Ben Geman / Axios: Emerald AI, whose software lets AI data centers flexibly adjust power consumption, raised a $24.5M seed led by Radical Ventures, with NVentures participating — AI giant Nvidia and boldface names in tech and finance are backing a new startup that aims to transform data centers into flexible grid assets instead of liabilities.
Dan Primack / Axios: PitchBook: AI startups received 53% of all global VC dollars invested in H1 2025, rising to 64% in the US, and accounted for 29% of all global startups funded — Artificial intelligence is eating venture capital. Or at least its dollars. … - That percentage jumps to 64% in the U.S.
Avery Lotz / Axios: Trump says “We might have to put DOGE on Elon”, “DOGE is the monster that might have to go back and eat Elon”, and “We'll have to take a look” at deporting Musk — President Trump said Tuesday that DOGE could investigate Elon Musk, the latest indicator …
Kerry Flynn / Axios: Tinder is mandating new users in California verify their profiles using facial recognition technology starting June 30 in a bid to reduce impersonation — Tinder is mandating new users in California verify their profiles using facial recognition technology starting Monday, executives exclusively tell Axios.
Ashley Gold / Axios: The White House announces an AI Education Pledge with commitments from 60+ companies to provide AI education materials to K-12 students over the next four years
Ryan Lawler / Axios: Niural, whose AI agents help companies automate payroll, benefits, vendor payments, and compliance, raised a $31M Series A led by Marathon Management Partners — Niural, a global payroll and finance operations startup, has raised $31 million in Series A funding, CEO Nami Baral tells Axios exclusively.
Ashley Gold / Axios: A group of 17 GOP governors write to Senate majority leader and House speaker urging for the state AI bill moratorium to be removed from the reconciliation bill — A group of 17 Republican governors wrote to Senate Majority Leader John Thune and House Speaker Mike Johnson on Friday calling …
Megan Morrone / Axios: Anthropic releases preliminary results showing users who discuss emotional issues with Claude tend to grow more positive as conversations progress — People who talk to Anthropic's Claude chatbot about emotional issues tend to grow more positive as the conversation unfolds …
Chris Metinko / Axios: Slide, which develops data backup and disaster recovery tech for managed service providers serving SMBs, raised a $25M Series A led by Base10 Partners — Slide, a data disaster recovery platform, locked up a $25 million Series A round led by Base10 Partners, cofounder and CEO Michael Fass tells Axios Pro.
Chris Metinko / Axios: Onebrief, which makes military workflow software, raised a $20M Series C extension led by Battery Ventures at a $1.1B valuation, taking the round total to $70M — Onebrief, a maker of military workflow software, raised $20 million in new funding led by Battery Ventures at a $1.1 billion valuation …
Chris Metinko / Axios: Uncountable, which makes AI tools to let R&D teams accelerate development cycles, raised a $27M Series A led by Sageview, bringing its total funding to $32.5M — Uncountable, a digital platform for industrial research and development, raised a $27 million Series A led by Sageview Capital …
Christine Wang / Axios: Cloudflare CEO Matthew Prince says Google's ratio of pages crawled per visitor sent to a publisher fell from 2:1 10 years ago to 18:1; for OpenAI, it's 1,500:1 — Publishers face an existential threat in the AI era and need to take action to make sure they are fairly compensated for their content …
Ryan Lawler / Axios: Milan-based Jet HR, which provides all-in-one payroll and HR services to SMBs, raised €25M led by Base10 Partners, bringing its total funding to about €42M — Jet HR, a Milan-based platform serving small and midsized enterprises, raised €25 million in funding led by Base10 Partners …
Ryan Lawler / Axios: Miami-based Payabli, which provides software companies with an embedded payments platform, raised a $28M Series B led by Fika Ventures and QED Investors — Payabli, a Miami-based embedded payments platform, has raised $28 million in Series B funding led by existing investors Fika Ventures and QED Investors …
Colin Campbell / Axios: Miami-based Pelico, which offers a supply chain orchestration platform, raised a $40M Series B led by General Catalyst, bringing its total funding to $72M — Supply chain orchestration platform Pelico raised $40 million in strategic financing led by General Catalyst, co-founder Tarik Benabdallah tells Axios Pro.
Erin Brodwin / Axios: Commure, which provides ambient AI, revenue cycle management, and workflow automation tools for healthcare providers, raised $200M from General Catalyst — Health care AI infrastructure startup Commure raised $200 million in growth financing from General Catalyst's “customer value fund,” …
Chris Metinko / Axios: Luxembourg-based Tadaweb, which analyzes open-source intelligence, raised $20M led by Arsenal Growth and Forgepoint Capital, taking its total funding to $40M — Tadaweb, an operating system that collects and analyzes public data, raised $20 million, led by Arsenal Growth and Forgepoint Capital …
Chris Metinko / Axios: Boston-based Maven, which builds autonomous AI agents for enterprises' customer support, raised a $50M Series B led by Dell, taking its total funding to $78M — Maven AGI, which builds enterprise AI agents for customer support, raised a $50 million Series B led by Dell Technologies Capital …
Erin Brodwin / Axios: NYC-based Zorro, whose AI-powered software helps clients' workers navigate health insurance and benefits options, raised a $20M Series A led by Entrée Capital — Health benefits provider Zorro raised $20 million in Series A funding led by Entrée Capital, CEO Guy Ezekiel tells Axios exclusively.
