Venus Aerospace raises $91M to build its ‘detonation’ rocket engine
Venus Aerospace raises $91M to build its ‘detonation’ rocket engine

A Texas startup has raised $91m to build a rocket engine most of the industry once wrote off as too hard. Venus Aerospace announced a $91m Series B to develop its Rotating Detonation Rocket Engine, or RDRE. Mercury Fund led the round. The backers read …

Iluvatar CoreX seeks to raise $850m as China’s AI-chip rally lifts its shares
Iluvatar CoreX seeks to raise $850m as China’s AI-chip rally lifts its shares

A year ago, Iluvatar CoreX was a Shanghai chipmaker that sold mostly to the Chinese state. This week it is trying to raise about $850m from investors who cannot seem to get enough of it, according to Bloomberg, riding a share price that has more than t…

After 25 years of self-funding, Bezos opens Blue Origin at a $130bn valuation
After 25 years of self-funding, Bezos opens Blue Origin at a $130bn valuation

Jeff Bezos is opening Blue Origin to outside money at last, in a round that values the rocket firm at $130 billion, CNBC reports. It follows Elon Musk’s record SpaceX IPO and pits the two space fortunes against each other again. Blue Origin is raising …

Fleek raises $25m to build the AI infrastructure behind global secondhand fashion
Fleek raises $25m to build the AI infrastructure behind global secondhand fashion

Fleek, a London startup building the software plumbing behind the global secondhand clothing trade, has raised $25m in Series B funding to scale the AI it uses to sort, grade and price used garments. The round takes the company’s total funding to $45m….

Lovable is reportedly in talks to raise $300M at a $13.2bn valuation
Lovable is reportedly in talks to raise $300M at a $13.2bn valuation

Lovable, the Swedish vibe-coding startup, is in talks to raise $300m at a $13.2bn post-money valuation, Sifted reports, citing two people familiar with the deal. The figure would roughly double the $6.6bn valuation it commanded at its $330m Series B in…

Amazon returns to the bond market for at least $25bn to fund its AI build-out
Amazon returns to the bond market for at least $25bn to fund its AI build-out

Amazon has gone back to the debt markets for at least $25bn, its largest bond sale of the year and the clearest sign yet of how much the company is prepared to borrow to keep pace in the artificial intelligence race. The offering is split across eight …

SpaceX’s biggest bull sees a $10.5tn valuation. A famed bear bets on a crash
SpaceX’s biggest bull sees a $10.5tn valuation. A famed bear bets on a crash

SpaceX just joined the Nasdaq 100. On the same day, one Wall Street analyst put a $10.5 trillion price tag on it. A famed investor put the odds of a crash at 90 per cent. SpaceX has plenty of admirers on Wall Street. None goes further than Raymond Jame…

Quaise raises $134M to drill superhot rock with microwaves
Quaise raises $134M to drill superhot rock with microwaves

Geothermal used to mean shallow wells and modest heat. Quaise wants to drill kilometres down and blast the rock with microwaves, and it just raised $134 million to try. Quaise Energy has raised $134 million to drill for superhot rock deep underground, …

Norm Ai raises $120M at a $1.2B valuation to build AI-native law
Norm Ai raises $120M at a $1.2B valuation to build AI-native law

Most AI legal startups sell software to law firms. Norm Ai built its own firm instead, and investors just valued the bet at $1.2 billion. Norm Ai has raised $120 million in a Series C round that values the New York startup at $1.2 billion, Bloomberg fi…

Axos buys AI fintech Arc Technologies to bolt modern software onto a bank
Axos buys AI fintech Arc Technologies to bolt modern software onto a bank

Axos is buying Arc Technologies, an AI-native fintech that banks tech startups, and bolting its software onto a chartered bank. Axos Financial, a US digital bank with about $29bn in assets, has agreed to acquire Arc Technologies, the company announced….