Latest Startups & Entrepreneurship News
Anthropic reportedly seeking $10B at $350B valuation, cementing AI mega-round trend
AI safety and foundation model company **Anthropic** is in talks to raise about **$10 billion** in new funding at a roughly **$350 billion valuation**, according to people familiar with the matter. If completed, this round would make Anthropic one of the world’s most highly valued private startups and underline investor conviction that a few leading AI model companies will dominate future infrastructure and application layers.
Massive funding rounds highlight continued strength in AI security and biotech startups
Recent data shows large late-stage rounds, including **Cyera**, an AI security startup in New York, raising **$400 million** in a Series F at an estimated **$1.7 billion** valuation. Biotech scaleups like **Parabilis Medicines** and **Alveus Therapeutics** also closed rounds of **$305 million** and **$160 million** respectively, underscoring investor appetite for capital-intensive therapeutics platforms even amid broader market caution.
Early-stage AI benchmarking and biotech ventures secure nine-figure financings
AI model benchmarking startup **LMArena** closed a **$150 million Series A** led by Felicis Ventures and UC Investments, bringing total funding to about **$250 million**. Biotech companies **Diagonal Therapeutics** and **EpiBiologics** raised **$125 million Series B** and **$107 million Series B** respectively, as investors continue to back specialized platforms for rare diseases and targeted protein degradation.
Cybersecurity startup funding surges over 45% versus 2024
New industry analysis reports cybersecurity startup funding in 2025 rose about **47% in total dollars** and **31% in number of rounds** compared with 2024. The momentum suggests that security remains a priority budget item for enterprises despite macro uncertainty, benefiting both infrastructure and application-layer security startups.
Global startup economy crosses $4.2T invested and nearly 100,000 scaleups
A long-term review of the startup ecosystem finds that since 2000, about **$4.2 trillion** has been invested into startups worldwide, producing **97,982 scaleups**. Of these, **7,030** have raised more than **$100 million** (“Scalers”) and **473** have surpassed **$1 billion** in capital raised (“Super Scalers”), illustrating how venture capital has concentrated outcomes in a relatively small cohort of high-growth companies.
Hong Kong frontier-tech startups win major CES 2026 awards
At **CES 2026**, Hong Kong company **Widemount Dynamics Tech** won a Best of Innovation award for its **Smart Firefighting Robot**, recognized in the “Product in Support of Human Security for All” category. Healthtech startups **Eieling** and **PointFit** were honored in Digital Health for innovations including the **FattaLab** compact fatty liver diagnostic device and the **PF‑Sweat Patch** biomarker-tracking wearable, boosting international visibility for Hong Kong’s deep-tech founders.
CES 2026 spotlights CEE-rooted startups scaling globally in AI and sustainability
A regional roundup highlights Central and Eastern Europe–rooted companies taking prominent roles at **CES 2026**, particularly in **AI** and **sustainability-focused** technologies. The coverage notes growing acquisitions and international recognition for CEE founders, reflecting how the region’s startup ecosystem is moving from emerging to globally competitive status.
GSV Cup 50 names 2026’s most innovative early-stage EdTech startups worldwide
The **GSV Cup 50** list for 2026 selected early-stage EdTech companies from over **3,000 global startup nominations**, with backing from AWS and GSV Ventures. The cohort spans five continents, has collectively raised more than **$177 million**, and features a high proportion of underrepresented founders, positioning these startups for further capital and partnerships ahead of the ASU+GSV Summit.
New Jersey awards $1.3M in clean tech R&D seed grants to 17 startups
The **New Jersey Commission on Science, Innovation, and Technology (CSIT)** awarded about **$1.3 million** in seed grants to **17 clean tech startups** under its R&D program. Grants of roughly **$75,000** each went to early-stage companies such as Canyon Magnet Energy, CarbonDots, Cecilia Energy, EV Buddy, and others to help move climate-related technologies from research toward commercialization.
NYC fintech AI lab Autonomous Technologies Group raises $15M pre-seed
New York–based **Autonomous Technologies Group**, an AI research and product company focused on applied reasoning models for financial advising, closed a **$15 million pre-seed** round. The financing was led by **BoxGroup** and **Y Combinator**, giving the 2025-founded startup substantial runway to build AI tools aimed at transforming how financial advice is delivered.
Microsoft highlights three AI retail startups to watch at NRF 2026
Ahead of the NRF 2026 retail conference in New York, Microsoft spotlighted **three AI startups** building solutions for the future of retail, including personalization and operations optimization tools. The company framed these ventures as examples of how AI-native startups are partnering with cloud platforms and major retailers such as Sephora and Instacart to reimagine customer experiences and store efficiency.
VC view: 2026 poised to be “the year of the consumer” for startups
Premise VC partner **Vanessa Larco** argues that enterprise AI adoption is slowing because many companies are unsure where to begin, while consumer demand for AI-native products is accelerating. She predicts **2026 will be “the year of the consumer,”** with more venture dollars flowing to startups that deliver clear, everyday value to individuals rather than complex, hard-to-implement enterprise AI tools.