StrictlyVC Newsletter

Top News

Apple is weighing a major AI pivot by potentially replacing its in-house Siri models with tech from Anthropic or OpenAI, signaling that its internal efforts have fallen behind and that it's finally willing to look outside to stay in the race. Bloomberg has more here.

Meta is formalizing its AI strategy by consolidating all teams under a new Superintelligence Labs group, tapping Scale AI founder Alexandr Wang to lead the charge and stacking its bench with hires from DeepMind, Anthropic, OpenAI, and other rivals. TechCrunch has more here.

Tesla Sends Driverless Model Y from Factory to Customer to Promote Its Robotaxi Tech

By Sean O'Kane

Just a few days after launching a limited robotaxi service in Austin, Texas, Tesla pulled off an additional stunt meant to show off the progress of its self-driving car software. The company let a Model Y SUV drive roughly 15 miles from Tesla’s factory to the apartment complex where the car’s new owner lives, completing what CEO Elon Musk called the first “autonomous delivery” of a customer car.

The vehicle was supposedly equipped with the same software Tesla’s robotaxi Model Ys are using in Austin, but upon delivery was downgraded to the commercially available Full Self-Driving (Supervised) software that requires drivers to pay attention and be ready to take over at any moment. No one was on board and Musk claimed no remote assistance was given to the car.

The stunt came at an auspicious time for Tesla, which is set to release second-quarter delivery figures this week and financial results for the period later this month. Those numbers are expected to be grim for Tesla, which saw sales fall in 2024 — before Musk took a chainsaw to the company’s public image by getting involved with the Trump administration. Sure enough, Tesla’s stock price shot up late Friday after Musk first posted about the drive (although it has since fallen after a rough day of trading Monday).

I used to live in the city and have driven through this area of South Austin a lot; the path the Model Y took was complex, even on a bright, sunny day in the middle of the afternoon. In the 30-minute video of the trip (Tesla also posted a sped-up version that lasts around 3.5 minutes), the car merges on and off of a highway, turns right on red, navigates a small roundabout, and makes an unprotected left turn.

These were challenging scenarios for autonomous vehicles that were in development just a few years ago, so it’s striking to see a car navigate them all in one go in real day-to-day traffic.

More here.

Massive Fundings

Cato Networks, a 10-year-old Tel Aviv company whose cloud platform is designed to replace traditional corporate VPNs and firewalls for offices and remote workers, raised a $359 million Series G round at a $4.8+ billion post-money valuation. The deal was co-led by Vitruvian Partners and ION Crossover Partners, with additional participation from previous investors Lightspeed Venture Partners, Acrew Capital, and Adams Street Partners. The Wall Street Journal has more here.

Commonwealth Fusion Systems, an eight-year-old startup based in Cambridge, MA, that is developing compact fusion reactors, raised an undisclosed amount from Google believed to be in the neighborhood of the company's previous $1.8 billion Series B round. TechCrunch has more here.

Klar, a six-year-old Mexico City startup that offers app-based financial services to consumers and small businesses, raised a $170 million Series C round at an $800 million post-money valuation. The deal was led by General Atlantic, with Santander Group, Grupo Televisa, and Grupo Formula as well as previous investors Prosus, IFC, Mouro Capital, and Quona Capital also participating. The company also raised $20 million in debt. Bloomberg has more here.

Levelpath, a two-year-old San Francisco startup that makes AI-powered procurement software for enterprises looking to replace outdated systems, raised a $55 million Series B round led by Battery Ventures, with previous investors Benchmark and Redpoint also digging in. TechCrunch has more here.

Tandem Health, a one-year-old Stockholm startup that uses AI to automate clinical documentation and reduce administrative workload for European doctors, raised a $50 million Series A round led by Kinnevik, with Northzone, Amino Collective, and Visionaries Club also participating. SiliconANGLE has more here.

Big-But-Not-Crazy-Big Fundings

AppsForBharat, the five-year-old, Bengaluru-based startup behind the Hindu devotional app Sri Mandir, has raised $20 million in a new round just nine months after securing $18 million. Susquehanna Asia Venture Capital led the Series C with participation from existing investors, including Indian billionaire and tech veteran Nandan Nilekani’s Fundamentum Partnership, Elevation Capital, and Peak XV Partners. TechCrunch has more here.

Campfire, a two-year-old San Francisco startup that uses AI to automate accounting and ERP tasks for tech companies, raised a $35 million Series A round led by Accel, with Foundation Capital, Y Combinator, and Capital 49 also engaging. TechCrunch has more here.

Cred, a two-year-old San Francisco startup that helps businesses forecast demand, sales, and inventory needs by analyzing their internal data and providing predictive insights, raised a $15 million seed round led by Defy.vc, with HOF Capital, Alumni Ventures, LDV Partners, Streamlined Ventures, SilverCircle, Octopus Ventures, BAM Ventures, and Gaingels also participating. More here.

Sceye, a 12-year-old company based in Moriarty, NM, that builds solar-powered airships that operate in the stratosphere to provide internet access, monitor the environment, and support communications for government and commercial customers, raised a $15 million first tranche of a planned Series C round. SoftBank provided the funding. More here.

Skynopy, a two-year-old Paris startup that sells access to ground stations that let satellite operators send and receive data from their satellites more efficiently, raised a $17.6 million seed round. Investors included Alven, Expansion, Omnes, and CNES as well as existing investor Heartcore Capital. The company has raised a total of $21.1 million. Payload has more here.

Tailor, a four-year-old startup based in San Francisco and Tokyo that makes modular ERP software designed to automate operations across industries using APIs and AI agents, raised a $22 million Series A round from ANRI, JIC Venture Growth Investments, New Enterprise Associates, Spiral Capital, and Y Combinator. TechCrunch has more here.

Smaller Fundings

Bonx, a three-year-old Paris startup that provides AI-powered software that helps manufacturers track operations, manage resources, and make faster decisions across their factories, raised a $8.6 million seed round led by 9900 Capital, with Kima Ventures, Purple, OSS Ventures, and Dynamo Ventures also contributing. Silicon Canals has more here.

Cosma, a three-year-old startup based in Nice, France, that uses fleets of autonomous underwater drones and AI-driven mapping tools to create detailed, 3D maps of the ocean floor for marine researchers, environmental agencies, offshore construction firms, and regulators, raised a $2.9 million round. WIND and Ternel co-led the deal, with 50 Partners, Caisse d’Épargne Côte d’Azur, and IFREMER also pitching in. EU-Startups has more here.

Epigenica, a five-year-old Stockholm startup that develops lab tools that help pharmaceutical companies and researchers study how genes are turned on or off in cells, with the goal of improving drug discovery and diagnostics, raised a $2.2 million round. Voima Ventures led the investment, with Navigare Ventures and Leksell Social Ventures as well as previous investor Almi Invest also stepping up. Arctic Startup has more here.

LogicFlo AI, a one-year-old Boston startup that builds tools that let life sciences teams automate research tasks like data analysis, documentation, and experiment planning using custom AI assistants, raised a $2.7 million seed round led by Lightspeed. More here.