MENLO TIMES

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

AlphaLum , building the world's most efficient AR displays & optical sensors, led by Markus Rossi, Eric Tremblay, Tim De Reyck, Tanja Koch, Carlos Macias, and Volker Zagolla, has announced  the successful close of its CHF 3.4 million seed financing round led by Vsquared Ventures . The funding accelerates AlphaLum’s shift from advanced engineering to a core supplier for next-generation smart glasses and spatial-computing products, establishing it as a leading European provider

Aule Space , building the robotic workforce for the space economy, led by Jay Panchal, Nithyaa Giri, and Hrishit Tambi, has secured  $2 million in pre-seed funding led by pi Ventures , with participation from a clutch of angel investors, including Eash Sundaram, former Board Member of Intelsat and Founder of Utpata Ventures, and Arvind Lakshmikumar, CEO of defence tech company Tonbo Imaging , among others. Aule Space has been part of the Entrepreneurs First  accelerator progr

Skild AI , building omni-bodied intelligence, led by Deepak Pathak and Abhinav Gupta, has raised  $1.4 billion in Series C funding, led by SoftBank  with participation from NVentures  (NVIDIA), Macquarie Capital  (entities administered by Macquarie Capital), and Jeff Bezos(via Bezos Expeditions ), valuing the company at over $14 Billion. Lightspeed , Felicis , Coatue , and Sequoia Capital  have doubled down on their investments. Several strategic investors have also come on b

ThinkOrbital Inc. , constructing and defending the critical infrastructure required for a thriving space economy, led by Colonel Lee Rosen, USAF, Ret. and Vojtech Holub, Ph.D., has announced  the successful close of its Seed Round, led by TFX Capital .   The new funding accelerates development of technologies that will shape on-orbit defense and operations, from spacecraft inspection using Space-to-Space X-ray to asset servicing and large-scale orbital infrastructure. With na

SkyFi , an AI-first Earth intelligence platform, led by Luke Fischer, Bill Perkins, and others, has raised  a $12.7 million in an oversubscribed Series A funding round co-led by Buoyant Ventures  and IronGate Capital Advisors , with new participation from DNV Ventures , TFX Capital , Beyond Earth Ventures , Nova Threshold , and Chris Morisoli, and existing investors RSquared VC  and J2 Ventures . The investment will fuel faster product development and strengthen SkyFi’s techn

Cerebras , the world’s fastest AI inference and training platform, led by Andrew Feldman and others, has signed  a multi-year agreement with OpenAI  to deploy 750 megawatts of Cerebras wafer-scale systems to serve OpenAI customers. This deployment will roll out in multiple stages beginning in 2026, making it the largest high-speed AI inference deployment in the world. A decade of parallel ambition brought OpenAI and Cerebras together, two companies founded at the same time wi

Proxima Bio , unlocking a new chapter in medicine by making protein interactions programmable, led by Zachary Carpenter, Luca Naef, and others, has secured an oversubscribed $80M seed financing led by DCVC , with participation from NVentures (NVIDIA’s venture capital arm), Braidwell , Roivant , AIX Ventures , Yosemite, Magnetic Ventures , Alexandria Venture Investments, Modi Ventures , and additional strategic and institutional investors. As part of the financing, the compan

Diffraqtion , an MIT and University of Maryland spinout building the next generation of visual AI hardware and software to make satellites and machines see further and think faster, led by Johannes Galatsanos, Christine Yi-Ting Wang, Saikat Guha, Mark Michael, and others, has raised its pre-seed funding round, led by QDNL Participations , with participation from milemark•capital , Aether VC , ADIN, Offline Ventures , and a non-dilutive DARPA SBIR Direct-to-Phase 2 contract su

Nuclera , the biotechnology company accelerating drug discovery by providing rapid, easy access to functional proteins through its benchtop eProtein Discovery™ System, led by Michael Chen, Gordon Mcinroy, and others, announced  a USD $12 million financing extension, bringing the Company’s total Series C funding to USD $87 million, led by  Elevage Medical Technologies  and Jonathan Milner, joined by existing investors British Business Bank  and GK Goh . The investment will acc

Harmattan AI , building the future of autonomous warfare, with speed and intelligence, led by Mouad M'Ghari, Martin de Gourcuff , Jean-Christophe Charlaix , Edouard Rosset , Jean-Patrice Coste , and others, has secured  $200 million in a Series B funding round led by Dassault Aviation. The two companies have announced a strategic partnership to accelerate the integration of controlled autonomy and AI technologies into combat aviation systems. Harmattan AI, awarded multiple Pr

