Startups

Today’s best in startups, explore the ventures and innovations making waves now.

Yann LeCun confirms world models AI startup seeking $3.5 billion valuation before launch

Lovable raises $330M at $6.6B valuation as vibe-coding startup triples worth in five months

Cursor acquires Graphite to merge AI code writing with review as development bottleneck emerges

OpenAI-backed Chai Discovery raises $130M at $1.3B valuation as AI transforms drug development

Yann LeCun confirms world models AI startup seeking $3.5 billion valuation before launch

Renowned AI scientist Yann LeCun has confirmed his new startup, Advanced Machine Intelligence (AMI) Labs, which is reportedly seeking €500 million in funding at a €3 billion valuation. The company will focus on developing world models—AI systems that understand the physical world rather than just predict text—with applications in robotics, healthcare, and transportation.

6 Sources

Lovable raises $330M at $6.6B valuation as vibe-coding startup triples worth in five months

Stockholm-based Lovable has raised $330 million in Series B funding at a $6.6 billion valuation, more than tripling its worth since July. The AI coding startup reached $200 million in annual recurring revenue within a year of launch, letting users build apps using text prompts without any coding experience. Major tech investors including CapitalG, Menlo Ventures, and Nvidia backed the round.

11 Sources

Cursor acquires Graphite to merge AI code writing with review as development bottleneck emerges

OpenAI-backed Chai Discovery raises $130M at $1.3B valuation as AI transforms drug development

Mirelo Raises $41M from Index and a16z to Solve AI Video's Silent Problem with Audio Generation

AI Insurance Startup Nirvana Raises $100M, Nearly Doubles Valuation to $1.5B in Nine Months

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19 Dec 2025

Cursor acquires Graphite to merge AI code writing with review as development bottleneck emerges

Cursor has acquired code review startup Graphite in a cash-and-equity deal that unites two leading tools in AI-powered software development. The acquisition addresses an emerging bottleneck where code review processes haven't kept pace with AI's ability to accelerate code writing, forcing engineering teams to spend more time on reviews even as drafting speeds up.

3 Sources

18 Dec 2025

AI Insurance Startup Nirvana Raises $100M, Nearly Doubles Valuation to $1.5B in Nine Months

Nirvana, an AI insurance platform for the trucking industry, raised $100 million in Series D funding at a $1.5 billion valuation, nearly doubling from $830 million just nine months ago. The startup uses real-time driving telematics and 30 billion miles of truck-driving data to build fairer insurance policies, helping trucking fleets save up to 20% on premiums while improving road safety.

3 Sources

Yann LeCun confirms world models AI startup seeking $3.5 billion valuation before launch

Renowned AI scientist Yann LeCun has confirmed his new startup, Advanced Machine Intelligence (AMI) Labs, which is reportedly seeking €500 million in funding at a €3 billion valuation. The company will focus on developing world models—AI systems that understand the physical world rather than just predict text—with applications in robotics, healthcare, and transportation.

6 Sources

Mythic Raises $125 Million to Challenge Nvidia with 100x More Efficient AI Chips

Palo Alto-based Mythic has secured $125 million in funding to develop analog processing units that cut AI energy use by up to 100 times compared with GPUs. Led by DCVC with backing from SoftBank, Honda, and Lockheed Martin, the AI chip startup plans to deploy its compute-in-memory technology across data centers, automotive systems, robotics, and defense applications.

3 Sources

16 Dec 2025

Lovable raises $330M at $6.6B valuation as vibe-coding startup triples worth in five months

Stockholm-based Lovable has raised $330 million in Series B funding at a $6.6 billion valuation, more than tripling its worth since July. The AI coding startup reached $200 million in annual recurring revenue within a year of launch, letting users build apps using text prompts without any coding experience. Major tech investors including CapitalG, Menlo Ventures, and Nvidia backed the round.

11 Sources

Echo Raises $35 Million to Secure Container Images with AI Agents That Eliminate Vulnerabilities

Israeli startup Echo announced $35 million in Series A funding to tackle a critical infrastructure problem: container images powering enterprise cloud applications contain over 1,000 known vulnerabilities. The company uses AI agents to rebuild images from scratch, creating vulnerability-free container image replacements that enterprises can deploy instantly.

