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Boldstart’s $250M Bet on Enterprise Infra, Billion-Dollar EV Battery Bets, EarthGPT and Synfini’s AI Drug Push Goes Global

Boldstart’s $250M Bet on Enterprise Infra, Billion-Dollar EV Battery Bets, EarthGPT and Synfini’s AI Drug Push Goes Global

Oh, and also — Headway is building a lifelong learning empire for 150M+ users, ALTR is removing alcohol without killing the buzz, and AI is powering eye screenings, fintech compliance, and Belgium’s next-gen invoicing tools.

Traded: Venture Capital
July 10, 2025

Your dose of daily dealflow, essential VC & tech trends to know. The biggest moves in venture, all in one place. Celebrating startups, founders, and funders.

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👋 Let’s get right into it…

MaintainX just raised a commanding $150M Series D to scale its AI-powered maintenance platform for industrial ops. With Bessemer, Bain, and D.E. Shaw behind them, the SF startup is turning clipboards and spreadsheets into intelligent, real-time workflows for frontline teams.

Ionic Mineral Technologies, a Delaware-based battery tech play, secured $29M Series B to mass-produce Ionisil™ and IonAl™—critical minerals for the U.S. EV battery supply chain. It’s a major step for domestic energy resilience and verticalized clean tech.

INSHUR snagged $35M in growth capital from Trinity Capital to build AI-driven insurance for the on-demand economy. Think Uber drivers, delivery fleets, and gig logistics—finally getting policies that evolve with the job.

And Synfini, the Menlo Park biotech, raised $8.9M to ramp up AI-led drug development for small molecules. With $53M total now in the bank, they’re pushing the limits on how fast novel therapies can be designed and brought to market.

🧠 Dopamine Dealflow

MaintainX (San Francisco, CA) – Raised $150 M Series D, led by Bessemer Venture Partners, Bain Capital Ventures, and D.E. Shaw, to advance its AI-powered maintenance and asset management platform.
ServiceUp (Palo Alto, CA) – Raised $55 M Series B, led by PeakSpan Capital, to provide a full‑stack tech platform for vehicle repair management.
Moment (New York, NY) – Raised $36 M Series B, led by Index Ventures, to automate fixed‑income trading workflows.
INSHUR (New York, NY) – Raised $35 M growth capital, from Trinity Capital, to expand U.S. presence and build AI‑powered insurance for the on‑demand economy.
Ionic Mineral Technologies (Wilmington, DE) – Raised $29 M Series B, to scale production of Ionisil™ and IonAl™ battery materials for the domestic EV supply chain.
Synfini (Menlo Park, CA) – Raised $8.9 M expansion, led by JSL Health Capital, bringing total funding to $53 M, to accelerate AI‑driven small‑molecule drug development.
Castellum.AI (New York, NY) – Raised $8.5 M Series A, led by Curql, to power AML/KYC compliance with AI.
ALTR (Phoenix, AZ) – Raised $5 M seed, led by Demeter with Suntory, Techmind, AZ Venture Capital, FTW Ventures, Bluestein, Solvable & Xinomavro, to commercialize alcohol‑removal beverage tech.
ZeroEntropy (San Francisco, CA) – Raised $4.2 M seed, backed by Initialized, YC, a16z Scout & angels, to enhance AI search retrieval.
Skleo Health (Munich, Germany) – Raised €3 M seed, led by Sanoptis, Antler & angels, to build an AI‑powered eye‑screening network.
ScienceMachine (London, UK) – Raised $3.5 M pre‑seed, led by Revent & Nucleus, to automate biotech data analysis via AI.
Oraion (Dublin, Ireland) – Raised €2.9 M pre‑seed, led by Studio VC & Enterprise Ireland, to roll out AI enterprise intelligence.
Cashfeed (Ghent, Belgium) – Raised €1.3 M, led by Pitchdrive & VLAIO, to streamline AI invoicing in Belgium.
Headway Inc (Remote/global) – Raised undisclosed Series A, led by Bullhound Capital, to build AI-driven lifelong learning ecosystem for 150M+ users.
Clear Capital (Irving, TX) – Received strategic investment, from GTCR for real estate analytics and valuation tech expansion.
Technical Toolboxes (Houston, TX) – Received strategic growth investment, from BVP Forge for its energy‑infrastructure maintenance software.
WANotifier (Dover, UK) – Raised undisclosed pre‑seed, backed by TinySeed via its EMEA Fall ’24 accelerator, to boost its all‑in‑one WhatsApp marketing SaaS.

💸 VC Funds Raised & Raising

Permira is targeting $12B for its latest flagship buyout fund in its first major raise under new co-CEOs.
Levine Leichtman Capital Partners raised $3.6B for its seventh private equity fund.
Exponent raised over $1.2B for its latest flagship fund targeting mid-market investments across Europe.
Manulife Investment Management raised $1.1B for its third and largest co-investment fund to date.
The Hong Kong Jockey Club is set to divest up to $1B from funds managed by Blackstone, Warburg Pincus, CD&R, and TA Associates amid rising trade tensions.
Boldstart Ventures closed its seventh fund at $250M to back enterprise startups from inception.
Heavybit raised over $180M across its fifth pre-seed/seed fund and its second opportunity vehicle, continuing its focus on developer-first and enterprise infrastructure.