🧑‍🚀 Top Deals You Can’t Miss

1️⃣ KKR – $1.4B acquisition of Arctos, taking full control of the fast-growing sports franchise investment platform as institutional capital floods into pro sports.

2️⃣ Bob’s Discount Furniture – IPOs for a $330M raise at a $2.2B valuation.

3️⃣ Once Upon a Farm – ~$198 raise in IPO, with shares jumping 30%+ on debut, signaling renewed public-market demand for premium consumer brands with real revenue.

🧠 Dopamine Dealflow

🌳 Series B+ & Growth

• Databricks, a San Francisco, CA-based data and AI infrastructure company, raised $5 billion in late-stage funding at a $134 billion valuation. Lead investors included JPMorgan Chase, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Qatar Investment Authority, and existing backers as the company signals IPO readiness.

• SambaNova Systems, a Palo Alto, CA-based AI chip and systems startup, raised $350+ million in growth funding. Lead investors were led by Vista Equity Partners and were joined by Intel and other strategic and institutional backers.

• Fundamental, a San Francisco-based AI company building large tabular models for enterprise data prediction, raised $255 million in Series A funding. Lead investors led the round and were joined by strategic and institutional backers.

• Tomorrow.io, a Boston, MA-based weather intelligence and climate analytics company, raised $175 million in equity financing. Lead investors were led by Stonecourt Capital and HarbourVest Partners and were joined by existing investors as the company scales its AI-powered forecasting platform.

• Goodfire, a San Francisco-based AI interpretability company, raised $150 million in Series B funding. Lead investors led the round and were joined by existing backers.

• Connect Music, a Memphis, TN-based music rights and technology company, raised $80 million in funding. Lead investors Rockmont Partners and Variant Investments led the round and were joined by existing shareholders.

• Accrual, a San Francisco-based AI-native accounting platform, raised $75 million in funding. Lead investors led the round and were joined by existing investors.

• Urban SDK, a Jacksonville-based geospatial AI platform for governments, raised $65 million in growth funding. Lead investors led the round and were joined by strategic backers.

• Gather AI, a Pittsburgh, PA-based warehouse inventory intelligence company using autonomous drones and computer vision, raised $40 million in Series B funding. Lead investors were led by Smith Point Capital Management and were joined by Bain Capital Ventures, Tribeca Venture Partners, and Qualcomm Ventures.

• Forerunner, a San Francisco-based AI platform for governments managing the built environment, raised $39 million in funding. Lead investors led the round and were joined by existing investors.

• Turnstile, a San Francisco-based quote-to-cash platform for sales-led startups, raised $29 million in funding. Lead investors led the round and were joined by additional backers.

🚀 Series A

• Daytona, a New York-based infrastructure company building computers for AI agents, raised $24 million in Series A funding. Lead investors led the round and were joined by strategic backers.

• Nixtla, a San Francisco-based time-series intelligence company, raised $16 million in Series A funding. Lead investors led the round and were joined by existing investors.

• Duna, an Amsterdam- and Berlin-based AI-native business identity platform, raised €30 million in Series A funding. Lead investors led the round and were joined by additional backers.

• Capalo AI, a Helsinki-based energy optimization company, raised €11 million in Series A funding. Lead investors led the round and were joined by existing investors.

🌱 Seed & Early Rounds

• Adaption Labs, a San Francisco-based adaptive intelligence startup, raised $50 million in seed funding. Lead investors led the round and were joined by returning backers.

• Nullify, a San Francisco-based AI workforce platform for product security, raised $12.5 million in seed funding. Lead investors led the round and were joined by additional investors.

• Chiral, a Zurich-based nanotechnology startup focused on semiconductor and quantum materials, raised $12 million in seed funding. Lead investors led the round and were joined by institutional backers.

• Linkup, a San Francisco-based web search and retrieval platform for AI products, raised $10 million in seed funding. Lead investors led the round and were joined by strategic investors.

• Cadastral, a New York-based AI-native software company serving commercial real estate, raised $9.5 million in funding. Lead investors led the round and were joined by additional backers.

• Advance, a New York-based financial platform for insurance providers, raised $8.55 million in seed funding. Lead investors led the round and were joined by existing investors.

• Uptool, a San Mateo, CA-based industrial AI software company, raised $6 million in Seed funding. Lead investors were led by Khosla Ventures, Eclipse Ventures, Bessemer Venture Partners, and Kleiner Perkins.

🤝 Strategic, M&A & Undisclosed

• Eli Lilly and Company, an Indianapolis, IN-based pharmaceutical company, agreed to acquire Orna Therapeutics, a Cambridge, MA-based RNA medicines startup, for up to $2.4 billion. Lead acquirer Eli Lilly is expanding its RNA therapeutics and in-vivo gene delivery pipeline.

• KKR acquired Arctos, a Dallas-based sports franchise investment firm, for $1.4 billion, expanding institutional ownership in professional sports.

• Kirin Holdings, a Tokyo, Japan-based beverage conglomerate, agreed to sell its Four Roses bourbon brand to E. & J. Gallo Winery for up to $775 million. Lead acquirer Gallo is expanding its U.S. spirits portfolio.