Boltz , helping every scientist reshape biology, led by Gabriele Corso, Jeremy Wohlwend, and Saro Passaro, announced  its launch with $28 Million Seed Round from Zetta , Amplify , a16z , and strategic angels, including Clement Delangue (CEO of Hugging Face), Factorial Capital , and Obvious Ventures . AI-powered molecular modeling is advancing rapidly, offering the potential to make biology programmable, digitize experiments, and accelerate drug development. However, emerging

Aegis Aerospace Inc. , a leader in space and defense technology led by Stephanie Murphy , and others, has announced  a groundbreaking partnership with United Semiconductors LLC to pioneer semiconductor manufacturing in space. This collaboration follows Aegis Aerospace’s recent grant from the Texas Space Commission to develop an in-space manufacturing platform for advanced materials in low Earth orbit (LEO). “We’re excited to partner with United Semiconductors,” said Stephanie

Biographica , developing cutting-edge deep learning and knowledge graph technology to identify and prioritise high-value targets for crop gene-editing, led by Cecily Price and Dominic Hall, PhD, has raised £7 million in a funding round led by  Faber VC , with participation from SuperSeed , Cardumen Capital , The Helm , EQT Foundation , and Sie Ventures . The round also included existing investors Chalfen Ventures , Entrepreneurs First , Nucleus Capital , Dhyan Ventures , Sara

Commonwealth Fusion Systems , an MIT spin-out fusion energy company, led by Bob Mumgaard, Dan Brunner, Brandon Sorbom, and Zach Hartwig, has completed  and delivered its first cutting-edge, superstrong magnet — a culmination of years of work to develop and manufacture the foundational technology to  bring fusion energy to the grid .   A 24-ton steel-clad toroidal field magnet was transported to the SPARC facility in Devens, Massachusetts, marking the first of 18 magnets neede

Lyte , an end-to-end integrated perception company for robotics and Physical AI, led by Alexander Shpunt, Dr. Arman Hajati, and Dr. Yuval Gerson, has emerged  from stealth with $107 million in aggregate funding from some of the industry's premier investors, including Avigdor Willenz's group, Fidelity Management & Research Company, Atreides Management , Exor Ventures , Key1 Capital , and Venture Tech Alliance . Based in Mountain View, California, Lyte was founded by Alexander

Boston Dynamics , which develops practical robotics solutions designed to tackle today's and tomorrow's toughest automation challenges, and Google DeepMind , the world’s premier AI Lab, have formed  a new AI partnership aimed at bringing a new era of artificial intelligence to humanoid robots. Announced at CES 2026 in Las Vegas, the two teams aim to integrate cutting-edge Gemini Robotics AI foundation models with Boston Dynamics’ new  Atlas ® robots. The strategic partnership

Array Labs , designing, building, and operating the world’s most advanced radar satellites, led by Andrew Peterson, Jose Isaac Robledo, and others, has announced  a $20M Series A financing led by Catapult Ventures , with participation from Washington Harbour Partners , Kompas VC , and other new and existing investors, including Y Combinator , Maiora Capital ,  Animal Capital , Aera VC , Cultivation Capital , and Clearance Ventures , bringing Array’s total funding to $35M sinc

Naxatra Labs , bringing groundbreaking axial and radial flux motor technology to the world of electric mobility, led by Abhilash Maurya , Arnav Biswas , and Piyush Verma , has raised  $3 million in a pre-Series A funding round led by Rainmatter with participation from Mohit Tandon (Delhivery), Himanshu Aggarwal (Aspiring Minds), Vijay Shekhar Sharma (Paytm), Aloke Bajpai (Ixigo), Anupam Jalote (iCEM), Narayan (Ather Energy), and others. The proceeds will support product expan

ICEYE , building actionable intelligence for resilience, readiness & response, led by Rafal Modrzewski, Pekka Laurila, and Eric Jensen, and Rheinmetall , an integrated technology group, led by Armin Papperger, have received  a major order from the German Armed Forces for the space sector. The Federal Office of Bundeswehr Equipment, Information Technology and In-Service Support (BAAINBw) has commissioned Rheinmetall ICEYE Space Solutions to provide the German Armed Forces with

