Startups
The AI Therapy App Nobody Wanted Now Handles All of Amazon Ring's Calls
Vapi started as an AI therapy bot nobody wanted. It just beat 40 rivals for Amazon Ring's calls and hit a $500M valuation. The feelings were always infrastructure.
Deals
Wispr Raised $260 Million to Let You Talk to Your Computer. Dragon NaturallySpeaking Did This in 1997.
An AI dictation startup is in talks to raise $260M at a $2B valuation. Your Mac has had this built in for free since 2012. Let's discuss.
Deals
Balcony Raised $14 Million to Audit America’s House Paperwork
Balcony thinks county deeds, tax rolls, and title records should stop behaving like separate centuries. Weirdly niche, surprisingly useful, and kind of charming.
Silicon Valley
Lime Is Going Public — Apparently Losing $59 Million a Year Are the Right Market Conditions
Lime filed for IPO today. The e-scooter startup still posts net losses, officially answers to “Neutron Holdings,” and earns 14% of its revenue from the same company that funds it. Bullish!
Startups
Balcony Raised $12.7M to Put County Deeds on Digital Rails
Balcony thinks county land records should behave less like mildew-soaked filing cabinets and more like infrastructure. The pitch is blockchain-coded, but the pain point is real.
Boston Tech
Roche Bought PathAI, So Boston Tech Is Allowed to Strut for One Whole Minute
Roche is buying Boston-based PathAI for $750M upfront plus milestones, and yes, this is exactly the kind of hard-tech, health-AI win Boston should be insufferably proud of.
Startups
Kalshi Just Tripled Its Valuation Three Times in Seven Months. Bet You Didn't See That Coming.
A prediction market startup is now worth $22 billion after its third funding doubling in seven months. The only thing harder to predict than the future is apparently Kalshi's valuation.
Startups
Davis Raised $5.5M to Make Permitting Anxiety a Design Input
Davis says it can turn months of real-estate feasibility work into days. Slightly insane pitch, oddly grounded founders, and a pre-seed I can picture.
Startups
Pacific Hybreed Raised $1 Million to Make Oyster Seed Pull Its Weight
Pacific Hybreed thinks shellfish farming starts with better seed, not louder software. The $1M round is tiny, earnest, and weirdly convincing.
Startups
Zapdos Raises $500K to Read Your Safety Manual and Judge Your Forklift Habits
Zapdos just raised $500K to turn old factory cameras into safety agents. Weirdly earnest, slightly surveillance-pilled, and more grounded than most AI seed theater.
Startups
All3 Raised $25 Million to Turn Housing Into a Robotics Problem
All3 thinks housing gets cheaper when architecture, factories, and a four-legged robot finally share a brain. Wild pitch, real pain point, oddly persuasive.
Deals
Netomi Raised $110 Million to Fix Customer Service at United Airlines.
Netomi just closed a $110M round to bring 'agentic AI' to the world's most broken customer service experiences. Their clients include United Airlines. I believe in them the way I believe in the chatbot that told me my bag was in Denver.