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  • Ferrero (Nutella) Nears Deal to Acquire Kellogg, XPANCEO’s Night Vision Contact-Lenses, Slate Auto’s Bezos-Backed EV Trucks, and $6.8B Coller Credit Fund Goes Big

Ferrero (Nutella) Nears Deal to Acquire Kellogg, XPANCEO’s Night Vision Contact-Lenses, Slate Auto’s Bezos-Backed EV Trucks, and $6.8B Coller Credit Fund Goes Big

Oh, and also — Also Inc. spun out of Rivian with $200M, Centivax is testing a universal flu vax, and AI-powered lenses, carbon-negative data centers, and EV trucks are dominating the July VC charts.

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👋 Let’s get right into it…

Today’s venture pulse is lit with AI optics, EV upstarts, and carbon-negative compute.

XPANCEO landed a jaw-dropping $250M Series A to build AI-powered AR contact lenses—a moonshot that merges spatial computing, biosensing, and real-time translation. Backed by Opportunity Venture (Asia), the Dubai-based team is aiming to make screens obsolete—starting with your eyeballs.

Slate Auto, a stealthy EV truck company out of LA, locked in $100M+ Series A from a dream team of 16 investors—Jeff Bezos, General Catalyst, Slauson & Co, and others. They’re betting big on customizable, modular electric trucks, designed for drivers who want more than Tesla’s one-size-fits-all.

Centivax pulled in $45M Series A to advance its universal flu vaccine into human trials. With NFX and Future Ventures leading, the Menlo Park biotech is chasing a holy grail in infectious disease—prevention that scales.

Meanwhile, Arbor Energy raised $41M to build the first CO₂-sequestering, biomass-powered data center. Backed by the Frontier coalition (Stripe, Google, Meta), the New Orleans-based company is flipping the switch on carbon-negative compute—and giving hyperscalers a new playbook.

🧠 Dopamine Dealflow

  • XPANCEO (Dubai, UAE) – $250M Series A led by Opportunity Venture (Asia) to build AI-powered AR smart contact lenses.

  • Also Inc. (Irvine, CA) – $200M raise led by Greenoaks Capital to build e‑bikes and micro‑EVs. Spun out of Rivian, following a $105M raise from Eclipse Ventures.

  • Slate Auto (Los Angeles, CA) – $100M+ Series A from 16 investors (Jeff Bezos, Mark Walter, General Catalyst, Slauson & Co) to build customizable EV trucks.

  • Centivax (Menlo Park, CA) – $45M Series A led by Future Ventures and NFX to advance its universal flu vaccine into clinical trials.

  • Arbor Energy (New Orleans, LA) – $41M from Frontier (Stripe, Google, Meta) to build a biomass‑powered, CO₂‑sequestering data center.

  • Honor Education (San Francisco, CA) – $38M Series A from Alpha Edison, Wasserstein & Co to scale its AI‑driven personalized learning platform.

  • Tulum Energy (Cambridge, MA) – $27M Seed led by TDK Ventures and CDP to produce hydrogen and carbon via methane pyrolysis.

  • Parspec (Palo Alto, CA) – $20M Series A from Threshold Ventures to modernize construction supply chains with AI-native software.

  • RoofMarketplace (Madison, WI) – $7M Series A led by Wingra Capital to streamline roofing claim processing.

  • Brainfish (Singapore) – $6.4M pre‑Series A led by Prosus Ventures to launch Ambient AI CX in the U.S.

  • Novenda Technologies (Eindhoven, Netherlands) – $6.1M Series A for AI-powered dental 3D printing, led by Brightlands.

  • OneText (Brooklyn, NY) – $4.5M Seed from Khosla Ventures, Coatue, Citi Ventures, YC to simplify purchases via text.

  • Tandem (Paris, France) – $3.8M Seed from Tribe Capital for in‑app AI agents.

  • Rivr (Montreal, Canada) – C$3.6M Seed led by GreenSky Ventures for AI-powered video search and content discovery.

  • OllyGarden (Austin, TX) – $1.6M pre‑Seed led by DIG Ventures to enhance telemetry observability.

  • Glass Box Technology (Dallas, TX) – Strategic investment from Panther Equity Group to grow IT managed‑services.

  • Flexi Software (New York, NY) – Strategic investment from Quality Standard to enhance accounting tools for financial firms.

💸 VC Funds Raised & Raising

  • Coller Capital raised $6.8B for its second credit opportunities fund, doubling down on the secondaries market.

  • One Rock Capital Partners raised $4B across its latest flagship fund and its debut lower mid-market fund, expanding its private equity portfolio.

  • New Mountain Capital plans to raise $2B for its debut secondaries strategy focused on backing single-asset continuation funds.

  • Pinegrove Capital Partners, a Brookfield-backed VC investor, is raising an $800M credit fund to target structured growth opportunities.

  • Red Dot Capital Partners raised $320M for its third tech startup fund, continuing its focus on scaling Israeli innovation.

  • Ego Death Capital raised $100M for its second Bitcoin-focused fund, backing founders building the decentralized future.

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