🧑‍🚀 Top Deals You Can’t Miss

1️⃣ Avride – $375M raise to scale autonomous robotaxis with Uber and Nebius, leading Europe’s AI mobility push.

2️⃣ Redwood Materials – $350M growth financing to expand U.S. battery recycling and energy storage infrastructure.

3️⃣ Chainguard – $280M growth round, securing its lead in software supply chain security.

🧠 Dopamine Dealflow

🌳 Series B+ & Growth

• Avride, a Switzerland-based autonomous mobility startup, raised $375M to scale robotaxis with Uber and Nebius.

• Redwood Materials, a Carson City, NV-based battery recycling and materials firm, raised $350M in growth financing.

• Chainguard, a Kirkland, WA-based software supply chain security platform, raised $280M in growth funding.

• Shop My Shelf (ShopMy), a NYC-based curated commerce infrastructure company, raised $70M at a $1.5B valuation.

• UnifyApps, a NYC-based enterprise OS for AI, raised $50M in Series B funding.

• CurbWaste, a NYC-based operating system for independent waste haulers, raised $28M in Series B funding.

🚀 Series A

• Elevara Medicines, a London-based biotech targeting rheumatoid arthritis and inflammation, raised $70M in Series A funding.

• Keycard, a San Francisco-based identity and access platform for AI agents, raised $38M across Seed and Series A rounds.

• Sumble, a San Francisco GTM data platform, launched with $38.5M in Seed and Series A funding.

• GradBridge, a Wilmington, DE fintech for private student lending, raised $20M in Series A funding.

• Riff (formerly Databutton), an Oslo-based operator app platform, raised $16M in Series A.

• Cybrid, a Toronto-based stablecoin and fiat payments platform, raised $10M in Series A.

• Wolf Games, a Los Angeles-based generative entertainment company, raised $9M in Series A.

• Mondra, a London-based AI supply chain intelligence platform, raised £10M (~$12M) in Series A.

🌱 Seed & Early Rounds

• Pila Energy, a San Francisco-based maker of mesh home batteries, raised $4M in Seed funding.

• Janta Power, a Dallas-based developer of 3D solar tower systems, raised $5.5M in Seed funding.

• MythWorx, a Dallas-based AI/AGI reasoning startup, raised $5M in Seed funding at a $100M valuation.

• Bricklayer AI, an Arlington, VA-based AI cybersecurity platform, raised $5M in Seed funding.

• Syntracts, a Washington, DC-based API-first contract intelligence platform, raised $5.3M in Seed funding.

• smartbax, a Munich-based biotech developing next-gen antibiotics, raised €4.7M (~$5M) in Pre-Series A funding.

• Hulo, a Dutch WaterTech startup using AI to detect leaks, raised €2.3M (~$2.5M) in Seed funding.

• Chipmind, a Zurich-based AI microchip development startup, raised $2.5M in Seed funding.

• Rightcharge, a London-based EV charging payments platform, raised £1.6M (~$2M) in Seed funding.

• Pavewise, a Bismarck, ND-based road construction software company, raised $2.5M in Seed funding.

🤝 Strategic, M&A & Undisclosed

• Griffin Gaming Partners, a Los Angeles VC focused on gaming, acquired Playdigious, a French studio, for €10.5M (~$11M).

• Omni, a San Francisco BI and analytics platform, acquired Explo, an embedded analytics startup.

📈 VC Funds Raised & Raising

• Polaris Partners, a Boston-based VC firm, is raising $500M for its eleventh fund.

• Burnt Island Ventures, a NYC-based water innovation VC, closed its second fund at $50M.

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

📚 Read of the Day

👁️ Sam Altman’s Eye-Scanning Orb Wants to Prove You’re Human

Worldcoin’s latest push reignites the debate around digital identity and AI-age privacy.

What Happened:

Sam Altman’s crypto-biometric startup Worldcoin unveiled new updates to its Orb, a silver sphere that scans users’ irises to verify they’re human. The goal: create a global proof-of-personhood network to distinguish real people from bots as AI-generated content floods the web.

The Product Pitch

Worldcoin’s Orb captures an iris pattern to issue a World ID, letting users prove they’re real without revealing private data. It ties into a crypto token system that could evolve into universal digital identity and payments.

The Backstory

Co-founded by OpenAI’s Sam Altman, Worldcoin has drawn privacy scrutiny since launch — but has surpassed 5 million verified users, with fastest growth in Latin America and Africa.

Why It Matters

As AI blurs human-machine boundaries, identity verification is becoming a foundational layer of the web. Altman’s Orb could either anchor the next phase of digital trust or define the limits of biometric ambition.

👉 Read The Whole Story Here

📰 News You Don’t Want To Miss

🚲 Rivian spinoff drops $4,500 modular e-bike — Expands from EVs into premium, customizable micromobility.

🕶️ Amazon unveils AI smart glasses for drivers — Aims to boost route accuracy and delivery efficiency.

👁️ Sam Altman’s eye-scanning Orb wants to prove you’re human — Worldcoin stirs privacy debate as AI identity checks expand.

💰 Trump weighs pardon for Binance founder Changpeng Zhao — The former president’s comments shake up crypto and regulatory chatter.