Enlightra , building scalable, extreme-bandwidth, and low-power optical interconnects for the future of computing and communications, led by John Jost and Maxim Karpov, has announced it has raised a total of $15 million in funding to tackle the biggest bottleneck in AI infrastructure: fast and energy-efficient data transfer. The company’s investors include Y Combinator , Runa Capital , Pegasus Tech Ventures , Protocol Labs , Halo Labs, Asymmetry Ventures , and TRAC VC , among

Radiant , a clean energy startup building a nuclear microreactor, led by Doug Bernauer , Dr. Rita Baranwal, Dr. Mike Starrett, and others, has raised  more than $300 million in a new round of funding led by Draper Associates  and Boost VC , with additional financial commitments from current investors, reinforcing their continued confidence in Radiant’s positioning in the microreactor space. As part of this latest capital raise, Radiant also received additional investment from

Southern Launch , provider of bespoke space mission services including orbital launch, suborbital missions, orbital re-entries, and range services, led by Lloyd Damp, Rebecca Darcey, Tori Murray, and others, and Lux Aeterna , building the world’s first fleet of reusable satellites to transform the future of space operations for defense, intelligence, commercial, and in-space manufacturing customers, led by Brian Taylor, have signed  a contract to conduct orbital re-entries of

Navier AI , developing agent-driven engineering, led by Cameron Flannery and Evan Kay, has announced  $5.6 million in seed funding and its launch from stealth. The round includes participation from GV  (Google Ventures), HCVC , and Y Combinator . Engineering has seen two major productivity leaps: CAD replaced manual drafting, and simulation enabled virtual testing. Navier introduces the third, Agent-Driven Engineering, where AI agents automate repetitive design-to-engineering

Chai Discovery , engineering better molecules using artificial intelligence, led by Joshua Meier  and Matthew McPartlon , has secured  $130 million Series B financing round co-led by Oak HC/FT  and General Catalyst , with participation from Thrive Capital , OpenAI , Menlo Ventures , SV Angel , and others, alongside new investors Emerson Collective  and Glade Brook , valuing the company at $1.3 Billion. The Series B round brings Chai’s total funding to more than $225 million.

Quantum Systems , developer of Aerial Intelligence Systems, led by Florian Seibel, Sven Kruck, Matthias Lehna, and Dave Sharpin, and Frontline Robotics , a Ukrainian defence technology company that develops and manufactures robotic systems for Ukraine's security and defence forces, led by Pavlo Kosolapkin and Yevhenii Tretiak, have launched  “Quantum Frontline Industries”(QFI), a German-Ukrainian joint venture that will establish Europe’s first fully automated, industrial-sca

Soverli , an ETH-Zurich spin-off, led by Ivan Puddu and Moritz Schneider, has secured  $2.6 million in pre-seed funding led by Founderful , with participation from the ETH Zurich Foundation , Venture Kick , and cybersecurity industry figures. Built on four years of ETH Zurich research, Soverli’s patent-pending technology runs multiple isolated operating systems on a single device, enabling a sovereign OS to operate alongside Android on standard smartphones with fast, seamless

Quantum Diamonds ,  building next-gen testing tools based on quantum sensing to solve one of the semiconductor industry’s hardest problems, led by Dr. Fleming Bruckmaier and Kevin Berghoff, announced  a €152 million investment plan to establish the world’s first production facility for advanced chip testing systems. The Munich facility is a strategic asset for strengthening Europe’s semiconductor position and is expected to receive tens of millions of euros in public funding

Kuva Space , empowering decision-makers with actionable planetary intelligence through innovative space and AI technology, led by Jarkko Antila, Jerry Welsh, Tuomas Tikka, and others, has partnered  with the WWF-Indonesia (WWF-Indonesia) to launch an initiative that uses satellite data and AI to monitor and quantify Indonesia’s vast blue carbon assets. The collaboration will map seagrass and mangrove habitats in East Nusa Tenggara and East Kalimantan, creating scalable data f

EpilepsyGTx , a biotechnology company focused on research and development of cutting-edge gene therapies to treat refractory epilepsy, led by Nicolas Koebel, Prof. Dimitri Kullmann, Dr. Joanne Broadhead, and Dr. Luiz Almeida Silva, has secured  $33 million in a Series A financing from XGEN Venture, the British Business Bank, and a global biopharmaceutical company. Taylor Wessing LLP advised EpilepsyGTx on the round, A&O Shearman advised XGEN Venture, and Panmure Liberum Cambr