Chris Metinko / Axios: New York City-based Abacum, which offers AI-powered financial planning and analysis tools to companies, raised a $60B Series B led by Scale Venture Partners — Abacum, business financial planning startup, landed a $60 million Series B round led by Scale Venture Partners, co-founder and CEO Julio Martínez tells Axios Pro.
Axios: Austin-based Autonomize AI, which develops AI agents for automating administrative workflows in healthcare and life sciences, raised a $28M Series A — Autonomize AI, a provider of AI agents to health systems and plans, raised $28 million in Series A funding, CEO Ganesh Padmanabhan tells Axios exclusively.
Chris Metinko / Axios: Miami-based Guardz, which offers a detection and response service for managed service providers protecting SMBs, raised a $56M Series B led by ClearSky — Guardz raised a $56 million Series B led by ClearSky to help managed service providers (MSPs) better secure small and medium-sized businesses …
Chris Metinko / Axios: Horizon3.ai, whose AI-based penetration testing platform NodeZero helps find and exploit attack paths in production systems, raised a $100M Series D led by NEA — Autonomous security startup Horizon3.ai locked up a $100 million Series D led by NEA, co-founder and CEO Snehal Antani tells Axios Pro.
Colin Campbell / Axios: Voxel, whose AI-powered logistics safety software integrates into existing security cameras to detect and predict workplace hazards, raised a $44M Series B — Logistics safety startup Voxel closed a $44 million Series B led by NewRoad Capital Partners, CEO Vernon O'Donnell tells Axios Pro exclusively.
Katherine Davis / Axios: Vivodyne, which uses AI and robots to grow human tissues in the lab for drug discovery and development, raised a $40M Series A led by Khosla Ventures — Vivodyne, a San Francisco-based startup using lab-grown human tissues to discover and develop drugs, raised $40 million in a Series A led by Khosla Ventures.
Chris Metinko / Axios: Boston-based cloud cost management startup CloudZero raised a $56M Series C led by BlueCrest Capital Management and Innovius Capital — CloudZero raised $56 million to help companies rein in soaring AI-driven cloud costs, CEO Phil Pergola tells Axios Pro. — Why it matters …
Colin Demarest / Axios: CX2, a defense tech startup building software and hardware, including autonomous drones, for electronic warfare, raised a $31M Series A led by Point72 Ventures — Defense-tech upstart CX2 plans to hire more people and accelerate development of its electronic warfare tools on the heels of a $31 million raise, executives told Axios.
Ryan Barwick / Axios: Utah-based Awardco, which makes HR software that helps AT&T, Adobe, and other clients manage employee rewards, raised a $165M Series B at an over $1B valuation — Awardco announced Tuesday it has raised a $165 million Series B, valuing the employee rewards platform at more than $1 billion.
Dan Primack / Axios: Carta: VC deals are stalling at seed, with the Series A deal count falling by 79% between Q1 2022 and Q1 2025; 46% of seed deals were bridge rounds in Q1 2025 — Top of the Morning — Venture capital's series progression is stalling at seed, according to new data released this morning by Carta.
Aaron Weitzman / Axios: Boston-based PhaseV, which is developing AI software to accelerate clinical trials and drug development, raised a $50M Series A co-led by Accel and Insight — PhaseV, a clinical trial and development software startup, raised a $50 million Series A, CEO Raviv Pryluk tells Axios exclusively.
Katherine Davis / Axios: Pathos AI, which uses AI to develop oncology drugs, raised a $365M Series D at a $1.6B valuation, bringing its total funding to $467M, per PitchBook — Pathos AI, a New York drug development startup, raised $365 million in a Series D at a $1.6 billion valuation.
Ina Fried / Axios: IFI Claims: Google passes IBM to lead in generative AI-related patent applications in the US; Google and Nvidia lead agentic AI patent filings globally — Google has overtaken IBM to become the leader in generative AI-related patents and also leads in the emerging area of agentic AI …
Erin Brodwin / Axios: TSOLife, whose software is in use in 1,300 senior living facilities in 47 US states, raised a $43M Series B led by PeakSpan, bringing its total funding to $52M — TSOLife raised $43 million in Series B funds for home-grown senior living software, CEO David Sawyer tells Axios exclusively.
