Early Stage VC Pulse

Venture Fund Targets

• 🔥 Khosla Ventures $5.5B Raise: Khosla Ventures is targeting $5.5 billion across new funds, with $3 billion earmarked for...

Anduril is negotiating a new round at roughly $100 billion valuation—more than tripling its $30.5 billion mark from June 2025—via a potential...

InkWell Health has cleared the halfway point of its $2.2M seed round, reflecting sustained investor interest in connected, data-driven orthopedic...

Khosla Ventures is raising up to $5.5 billion across new vehicles—the largest in its 20-year history—with $3 billion earmarked for seed and...

Three former SpaceX engineers closed a $15 million seed round — one of Ohio's largest ever — to launch an autonomous steel fabrication factory in...

General Catalyst overtook Y Combinator in Q2 2026 by participating in 12 fintech rounds of $5 million or more, compared to YC's 11. This was the...

Canadian FinTech funding is projected to plunge 46% in 2026, driven by a sharp contraction in deals under $100m. This K-shaped pattern leaves smaller...

Early-Stage Funding Rounds

• 🔥 1872 Closes $15M Seed: 1872 closed a $15M seed round from private funds advised by The O.H.I.O. Fund to build an...

• $15M mega-seed: One of Ohio's largest seed rounds, led by The O.H.I.O. Fund, for an autonomous steel fab factory in Cincinnati
• Non-coastal AI...

• $1.7B equity round led by a16z and Ben Horowitz (now on the board) plus debt from major banks highlights investor appetite for Kalanick's industrial...

Hunter Walk of Homebrew now argues early-stage funds of $100M or less should hold almost no reserves for pro rata, reversing the old 20-50%...

Coverwatch closed a $4.5 million pre-seed round led by CoFound and Restive to accelerate its AI-native commercial brokerage for homeowner...

Two recent raises highlight investor appetite for tools that turn AI visibility data into revenue impact.

• ChatFeatured closed a $2M oversubscribed...

Family offices are buying AI startups outright rather than licensing tools. Hilton Family Office's controlling acquisition of Technology Labs gives it...

M&A deal kickoffs rose 31% globally in 1H26, with Americas surging 52%, according to Datasite data, signaling higher announced deal volume later this...

imagi raised a $4.5 million seed round led by Brighteye Ventures and Day One Capital to expand its supervised AI literacy platform for K-12 schools...

Incorpify's $5 million seed round, launched after hitting $1.9 million in cumulative revenue, reflects strong founder demand for AI-powered platforms...

PitchBook data reveals fintech resilience in Q2 2026 with $13.3B in deal value—up double-digits YoY—yet only 461 transactions, signaling a selective...

60% of global startup funding this year — roughly $320 billion — has gone to $1B+ rounds, with the U.S. even more concentrated at 73%. Just two AI...

Early-Stage AI Agent Rounds

• 🔥 Klaimee $5.5M Seed: YC-backed Klaimee raised $5.5M led by FundersClub to provide insurance-backed performance...