University 2 Ventures , building the #1 pre-seed/seed deep tech university spin-off investment platform for Europe, led by Dr. Philipp Semmer, Dr. Johannes Triebs, Michael Schmitt, and Moritz von Klot, has completed  the first closing of its €60 million Fund I, with support from corporates including anchor LP Jungheinrich via Uplift Ventures , alongside family offices, serial entrepreneurs and industry executives. The fund is designed to support teams transforming Europe’s re

Odin Space , securing the future of space by developing advanced space debris detection and orbital mapping, led by James New and Dan Terrett, has secured  $3 million led by Steel Atlas , with participation from Iron Prairie , Tiny VC , and Cur8 Capital , and several other funds/angels. The funding will accelerate Odin’s mission to enhance space safety by enabling spacecraft operators, manufacturers, and space agencies to more accurately predict and monitor hazardous sub-cent

Fervo Energy , delivering 24/7 carbon-free geothermal energy, led by Tim Latimer, Jack Norbeck, PhD, David Ulrey, Christian Gradl, Sarah Jewett, and others, has announced  the closing of its oversubscribed $462 million Series E funding round, led by new investor  B Capital , with participation from new investors, including AllianceBernstein, Atacama Ventures, Carbon Equity, Climate First, Google, Mitsui & Co., Dr. Kris Singh (Founder of Holtec International), and JB Straubel.

Nu Quantum , building the quantum networking technology to scale quantum computers, led by Dr. Carmen Palacios-Berraquero, Dr. Claire Le Gall, Ed Wood, Danny Garden, Amii Shepperson, Sam Funnell, and Jonathan Cumming, has secured $60 million in Series A funding round led by National Grid Partners , including participation from Gresham House Ventures  and Morpheus Ventures , and continued support from existing investors Amadeus Capital Partners , IQ Capital , Ahren Capital , C

Orbital Marine Power , the future of clean, predictable power solutions, led by Andrew Scott, Chris Milne, and Oliver Wragg, has secured £7 million in investment. PXN Ventures  – the combined VC arm of Praetura Ventures and Par Equity- joined existing shareholders, including Scottish Enterprise, to invest in Orbital. The investment follows strong momentum in Canada, where Nova Scotia recently awarded Orbital and Eauclaire Tidal Ltd major new tidal energy licenses through its

Boom Supersonic , the company building the world’s fastest airliner, led by Blake Scholl, Rachel Devine, Jeff Mabry, Megan Young, and others, has announced  a backlog of more than $1.25 billion for its Superpower turbine and revealed its launch customer, Crusoe . The company also closed a $300 million funding round led by Darsana Capital Partners , with participation from Altimeter Capital , ARK Invest , Bessemer Venture Partners , Robinhood Ventures , and Y Combinator . Supe

Quantum Dice , harnessing the quantum properties of light to solve some of today's most critical computational challenges, led by Dr Ramy Shelbaya, Dr Marko von der Leyen, and Dr Zhanet Zaharieva, secured a €2 Million grant from the  European Innovation Council (EIC) Accelerator  programme, with the project now officially underway following its October kick-off. Quantum Dice, one of only 40 deep-tech start-ups across Europe, and among just three from the UK, was selected from

Quilt , the world’s most intuitive, advanced, and efficient ductless heat pump on the market, led by Paul Lambert, Matthew Knoll, and Bill Kee, has secured  a $20M Series B round from   Energy Impact Partners , Galvanize ,  Lowercarbon Capital ,  Gradient Ventures ,  Alumni Ventures , Incite Ventures , and others. The company is welcoming  Tom vonReichbauer (former CFO of Nest, Sunrun, and ICON) and  Veery Maxwell  (co-head of Galvanize Climate’s Innovation + Expansion fund)

Unconventional AI , rethinking the foundations of a computer to optimize energy efficiency for AI, led by MeeLan Lee , Sara Achour , Michael Carbin , and Naveen Rao , has secured  $475 million in seed funding led by Lightspeed  and Andreessen Horowitz , with participation from Sequoia , Lux Capital , DCVC , Future Ventures , Jeff Bezos, and many other amazing investing partners, valuing the company at $4.5 Billion. Naveen Rao, cofounder and CEO, will personally be investing $

