Traded: Venture Capital

CavilinQ, a University of Chicago spinoff, has raised $8.8 million in seed funding to develop photonic interconnects that link multiple quantum processors into unified systems. Led by CEO Shankar G Menon, the round was spearheaded by QVT with participation from Safar Partners, MFV Partners, Serendipity Capital, and Harper Court Ventures, and the capital will support lab expansion in Cambridge, prototype development, and team growth to advance modular quantum computing. FOUNDERS: Shankar Menon, Brandon Grinkemeyer, Mikhail Lukin & Hannes Bernien INVESTORS: QVT, Safar Partners, MFV Partners, Serendipity Capital & Harper Court Ventures ROUND: Seed AMOUNT: $8,800,000 HQ: Cambridge, Massachusetts #VentureCapital #CavilinQ #ShankarMenon #BrandonGrinkemeyer #MikhailLukin #HannesBernien #TradedVC

Blackstone has agreed to acquire a 49% stake in Rowan Digital Infrastructure, a Denver-based hyperscale data center developer, in a deal valuing the company at around $3.8 billion excluding debt. Founded in 2020 as a Quinbrook Infrastructure Partners portfolio company, Rowan has over 20 sites under evaluation and raised more than $2.2 billion in construction financing for its flagship Bauxite campus in Frederick, Maryland. The minority investment allows Quinbrook to retain operational control while giving Rowan Digital Infrastructure access to Blackstone’s capital and scale to expand its hyperscale data center footprint amid growing AI-driven demand. VALUATION: $3,800,000,000 HQ: New York City, New York #VentureCapital #Blackstone #RowanDigitalInfrastructure #TradedVC

AI‑cybersecurity startup Tenex has raised $250 million in a Series B funding round at a valuation exceeding $1 billion, signaling strong investor appetite for AI-driven security solutions. Led by Crosspoint Capital Partners with participation from Shield Capital and DeepWork Capital, the round follows a $27 million Series A in September 2025. Founded in 2024 in Sarasota, Florida, by Eric Foster, Ryan Shreve, Edwin Solis, and Venkata Subba Rao Koppaka, TENEX.AI offers an AI-powered managed detection and response (MDR) service that continuously monitors and mitigates threats in enterprise environments, combining automated triage with human analyst oversight to reduce false positives and improve response times. FOUNDERS: Eric Foster, Ryan Shreve, Edwin Solis & Venkata Koppaka INVESTORS: Crosspoint Capital, Shield Capital, DeepWork Capital & Andreessen Horowitz ROUND: Series B AMOUNT: $250,000,000 VALUATION: $1,000,000,000 HQ: Sarasota, Florida #VentureCapital #Tenex #EricFoster #RyanShreve #EdwinSolis #VenkataKoppaka #TradedVC

Amazon is in talks to acquire satellite telecommunications company Globalstar for roughly $9 billion, a move that would bolster its Project Kuiper efforts to compete with Elon Musk’s SpaceX Starlink in low Earth orbit broadband. The discussions follow Globalstar’s sale process, initiated in October 2025 by chairman James Monroe, who controls about 59% of the company and had targeted a sale above $10 billion. Globalstar’s recent funding includes a $1.5 billion investment from Apple in late 2024, giving the iPhone maker a 20% stake and 85% of network capacity for its satellite services, which any acquirer would need to navigate. While Amazon aims to leverage Globalstar’s spectrum and infrastructure to accelerate its satellite rollout, SpaceX is also considered a likely competing bidder, and no deal has been finalized. PRICE: $9,000,000,000 HQ: Seattle, Washington #VentureCapital #Amazon #Globalstar #TradedVC