2 Sources

OpenAI-backed Chai Discovery raises $130M at $1.3B valuation as AI transforms drug development

Chai Discovery, an OpenAI-backed biotech startup, secured $130 million in Series B funding at a $1.3 billion valuation. Led by General Catalyst and Oak HC/FT, the round brings total funding to over $225 million. The company's Chai 2 AI model designs custom antibodies from scratch, solving complex drug development challenges that previously took years in just weeks.

4 Sources

PolyAI Raises $86M at $750M Valuation to Scale Conversational AI for Enterprise Call Centers

London-based PolyAI has secured $86 million in Series D funding at a $750 million valuation for its conversational AI platform. The startup develops ultra-realistic voice AI assistants that handle millions of customer calls daily for banks, casinos, and hospitals. Led by Georgian, Hedosophia and Khosla Ventures, the round brings total funding past $200 million as the company aims to double revenue to over $40 million.

2 Sources

Mark Cuban backs AI sports firm Orreco in $4 million raise to predict athlete injuries

Galway-based Orreco closes a $4 million funding round led by Mark Cuban and Enterprise Ireland while acquiring Melbourne's Data Driven Sports Analytics. The AI-powered sports firm aims to use computer vision and machine learning to identify potential injuries before they occur, supporting teams across the NBA, WNBA, and Premier League.

2 Sources

15 Dec 2025

Mirelo Raises $41M from Index and a16z to Solve AI Video's Silent Problem with Audio Generation

Berlin-based startup Mirelo has secured $41 million in seed funding from Index Ventures and Andreessen Horowitz to tackle a critical gap in AI-generated video: the lack of sound. The company's flagship model, Mirelo SFX 1.5, generates synchronized sound effects for silent videos, addressing what CEO Carl-Johann Simon-Gabriel calls the missing half of the viewing experience. With plans to triple its team and expand beyond sound effects into music generation, Mirelo aims to build a competitive moat in an emerging category that's attracting attention from tech giants like Sony and Tencent.

3 Sources

12 Dec 2025

Runware raises $50M Series A to accelerate AI inference for developers building with generative AI

Runware, an AI inference startup founded in 2023, has raised $50 million in Series A funding led by Dawn Capital. The platform specializes in real-time image, video, and audio generation, having powered over 10 billion creations for more than 200,000 developers. The company aims to become the universal API for all generative AI models.

2 Sources

11 Dec 2025

Port Raises $100M at $800M Valuation to Transform Developer Portal into AI Agent Command Center

Israeli startup Port has raised $100 million Series C at an $800 million valuation to build an Agentic Engineering Platform. Led by General Atlantic, the funding will help Port transform its developer portal into a command center where engineers can orchestrate AI agents across the software development lifecycle, competing directly with Spotify's Backstage.

2 Sources

Harness hits $5.5 billion valuation with $240 million raise to automate AI's after-code gap

AI DevOps platform Harness secured $240 million in Series E funding led by Goldman Sachs, reaching a $5.5 billion valuation. Founded by AppDynamics creator Jyoti Bansal, the company targets the after-code software development phase—testing, security, and deployment—that consumes 70% of engineering time but remains largely manual despite AI's acceleration of code production.

4 Sources

10 Dec 2025

Surf Raises $15 Million to Build AI Platform Specialized for the Crypto World

Surf, an AI platform designed specifically for cryptocurrency analysis, has raised $15 million in funding led by Pantera Capital, with participation from Coinbase Ventures and Digital Currency Group. The startup aims to eliminate hallucinations that plague mainstream AI models when answering crypto questions, offering traders accurate and reliable information for traders through specialized models trained exclusively on digital assets.

2 Sources

SuperBryn Raises $1.2M to Fix Voice AI Reliability Issues Plaguing Enterprise Deployments

Bengaluru-based Voice AI startup SuperBryn has secured $1.2 million in pre-seed funding led by Kalaari Capital's CXXO initiative. The company is building a reliability framework that helps businesses deploy and monitor voice agents in real-world scenarios, claiming to move companies from pilot to production 20 times faster and at 10 times lower cost.

2 Sources

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