Global Funding Radar

Unicorn Milestones & Mega-Rounds

• 🔥 Hermeus: Defense aviation startup Hermeus raised $350M ($200M equity led by Khosla Ventures + $150M debt) in...

Mega-round cements Australia/Singapore as AI infra hotspots.

• $505M led by Coatue/Nvidia, total 6mo fundraising $1.35B; prior $215M round
• Funds...

Khosla doubles down on Hermeus' supersonic defense tech with $200M equity lead in $350M Series C ($150M debt), hitting $1B valuation.

• Bold bet since...

India's fintech KreditBee joins unicorn club:

• $280M Series E at $1.5B valuation (from $700M in 2023), third 2026 unicorn after Juspay and Neysa
  -...

Europe-US VC consolidation alert: Swiss LGT Capital Partners adds Sapphire Partners team, a US LP with $1.2B+ committed to 200+ early-stage funds over...

AI revenue race heats up: Anthropic's annualized run-rate surges past $30B—tripling from $9B last year and topping OpenAI's $25B. Serves 1,000+...

Major VC shift: Palo Alto's Eclipse launches $1.3B fund ($591M early-stage incubation + growth) for physical AI startups tackling real-world...

AI boom pushes family offices to skip VCs for direct cap table access amid longer private stays:

• Arena co-leads $230M Positron AI chip round, grabs...

Cybersecurity unicorn Torq is in advanced talks to acquire Boston-based Jit, an automatic security assistant, for roughly $50 million. Both companies declined to comment.

• €2.7B funding boom (+79% YoY), but deals plunged as capital flows to fewer, bigger AI bets.
• Masks 'Great Concentration' reshaping French Tech...

InsurTech recovery signals fintech-adjacent opportunities:

• Global funding up 19.5% to $5.1B, first gain since 2021; Q4 jumped 66.8% to $1.68B
  -...

Mega-rounds ($100M+) now rule AI fundraising, even at seed where Series B sizes were once the norm.

• Seed: Typical $1M-$5M, but mega up to $2B...

SpaceX's blockbuster IPO, targeting $2 trillion+ valuation amid market volatility, could transform funding for space/tech startups:

• Reset space...

NYC's ecosystem momentum highlights East Coast hub appeal for scaling operators:

• $3.94B across 97 deals — +293.6% YoY, +55.6% MoM — one of strongest...

Zero Shot debuts with $100M target from ex-OpenAI leaders like Evan Morikawa, Andrew Mayne, Shawn Jain—shifting from builders to AI app layer...

China's VC funding is poised to hit Q1 records driven by state-led tech push, with the National Council for Social Security Fund leading via 8 billion yuan in a Hubei government-backed fund. Signals Asia's shifting VC dominance.

AI Infra Mega-Rounds & IPOs

• 🔥 Firmus $505M Raise: Nvidia-backed Australian AI data center company Firmus Technologies raised $505 million at a...

Massive $4.3B across 23 deals, featuring Saronic, Starcloud, Coder, and more.

Key highlights for founders:

• EnerVenue: $300M for metal-hydrogen...

• Madison Air eyes $13.2B US IPO valuation, fueled by AI-driven demand for cooling systems in data centers.
• Nvidia-backed Firmus raises $505M at...

Big Tech bets on China's neurotech: Alibaba led StairMed's $73M (500M yuan) strategic round, with Tencent and others participating. Total funding past...