MENLO TIMES

RobCo , the Robot Company centered on Software and AI, led by Roman Hölzl, Paul Maroldt, and Constantin Dresel, has raised  $100 million, co-led by Lightspeed Venture Partners  and Lingotto Innovation s, alongside Sequoia Capital , Greenfield Partners , Kindred Capital , Leitmotif , and The Friedkin Group . The venture capital investors contribute experience in building category-defining technology companies, while the industrial investors provide deep industry connections to

Mantis Biotech , the infrastructure powering human-in-computer models, led by Georgia Witchel, has announced $6.3 Million seed round, led by  Decibel Partners , with participation from  StoryHouse Ventures , Y Combinator , Pioneer Fund , Spot VC , and Fenwick . The Problem: The challenge isn’t a lack of data; it’s messy, fragmented, and hard-to-use data. Massive volumes of biological, performance, and operational information exist, but are scattered across systems and formats

Qilimanjaro , building analog, full-stack quantum computers, led by Marta P Estarellas, Victor Canivell, Juanjo Canuto, Timothy Duty, and others, has announced  the release of  EduQit , a modular quantum computing kit designed to enable hands-on training, experimental learning, and early-stage research using an on-site superconducting quantum computing system. EduQit enables universities and research institutions to work directly with physical quantum computing systems, provi

Redwood Materials , securing U.S. critical materials, powering America’s energy future, led by JB Straubel, Chris Lister, Colin Campbell, and others, has announced  Series E financing, bringing the total raise to $425 million, with continued participation from existing investors, Capricorn  and Goldman Sachs Alternatives , and welcomes Google as a new investor.   Driven by strong demand, the increase from the previously announced $350 million underscores confidence in the lon

Standard Nuclear , establishing the backbone of the advanced nuclear fuel cycle, led by Kurt Terrani, Keeley Marrocco, and others, has announced  it has secured $140M in Series A funding from investors led by Decisive Point  with participation from new investors Chevron Technology Ventures , StepStone Group , XTX Ventures , and existing investors Welara, Fundomo , Andreessen Horowitz , Washington Harbour Partners , and Crucible Capital , among many others.  This funding will

Northwood Space , an end-to-end ground infrastructure provider for space missions that push the boundaries on the possible, led by Bridgit Mendler , Griffin Cleverly , Shaurya Luthra , and others, has raised  a $100 million Series B funding round, led by Washington D.C.-based firm Washington Harbour Partners  and co-led by Andreessen Horowitz . Northwood has secured a $49.8 million contract with the U.S. Space Force to upgrade the “satellite control network,” which manages cr

Ricursive Intelligence , a frontier AI Lab focused on building self-improving systems, starting with chip design, led by Anna Goldie, Azalia Mirhoseini, and others, has secured $300 million in funding led by Lightspeed  with participation from DST Global , Nvidia’s venture capital arm NVentures , Felicis Ventures , 49 Palms Ventures, and Radical AI. Ricursive aims to accelerate AI chip innovation by using AI systems to design silicon substrates and iteratively improve hardwar

Tomorrow.io , shaping the future of global resilience, led by Shimon Elkabetz, Rei Goffer, Itai Zlotnik, Leigha Kemmett, Osnat Barak, and others, has announced  DeepSky, the world’s first AI-native, space-based atmospheric and oceanic sensing network, designed to make Earth’s atmosphere and oceans continuously observable in real time, powering faster, smarter global decision-making and response. This marks Tomorrow.io ’s second satellite constellation, announced shortly after

Neurophos , a leader in photonic AI chip technology, led by Patrick Bowen , Hod Finkelstein , Preston Woo , Andrew Traverso , and others, has secured  $110 million in an oversubscribed Series A round, bringing total funding to $118 million led by Gates Frontier, with participation from M12  (Microsoft’s Venture Fund), Carbon Direct Capital , Aramco Ventures , Bosch Ventures , Tectonic Ventures , Space Capital , and others. Modern AI inference requires massive power and comput

Shield Space , a UK defence technology company focused on developing space control and counterspace capabilities for allied defence customers, led by Graeme Ritchie, Dr Daniel Molland, and others, has announced  the close of its $2.7m pre-seed round, marking the company’s first institutional backing to deliver autonomous Space Control capability for NATO and its allies. The round was led by Mercia Ventures  and Twin Path Ventures , with participation from ROI Ventures , P3A V