KKR has closed its North America Fund XIV at a record $23 billion, surpassing both its $20 billion target and a $22 billion hard cap, making it the largest North America-focused private equity fund ever raised. Launched in June 2024, the fund—known internally as NAX4—drew capital from a wide range of global investors, including pension plans, sovereign wealth funds, insurance companies, endowments, and family offices. Peter Stavros and Nate Taylor, KKR’s Global Co-Heads of Private Equity, highlighted the firm’s nearly 50-year track record in North America and its strategy of supporting majority-owned portfolio companies with broad-based employee ownership programs, which has benefited thousands of employees and contributed to strong returns across prior funds. FOUNDERS: Henry Kravis, George Roberts & Jerome Kohlberg Jr FUND NAME: North America Fund XIV AMOUNT: $23,000,000,000 HQ: New York #VentureCapita #KKR #HenryKravis #GeorgeRoberts #JeromeKohlbergJr #TradedVC

daydream, an AI-native agency focused on organic and AI-driven search, has raised a $15 million Series A led by WndrCo with participation from First Round Capital and Basis Set Ventures, bringing total funding to $21 million to support hiring, product development, and go-to-market expansion. CEO and co-founder Thenuka Karunaratne said the company combines SEO expertise with AI agents to deliver full-service execution, while CTO and co-founder Shravan Rajinikanth emphasized its goal of automating high-level SEO strategy and execution at scale in the rapidly evolving AI search landscape. FOUNDERS: Thenuka Karunaratne & Shravan Rajinikanth INVESTORS: WndrCo, First Round Capital & Basis Set Ventures ROUND: Series A AMOUNT: $15,000,000 HQ: San Francisco, California #VentureCapital #daydream #ThenukaKarunaratne #ShravanRajinikanth #TradedVC

Anthropic has acquired Coefficient Bio in an all-stock deal valued at just over $400 million, bringing the stealth startup’s AI-driven biological research team into its expanding healthcare and life sciences division. Founded in September 2025 and led by CEO Aris Theologis, Coefficient Bio focused on building AI-native models for biotech research, and its rapid exit underscores Anthropic’s push deeper into drug discovery and life sciences as it scales beyond its core AI business. SALE PRICE: $400,000,000 HQ: San Francisco, California #VentureCapital #Anthropic #CoefficientBio #TradedVC

Andreessen Horowitz dropped its Top 100 Gen AI Consumer Apps report, and one thing is clear Consumer AI is still early. According to Olivia Moore, we are still in the early innings even as category leaders begin to separate. full interview and breakdown here: https://lnkd.in/eKH9MzpY ChatGPT remains the clear leader, but usage is fragmenting across platforms, regions, and devices The market is shifting from models to behavior what stands out: • leaders are consolidating at the top with real scale advantages • weekly usage of top products is ~10 percent globally • agents and workflow-driven products are emerging fast • mobile usage and revenue quality are becoming defining metrics what this means for founders and investors: the next winners won’t just build better models they’ll own distribution, workflows, and proprietary data There is still room to win, but speed and execution matter more than ever

IM8 Health, a rapidly growing supplement brand founded in late 2024 by Prenetics(NASDAQ: PRE) and David Beckham, has welcomed legendary NBA star Giannis Antetokounmpo as a minority equity investor. The company, known for its clinically-dosed longevity products backed by a world-class Scientific Advisory Board, reached $100 million in ARR within 11 months and anticipates over $180 million in revenue in 2026, joining other athlete investors including Aryna Sabalenka, Ollie Bearman, and Beckham. HQ: Charlotte, North Carolina #VentureCapital #IM8 #GiannisAntetokounmpo #DavidBeckham #TradedVC

Sequoia Capital recently made headlines by publishing a previously unreleased 1977 memo from its founder Don Valentine, detailing the firm’s early investment in Apple Computer. In the memo, Valentine described the deal as “very rich” and expressed reservations about Apple’s management, yet still committed $150,000 for a 10 percent stake, predicting the company as a “leading company in a Hot Biz.” Although Sequoia sold its stake in 1979, generating a 40x return, the memo offers a rare, candid glimpse into the thinking behind one of Silicon Valley’s most consequential early bets. FOUNDER: Don Valentine HQ: Menlo Park, California #VentureCapital #SequoiaCapital #DonValentine #TradedVC