon satellite infrastructure and spectrum licenses to build a direct-to-device system launching in 2028.

• Eli Lilly acquires Orna Therapeutics | Up to $2.4B | Acquisition | Indianapolis, IN
  The deal adds Orna Therapeutics' in-vivo engineered immune cell platform to Lilly's oncology and immunology pipeline.

• Hexagon acquires Waygate | $1.45B | Acquisition | Stockholm, Sweden
  The deal strengthens Hexagon's industrial inspection and measurement stack by absorbing Baker Hughes' Waygate non-destructive testing unit.

• Deutsche Börse takes stake in Kraken | $200M | Strategic | San Francisco, CA

  The deal values the crypto exchange at $13.3 billion and deepens the bridge between traditional finance and digital assets.

• Finnish Long Drink acquired by Mark Anthony Group | Undisclosed | Acquisition | New York, NY
  The deal brings the celebrity-backed RTD brand (Miles Teller, Rickie Fowler, Kygo) under White Claw's parent company.

VC Funds Raised & Raising

• Accel | $5B | Fund Close | Palo Alto, CA
  Fifth Leaders Fund closes at $4 billion with a $650 million sidecar, targeting 20 to 25 late-stage AI bets at roughly $200 million average check, following Anthropic and Cursor markups.

• Lockheed Martin Ventures | $1B | Fund Expansion | Bethesda, MD

  Increased venture fund capacity from $400 million to $1 billion, the largest expansion since its 2007 inception, targeting AI, quantum, autonomy, and defense tech.

• Spain Biotech Fund | $200M | New Fund | Cambridge, MA

  The Spanish government is seeding a new biotech VC fund with $57 million, targeting life sciences commercialization in Massachusetts's biotech ecosystem.

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Read of the Day

Amazon Bets $11.57 Billion on Globalstar to Build a Satellite Empire

The e-commerce giant just made its biggest infrastructure acquisition in years.

On April 14, Amazon announced a definitive agreement to acquire satellite operator Globalstar for $90 per share in cash or stock, valuing the deal at approximately $11.57 billion. The acquisition gives Amazon Globalstar's constellation of low-Earth orbit satellites, ground infrastructure, and globally authorized spectrum licenses, all critical components for building Amazon's direct-to-device satellite system.

The Strategy

Amazon's Project Kuiper has been racing to deploy 3,236 broadband satellites, but this deal addresses a different gap: connecting everyday smartphones directly to satellites without special hardware. The D2D system is expected to begin deploying in 2028. Amazon confirmed it will honor Globalstar's existing contract to power Apple's emergency SOS satellite features, turning a competitor relationship into a revenue stream.

The Backstory

Globalstar shareholders can elect to receive either $90 in cash or 0.3210 shares of Amazon common stock per share. The deal is expected to close in 2027, pending regulatory approvals and deployment milestones. Amazon had already invested $2 billion in Globalstar in a previous deal.

Why It Matters

This positions Amazon as a direct competitor to SpaceX's Starlink in satellite connectivity, while also locking in a critical infrastructure layer for the Apple ecosystem. With over 10,000 Starlink satellites already in orbit, Amazon is buying its way into the race rather than building from scratch. For the broader satellite industry, this signals that direct-to-device connectivity, not just broadband, may be the real battleground for the next decade.

👉 Read The Whole Story Here

Other News You Don’t Want To Miss

• Novo Nordisk Partners With OpenAI to Transform Drug Discovery and Delivery

  The Wegovy maker will integrate OpenAI's AI capabilities across drug discovery, manufacturing, and commercial operations, with full deployment by end of 2026.

• OpenAI Slams Anthropic in Shareholder Memo as AI Rivalry Intensifies

  OpenAI's chief revenue officer accused Anthropic of overstating revenue by $8 billion and operating on a meaningfully smaller compute curve.

• Apple's Foldable iPhone Remains on Track for September 2026 Launch

  The iPhone Fold enters trial production with a 7.8-inch internal display, sub-5mm thickness when unfolded, and an expected $2,000+ price tag.

• Quantum Computing Stocks Surge on World Quantum Day

  IonQ soared 18% and D-Wave jumped 16% as both companies reported breakout commercial traction and revenue growth exceeding 400%.

• Japan Approves Additional $4 Billion for Chipmaker Rapidus

  The latest disbursement brings total government support to $16.3 billion as Rapidus races to begin mass production of 2nm chips by fiscal year 2027.