Quadric , the inference engine that powers on-device AI chips, led by Veer Kheterpal , Daniel Firu , Nigel Drego , Steve Roddy , and others, announced an oversubscribed $30 million Series C funding round, bringing total capital raised to $72 million, led by ACCELERATE Fund, managed by BEENEXT  Capital Management.  Uncork Capital  returned with one of the largest insider commitments through its opportunity fund, joined by insider Pear VC . New investors include Volta, Gentree,

Optalysys , enabling a world of secure computing, led by Nick New, Robert Todd, Stuart Mellis, Marcella Arthur, Laura Stanley, and others, has secured  £23 million in a Series A extension round led by Northern Gritstone  with participation from imec.xpand , Lingotto Horizon , and the UK government’s National Security Strategic Investment Fund ( NSSIF ). The funding will accelerate the commercialisation of Optalysys’ photonic chips and support expansion into the US market. As

ABZ Innovation , developing and manufacturing heavy-duty action drones aimed at enhancing efficiency and performance in agriculture, construction, logistics, and various industrial operations, led by Károly Ludvigh, Gyula Török, Ádám Takács, Peter Racz, Gergely Vasarhelyi, and Johanna Göbl, has secured  a €7 million funding round led by Vsquared Ventures , with participation from Day One Capital  and Assembly Ventures . The investment will drive ABZ’s next growth phase by sca

Loft Orbital , a space infrastructure company that provides simple, fast, and reliable ways to deploy missions to low Earth orbit, led by Pierre-Damien Vaujour , Alex Greenberg , Antoine de Chassy , and others, has announced  a notification by the French Space Agency (CNES) and the Directorate General of Armaments / DGA of a contract for the development and operation of the DESIR program (Sovereign Radar Imaging Elements Demonstration). The program seeks to establish France’s

Zipline , an American robotics company that designs, manufactures, and operates the world’s largest autonomous delivery system, led by Keller Rinaudo Cliffton, Keenan Wyrobek, William Hetzler, and others, has announced  it has surpassed two million commercial deliveries, raised more than $600 million from several existing and new investors, including Fidelity Management & Research Company , Baillie Gifford , Valor Equity Partners  and Tiger Global , and will expand operations

Ethernovia , revolutionizing the nervous system of intelligent machines, led by Ramin Shirani, Roy Myers, Hossein Sedarat, Darren Engelkemier, Christopher Mash, and Klaas Bult, has  secured  a Series B funding round of over $90 million led by  Maverick Silicon  with participation from  Socratic Partners , Conduit Capital, and CDIB-TEN Capital. The round also included additional funding from Ethernovia’s existing investors, including  Porsche SE ,  Qualcomm Ventures , and  Fal

Orbem , the Munich-based Deep tech company turning Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) into a powerful, AI-powered tool to reveal hidden insights in food and biology, led by Pedro Gomez, Miguel Molina, Maria Laparidou, and others, announced  the successful closing of a €55.5 million Series B financing round led by Innovation Industries  and joined by Supernova Invest , with significant follow-on participation from existing investors General Catalyst , 83North , The Venture Colle

NPHarvest , a Finnish cleantech company developing fertilizer inputs from liquid waste streams, led by Dr. Juho Uzkurt Kaljunen, Sara Ikonen, Federico Varalta, Burak Yirmibesoglu, and Eero Petäjä, has been selected  for up to €1.2 million in funding, structured in three phases tied to technical and commercial milestones, supporting the continued development and scale-up of NPHarvest’s nutrient recovery technology from  Business Finland , the country’s public organisation for

Merge Labs , a Brain Computer Interface Research Lab, founded by Mikhail Shapiro, Tyson Aflalo, and Sumner Norman, complemented by technology entrepreneurs Alex Blania, Sandro Herbig, and Sam Altman in a personal capacity, has announced  its launch and support  and collaboration from OpenAI. The goal centers on advancing a new class of brain-computer interfaces with high bandwidth, deep AI integration, and broad accessibility. Human experience emerges from billions of neurons

Slingshot Aerospace , powering the future of space, led by Tim Solms, Julio Pekarovic, Andrea Powers, Kelli Furrer, Erik Ekwurzel, Dr. Adrian Thompson, and others, has earned  a $27 million contract to modernize scenario training activities.   Under the contract, Slingshot will advance the Space Force’s Operational Test and Training Infrastructure (OTTI) program by integrating existing training capabilities with AI-native technology designed to accurately replicate today’s ra