The Week’s 10 Biggest Funding Rounds: AI Drives A Varied Lineup Of Large Financings
It was another interesting week for AI-related startup funding, with a number of large rounds and quirky companies. The largest financings went to Tenstorrent, a developer of AI processors and systems, and AI lab Flapping Airplanes. The quirkiest round, meanwhile, was undoubtedly a $200 million financing for Warhound, which wants to breed elite military dogs.
A number of big rounds in areas including biotech, space tech and physical AI rounded out the list.
1. Tenstorrent, $1.5B, AI infrastructure: Santa Clara, California-based Tenstorrent, a developer of AI processors and systems, secured $1.5 billion in Series E funding. Trace Capital and Innovation X led the round, which set a $6.2 billion valuation for the 10-year-old company.
2. Flapping Airplanes, $1B, foundational AI: Flapping Airplanes, an AI lab with a focus on developing models that cost less to train and run, closed on $1 billion in Series A funding led by Lux Capital and Index Ventures. The round comes less than 10 months after the year-old San Francisco startup raised a $180 million seed financing.
3. ASI, $325M, AI for critical infrastructure: ASI, a developer of AI technology for securing and operating critical infrastructure in areas such as aviation, transportation and defense, picked up $325 million in Series C financing. Spark Capital led the round, which set a $3 billion valuation for the Boston-based company.
4. Xona, $250M, space tech: Xona, a startup developing a next-generation version of GPS, raised $250 million in Series D funding led by Future Ventures. The round sets a $2.4 billion valuation for the Burlingame, California-based company.
5. Pathos AI, $237M, biotech: Pathos AI, a startup applying AI to drug development, completed a $237 million Series E financing at a post-money valuation around $3 billion. Bristol-Myers Squibb led the financing for the New York-headquartered company.
6. Warp Sciences, $215M, AI, robotics and life sciences: Warp Sciences, a startup applying AI and robotics to help develop new medicines faster, raised a $215M Series A round led by Lightspeed Venture Partners.
7. (tied) Whop, $200M, online business marketplace: Whop, a platform that helps entrepreneurs build and run online businesses, secured $200 million in Series D funding led by Sequoia Capital and Shopify Ventures. The round set a $5.1 billion valuation for the New York-based company.
7. (tied) Star Therapeutics, $200M, biotech: South San Francisco, California-based drug developer Star Therapeutics says it raised $200 million in new financing led by OrbiMed and Janus Henderson Investors. The investment follows Incyte’s July acquisition of Vega Therapeutics, a subsidiary of Star, in a deal valued at up to $2 billion.
7. (tied) Warhound, $200M, military dogs: Warhound, a startup that wants to breed working dogs for U.S. military forces and emergency responders, launched from stealth with $200 million in seed funding from a long list of backers including Sequoia Capital and 8VC . The startup, co-founded by AnduriI ndustries founder Palmer Luckey, plans to equip the dogs with Anduril technology.
10. Arda Industries, $160M, AI manufacturing software: Arda Industries, a developer of AI-powered software for manufacturing engineering, closed on $160 million in Series A funding at a $1.5 billion valuation, co-led by Altimeter Capital, Accel and Khosla Ventures. The San Francisco-based startup also announced a previously undisclosed $72 million seed financing.