VENTURE CAPITAL
Venture Deals Focus on Infrastructure and De-Risked Tech as Fed Raises Rates
Investors pour hundreds of millions into space transportation, open foundation models, and late-stage biotech despite tightening monetary policy.
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Venture Capital News
This is The Company Wire's running file of venture capital news — every round we report, the funds writing the checks, and the investors setting the price. It updates as stories publish, so the most recent deal is always at the top.
Venture capital news is easy to find and hard to read. Most coverage reprints the announcement: a number, a lead investor, a quote. We report the parts that decide whether the number means anything — how the round was structured, who else looked and passed, what the company has to prove before the next one, and which funds are quietly building a position in a category before it becomes obvious.
Below are the venture capital stories our newsroom has published, newest first: seed and Series A rounds out of Silicon Valley, growth and crossover checks into later-stage companies, new fund closes, and the investor moves that reshape who gets funded next.
Creator Marketing Platform Noise Raises $5.5 Million in Seed Funding
Data Center Hardware Maker Rune Raises $40M, Launches Solar-Adjacent AI Compute Modules
10-Year Treasury Yield Tops 5% Following Fed Rate Hike and Inflation Warnings
More Venture Capital News
Japanese Researchers Develop Ionic Liquid Membrane to Streamline Biofuel Refining
Academic researchers in Japan have developed a silsesquioxane framework-containing ionic liquid membrane capable of separating nitrogen compounds from biomass-derived oils, offering an energy-efficient alternative to conventional hydrodenitrogenation.
Federal Reserve Raises Benchmark Rate to 3.75%-4% Range, Signals Additional Hike This Year
The Federal Reserve raised its key interest rate by a quarter percentage point on Wednesday, ending a yearlong pause as policymakers move to counter persistent inflation driven by oil costs, trade tariffs, and expanding AI investment.
Helion Energy Expands Series G Round to $500M as Commercialization Timeline Faces Scrutiny
Nuclear fusion startup Helion Energy has expanded its Series G financing to $500 million, bringing total capital raised past $1.5 billion as it builds out facilities in Washington state.
Shield AI Negotiating New Capital Round at $20 Billion-Plus Valuation
Defense technology company Shield AI is in discussions to raise fresh capital that would value the startup at $20 billion or higher, following a major funding round earlier this year.
AI Infrastructure Startup Cornelis Raises $205 Million to Challenge Nvidia's Networking Hold
Cornelis has raised $205 million in a new financing round led by IAG Capital Partners. The Intel spin-off also unveiled its Active Compute Fabric networking technology to tackle data transfer delays in AI workloads.
Researchers Develop Zeolite-Infused Separator to Boost Lithium-Metal Battery Fast-Charging
Engineers in South Korea have developed a novel zeolite-infused separator for lithium-metal batteries that reduces dendrite growth while significantly improving high-rate cathode performance.
Insight Partners’ Devin Parekh Defends Diversified Tech Strategy Amid AI Valuation Surge
Insight Partners co-head Devin Parekh outlined why the $90 billion firm favors broad portfolio diversification over heavy concentration in frontier AI labs during an interview at TechCrunch's StrictlyVC event in New York.
Cathie Wood Forecasts Global GDP Boom Driven by AI and Technological Convergence
ARK Invest Chief Executive Officer Cathie Wood is forecasting a major shift in global GDP growth, arguing that converging technological advances in AI, robotics, and energy could push global economic expansion past historical trends.
Deep Tech and Hardware Take Center Stage at Y Combinator's Latest Demo Day
Y Combinator's newest batch showed a heavy shift toward deep tech and physical computing, featuring floating nuclear data centers, low-cost humanoid robotics, and hardcoded AI silicon.
Z.ai Secures $5 Billion in Equity Placement and Zero-Interest Convertible Debt
Chinese AI model developer Z.ai has raised approximately $5 billion through a dual offering of new shares and zero-coupon convertible bonds maturing in 2027.
Inside Nvidia's $99 Billion AI Portfolio: Frontier Labs, Neoclouds, and Silicon Infrastructure
Nvidia closed its second fiscal quarter with an investment portfolio totaling roughly $99 billion, spanning massive commitments to frontier AI research labs, neocloud compute providers, and optical hardware suppliers.
Open-Weights Mandate Proposed as Alternative to Frontier AI Regulation
An open letter published following Anthropic's 'We Must Pace the Frontier' essay calls on CEO Dario Amodei to advocate for mandatory open weights for all public AI models as a market-driven pacing strategy.
Teucrium Delays Short XRP ETF Launch Date for Nineteenth Time
Fund issuer Teucrium has filed another monthly amendment pushing back the prospective launch of its 2x short XRP exchange-traded fund, marking the nineteenth voluntary delay for the product.
US Transportation Secretary Demands Ford Sever Ties With Chinese Automotive Tech Partners
U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy has pressed Ford Motor Co. to dismantle operational connections with Chinese companies CATL and Geely, even as European lawmakers move toward mandating localized joint ventures and technology sharing.
Fields Medal Recipients Warn AI Math Benchmarks Are Harmful to Mathematical Science
A group of 25 Fields Medal recipients has issued a warning cautioning that artificial intelligence companies pushing mathematical problem-solving as a primary benchmark are harming the science of mathematics.
Altimeter's Brad Gerstner Dismisses AI Extinction Warnings as Politically Driven
Altimeter Capital CEO Brad Gerstner pushed back against recent apocalyptic warnings about artificial intelligence, calling existential risk narratives hyperbolic and politically motivated.
Mark Wahlberg to Detail Healthcare and Angel Investment Strategy at TechCrunch Disrupt 2026
Actor and entrepreneur Mark Wahlberg is set to speak at TechCrunch Disrupt 2026 alongside Keebeck Wealth Management CEO Bruce K. Lee, focusing on his venture capital portfolio and healthcare startup investments.
Industrial Energy Startup Furo Secures $4M, Choosing Munich Base Over Silicon Valley
Industrial energy software startup Furo has raised $4 million in seed funding led by TQ Ventures, proving that European founders can secure U.S. venture capital while basing operations in their home market.
Positron Raises $875M at $5B Valuation to Build AI Hardware with Consumer Memory
Positron AI Inc. has secured $875 million in new funding at a $5 billion valuation to develop artificial intelligence inference appliances that swap scarce enterprise high-bandwidth memory for smartphone-grade LPDDR5X components.
The Boring Co. Reaches $23 Billion Valuation Following $3 Billion Middle East Funding Round
The Boring Co. has raised $3 billion in a new funding round led by the United Arab Emirates, pushing its valuation to $23 billion as the Elon Musk-founded company expands its subterranean transit projects internationally.