• Uber, a San Francisco, CA-based ride-hailing and delivery platform, agreed to acquire the delivery operations of Getir, an Istanbul, Turkey-based rapid-commerce company, for $435 million. Lead acquirer Uber will integrate Getir’s operations into Uber Eats.

• Bob’s Discount Furniture – IPOs for a $330M raise at a $2.2B valuation.

• Once Upon a Farm, a Berkeley-based organic baby food company, completed a ~$$198 raise in IPO, with shares jumping 30%+ on debut

• Crypto.com, a Singapore-based crypto exchange and financial services company, acquired the AI.com domain for $70 million, marking one of the largest domain purchases ever as the company makes a consumer AI branding push ahead of the Super Bowl.

• Beast Industries, a Greenville, NC-based creator-led media and consumer holding company founded by MrBeast, acquired Step, a San Francisco, CA-based fintech startup offering a banking and payments app for Gen Z. Financial terms were not disclosed.

💸 VC Funds Raised & Raising

• Layer Global, a newly launched investment firm founded by former General Atlantic executive Anton Levy, is raising a $1 billion AI-focused fund targeting late-stage and growth-stage AI and software companies globally.

• 2048 Ventures, a New York- and Boston-based seed-stage VC firm, closed its $82 million third fund.

• Metavallon VC, an Athens-based venture firm, launched Brain Gain, a €5 million fund backing deeptech and life sciences founders building teams in Greece.

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

📚 Read of the Day

🏈 Anthropic Takes the Super Bowl Stage in the AI Branding War

Anthropic didn’t just buy a Super Bowl ad for Claude; it used the biggest stage in media to take a direct swing at OpenAI’s decision to stuff ads into ChatGPT. The spots parody “helpful” AI assistants that suddenly pivot into cringey product pitches, before landing the punch line: “Ads are coming to AI. But not to Claude.” It’s a clear attempt to paint OpenAI as the manipulative, ad-driven chatbot and Claude as the cleaner, more trustworthy alternative as the AI wars spill into mainstream culture.

Why it matters:
This is no longer a quiet model benchmark rivalry; it’s open‑air brand combat over who owns “trustworthy AI” in the consumer’s mind. By publicly dissing OpenAI’s ad strategy in front of 100M+ viewers, Anthropic is betting that being the anti‑ads assistant is a durable brand wedge in an increasingly crowded AI market.

👉 Read The Whole Story Here

🏈 Super Bowl Markets powered by Kalshi

📺 Technology & AI Brands Advertising During the Super Bowl

(Odds reflect Yes probability as of early Feb 2026, aggregated from Kalshi)

• OpenAI — ✅ 

• Amazon (Prime) — ✅

• Coinbase — ✅

• Anthropic — ❌

• xAI / Grok — ❌

• Gemini — ✅

• Perplexity AI — ❌

• Tesla — ❌

👀 Celebrity Attendance Markets — Tech Leaders & Founders

(Probability the individual attends in person during the broadcast)

• Elon Musk — ❌

• Sam Altman — ❌

• Jeff Bezos — ❌

• Bill Gates — ❌

(Non-tech celebrities excluded for relevance)

🎙️ Broadcast Mention Markets — Tech-Related Terms

(Probability the term is spoken on-air during the broadcast)

• “Traded” — ✅

📚 Read of the Day

🏈 Anthropic Takes the Super Bowl Stage in the AI Branding War

Anthropic didn’t just buy a Super Bowl ad for Claude; it used the biggest stage in media to take a direct swing at OpenAI’s decision to bring ads into ChatGPT. The spots parody “helpful” AI assistants that abruptly pivot into cringey product promos, before landing the line: “Ads are coming to AI. But not to Claude.”​

The message to founders, operators, and investors is straightforward: this is no longer a quiet model‑benchmark rivalry, it is a public fight over who owns “trustworthy AI” in the mainstream consumer psyche. By rejecting chatbot ads while OpenAI leans into them, Anthropic is betting that being the anti‑ads assistant becomes a durable brand wedge, even if it means walking away from a major monetization lever in the near term.

👉 Read The Whole Story Here

🌴 Florida Funders Venture Summit 2026

We’re excited to serve as the official media partner for FLF Venture Summit 2026, Florida Funders’ flagship event, bringing together active investors, experienced operators, and high-quality founders shaping the next wave of venture-backed companies. The summit is built around high-signal discussions, curated investor access, and candid perspectives on scaling, liquidity, and exits, with Braxton Berrios and Geoffrey Woo among the featured voices.

This isn’t a passive conference. It’s a deal-oriented gathering for investors and operators focused on sourcing opportunities, sharing real insights, and engaging directly with the Florida Funders ecosystem.

👉 Sign up for Venture Summit 2026

📰 Other News You Don’t Want To Miss

🏈 Anthropic takes Super Bowl ad swing as it battles OpenAI for mindshare
— The AI rivalry goes mainstream as brand, trust, and monetization models collide.

💘 Tinder looks to AI to help fight swipe fatigue and dating app burnout
— AI recommendations move deeper into consumer engagement products.

🎬 Amazon to begin testing AI tools for film and TV production
— Hollywood becomes the next AI experimentation ground.

🔍 Reddit looks to AI search as its next big opportunity
— Search meets community data at scale.

🤖 Anthropic releases Opus 4.6 with new agent teams
— AI agents move closer to enterprise-grade workflows.