Castelion , a cutting-edge defense technology company working to restore America's conventional deterrence capability, led by Bryon Hargis, Sean Pitt, Andrew Kreitz, and others, has secured  $350 million in Series B financing led by Altimeter Capital  and Lightspeed Venture Partners , with participation from Lavrock Ventures , Andreessen Horowitz , General Catalyst , First In , Space VC , Cantos , BlueYard , Avenir , Champion Hill , and Interlagos . The capital raise supports

Ultraviolette , the world's most advanced EV platforms, led by Narayan Subramanian and Niraj Rajmohan, has secured  $45 million as part of its ongoing Series E round. The latest infusion comes from leading Indian technology company Zoho Corporation  and Lingotto , one of Europe's largest investment management companies. The continued momentum in Ultraviolette Automotive’s Series E round underscores strong investor confidence in its growth trajectory and global ambitions. With

Shield AI , a deeptech company protecting service members and civilians with intelligent systems, led by Gary Steele, Ryan Tseng, ex-Navy Seal Brandon Tseng, Nathan Michael, and others, and Sedaro , powering the future of aerospace & defense with mission simulation at scale, led by Daniel Martin, Robbie Robertson, PhD, and others, have announced  a strategic partnership to advance autonomous operations in orbit. The partnership designates Shield AI’s Hivemind Pilot as the pri

Ricursive Intelligence , the first frontier AI lab addressing the most fundamental constraint in AI progress: chip development timelines that can’t keep up with algorithmic advancement, led by Anna Goldie and Azalia Mirhoseini, announced  its launch and a $35 million seed funding round led by Sequoia Capital( Stephanie Zhan ), along with other investors, including Modern Capital( Suhail Nimji , Jennifer Campbell ), 49Palms( Madhavan Ramanujam , Joshua Bloom ), and Striker ( M

Moonshot Space , an Israeli startup building an affordable, on-demand delivery system for space infrastructure, led by Hilla Haddad Chmelnik, Fred Simon, and Shahar Bahiri, has emerged  from stealth with $12 million in funding to continue the development of a launch system, powered by electromagnetism. Moonshot plans to offer A&D primes its technology as a hypersonic test platform, while progressively developing capabilities to provide orbital launch services for companies se

Antares , building purpose-designed modular power for defense-critical assets, led by Jordan Bramble  and  Julia DeWahl , has secured $96 million in Series B led by Shine Capital  with participation from Alt Capital , Caffeinated , 53 Stations , Industrious Ventures , and others. The capital provides the momentum and discipline needed to achieve a milestone not seen in the United States for decades: the ability to design, build, and test nuclear reactors within a few years ra

Synopsys , the leader in engineering solutions from silicon to systems, enabling customers to rapidly innovate AI-powered products, led by Sassine Ghazi, Shelagh Glaser, Ravi Subramanian, Shankar Krishnamoorthy, and others, announced  an expanded, strategic partnership to revolutionize design and engineering across industries. R&D teams across sectors, from semiconductors to aerospace, automotive, and industrial, face growing workflow complexity, rising development costs, and

Spaceium , building a network of in-space refueling and repair stations, led by Ashi Dissanayake and Reza Fetanat, launched  its first in-space demonstration hardware, a precision robotic actuator for autonomous propellant transfer in orbit on SpaceX’s Transporter-15 mission, hosted aboard D-orbit’s ION spacecraft. Spaceium was founded to make in-space refueling a reality. Orbital fuel replenishment is the key to unlocking a larger, more sustainable space economy. For decades

Marble Imaging , the Earth Observation Data & Insights company, led by Robert Hook, Dr. Gopika Suresh, and Alexander Epp, has secured  a €5.3 million seed round led by HTGF. In addition, Marble has attracted a strong group of further investors who share the mission, including BAB Beteiligungs- und Management-gesellschaft Bremen mbH (BBM) , Lightfield Equity,  Oslo Venture Company ,  nwk | nwu Beteiligungsgesellschaften der Sparkasse Bremen ,  Sentris Capital ,  Auxxo Female C

Gravis Robotics , the earthmoving autonomy platform, led by Ryan Luke Johns, Dominic Jud, Marco Tranzatto, Burak Cizmeci, and Neil Woodfin, has secured $23M co-led by IQ Capital  and Zacua Ventures , with Pear VC , Imad (CVC of Nesma & Partners), Sunna Ventures , Armada Investment  and Holcim. Gravis systems are already in use with major construction and quarry operators, including Holcim, enabling autonomous site prep, stockpile management, and material loading. The company