Investor activity remained brisk across technology, climate and industrial sectors, with several AI-focused startups among the latest companies to raise fresh capital. Mirendil, a San Francisco-based AI startup founded by former Anthropic employees, raised $200 million at a $1 billion valuation from Andreessen Horowitz, Kleiner Perkins and Nvidia. Other AI-related deals included New York-based Taktile, which raised $110 million in Series C funding led by Goldman Sachs Alternatives' Growth Equity; Palo Alto-based Hang Ten Systems, which secured $32 million in seed funding led by Mayfield; New York-based Runlayer, which raised a $30 million Series A led by Felicis; San Francisco-based Seltz, which collected $12.5 million in seed funding; and San Francisco-based Valence AI, which raised $5 million in seed financing. Beyond AI, Sweden's Stegra raised €1.4 billion for green steel manufacturing, while Qualcomm agreed to buy AI infrastructure startup Modular for $4 billion and MSCI acquired climate risk data startup First Street for $120 million plus earnouts.
The flurry of fundraising reflects continued enthusiasm among major investors for AI's commercial potential. Chamath Palihapitiya, a prominent technology investor and Social Capital chief executive, has argued that fears of an AI-driven jobs collapse are overstated. He said technological change historically shifts human work rather than eliminating its relevance, and contended that AI will reorder tasks while creating new ways for people to use their time. That view aligns with broader bullish sentiment in parts of the tech sector, where investors continue backing AI infrastructure, automation and application companies at large scale.
But the pace and structure of some AI financings have also drawn scrutiny. Critics of the current market argue that certain startups with little or no revenue are achieving inflated headline valuations through tranched rounds, in which different investors buy into the same company at sharply different prices. Forbes cited the example of Ineffable Intelligence, an AI startup founded by former Google DeepMind scientist David Silver, which reportedly raised an initial tranche at a far lower valuation before securing a much larger follow-on tranche at a significantly higher price. Some venture capitalists say such structures can amplify hype, create misleading impressions about a company's market value and leave employees with option pricing that reflects headline valuations rather than a blended figure.
Defenders of those practices say the market is responding to the unusually high capital demands of frontier AI research, where companies may need vast sums early to fund computing infrastructure and attract elite talent. Sequoia partner Shaun Maguire said it was unfair to characterize the approach as deceptive, arguing that later investors are sometimes simply willing to pay more for sought-after AI companies than earlier backers are. Others in venture capital say founders pursue these financings to maximize flexibility, secure strategic investors and build momentum in a fiercely competitive market. Taken together, the latest dealmaking and the debate around valuation tactics show an AI sector still attracting enormous capital, while facing growing questions over how that enthusiasm is being priced.