Aaron Weitzman / Axios: NYC-based Blooming Health, an online coordination network for social service agencies and aging care providers, raised a $26M Series A led by Insight Partners — Blooming Health, a social services and health care coordination network, raised a $26 million Series A led by Insight Partners, CEO Nima Roohi tells Axios exclusively.
Alex Isenstadt / Axios: In an hour-long Q&A with reporters, Elon Musk talked DOGE, including acknowledging its shortcomings, leaving the US government, working with Trump, and more — Elon Musk acknowledges his budget-cutting exercise known as DOGE hasn't been as successful as he hoped.
Ryan Lawler / Axios: Salsa, which provides APIs and UI components that let vertical SaaS platforms offer payroll as a feature to their customers, raised a $20M Series A led by Altos — Salsa, a startup providing embedded payroll infrastructure to vertical SaaS platforms, raised $20 million in Series A funding, CEO John Kramer tells Axios exclusively.
Erin Brodwin / Axios: NYC-based Healthee, whose AI assistant Zoe lets its clients' workers navigate health insurance and benefits options, raised a $50M Series B led by Key1 Capital — Health benefits navigation startup Healthee raised $50 million in Series B funds led by Key1 Capital.
Katie Fehrenbacher / Axios: Crux, a financing software provider for clean energy companies, raised a $50M Series B led by Lowercarbon Capital, taking its total funding to more than $77M — Crux, a clean economy financing software provider, raised a $50 million Series B round to expand its capital platforms, CEO Alfred Johnson tells Axios.
Ryan Lawler / Axios: API-based background check provider Checkr acquires income and employment verification startup Truework, which had raised $125M+ and was last valued at ~$480M — Checkr, an API-based background check provider, is acquiring income and employment verification startup Truework, Checkr CEO Daniel Yanisse tells Axios exclusively.
Sam Sabin / Axios: AI safety and security startup Virtue AI raised $30M in seed and Series A funding and says its customers include several frontier labs, Uber, and Glean — Virtue AI has raised a $30 million seed and Series A funding round led by Walden Catalyst Ventures and Lightspeed Venture Partners, the company exclusively shared with Axios.
Dan Primack / Axios: Brooklyn-based Underdog, a fantasy sports and sports betting app, raised $70M in a first Series C tranche at a $1.23B valuation from Spark Capital — Underdog, a Brooklyn-based fantasy sports and sports betting app, tells Axios that it raised $70 million in Series C funding at a $1.23 billion valuation from Spark Capital.
Aaron Weitzman / Axios: Cambridge, Massachusetts-based Lumafield, which manufactures industrial CT scanners with cloud-based analysis software, raised a $75M Series C led by IVP — Exit Content Preview — Lumafield, a developer of industrial CT technology used by medical device companies, raised a $75 million Series C …
Kerry Flynn / Axios: NYC-based Firsthand, whose tools let marketers and publishers engage consumers through AI agents on their own sites or other sites, raised a $26M Series A — - The New York-based startup previously raised $6.6 million in seed funding, led by Radical Ventures.
Axios: President Trump plans to speak at the first-ever White House Crypto Summit on March 7, to be chaired by David Sacks, amid a global sell-off in cryptocurrencies — - The Trump family launched the Official Trump (TRUMP) and Melania Meme (MELANIA) coins Jan. 17 and Jan. 18 …
Lucinda Shen / Axios: Renaissance Capital: 12 of 40 fintech firms that went public in the US since 2020 have given positive investor returns; only Shift4 and AppLovin are profitable — All topics — Situational awareness: OpenAI co-founder Ilya Sutskever is raising over $1 billion for his startup Safe Superintelligence …
Dan Primack / Axios: Texas-based humanoid robot startup Apptronik raised a $350M Series A co-led by B Capital and Capital Factory and plans a series of pilot programs in 2025 — embargo moved to thurs... Apptronik, a Texas-based developer of humanoid robots, announced Wednesday that it's raised $350 million in Series A funding.
Sam Sabin / Axios: Document: President Trump plans to nominate ex-RNC executive Sean Cairncross as national cyber director, his administration's first major cybersecurity pick — - The office, which has more than 80 employees, is designed to be the president's principal adviser on cybersecurity matters.
Ina Fried / Axios: Sam Altman says “OpenAI is not for sale” and “OpenAI's mission is not for sale”, especially to “a competitor who is not able to beat us in the market” — - “OpenAI is not for sale. … - Altman said the board has not determined a valuation for OpenAI's operations yet …
Brady Dale / Axios: Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong endorses a US bitcoin strategic reserve in a blog post on “economic freedom” that calls on world leaders to embrace crypto — - This is the first time Coinbase has specifically addressed the idea of a strategic bitcoin reserve, doing …
Sara Fischer / Axios: OpenAI will fund the expansion of Axios to Pittsburgh, Kansas City, Boulder, and Huntsville, as part of a broader content-sharing and technology deal — - Google struck a deal with McClatchy to fund the creation of three digital-only local newsrooms in 2019.