Latest Startups & Entrepreneurship News
Blackstone Leads $1.2B Investment in Indian AI Cloud Startup Neysa
Blackstone spearheaded a $1.2 billion investment in Neysa, comprising $600M equity and $600M debt, to power India's AI GPUs. This landmark deal highlights surging AI infrastructure investments in India.
Peak XV Partners Raises $1.3B for India and APAC Funds
Peak XV Partners raised $1.3 billion for new India Seed, India Venture, and APAC funds, its first since splitting from Sequoia. The funds target high-growth startups in AI, fintech, and consumer sectors across the region.
World Labs Secures $1B Led by Fei-Fei Li for World Models
AI pioneer Fei-Fei Li’s World Labs raised $1 billion from Nvidia, AMD, and Autodesk to advance 'world models' for interactive 3D environments. Funding supports robotics, SLAM, and 3D reconstruction, with Autodesk partnership for design tools.
18 Southeast US Companies Raise $330M in VC
18 Southeast-based startups raised over $330M in February 2026, spanning biotech, energy, fintech. Highlights include Connect Music ($80M) for music IP tech and Altesa ($75M Series B).
Others: Payra ($15M), Croissant ($14M), Dono ($6.5M).
Encord Raises $60M Series C for Physical AI Data Infrastructure
Encord closed $60M Series C led by Wellington Management to accelerate intelligent robots and drones. Platform data grew to 5+ petabytes, revenue up 10x; total raised $110M.
Funds expand markets and platform for continuous data usability in physical AI.
Axelera AI Secures Over $250M Funding
Greek diaspora startup Axelera AI raised $250M+ amid the global AI boom, showcasing strong investor interest in hardware innovations. Greek-origin ventures drew hundreds of millions early in 2026.
Stable Money Hits $175M Valuation with $25M Raise
India's Stable Money secured $25M Pre-Series C led by Peak XV, valuing it at $175M. The fixed-income platform eyes 5x growth in digital investing like gold ETFs.
Total raised $65M for expansion amid fintech surge.
Portkey Raises $15M Series A for LLMOps Platform
Portkey raised $15M Series A led by Elevation Capital for its AI control plane. Processes 500B tokens daily for 24K orgs, now offering free enterprise gateway.
Focuses on AI reliability, governance, and cost efficiency.
Potpie AI Raises $2.2M Pre-Seed for Engineering Context Layer
San Francisco's Potpie AI raised $2.2M pre-seed led by Emergent Ventures. Builds AI context for software engineering; funds early enterprise deployments and team growth.
Investors include All In Capital, DeVC, Point One Capital.
e-TRNL Energy Raises ₹27.4 Cr Seed for Battery Tech
Indian battery cell startup e-TRNL Energy raised ₹27.4 Cr in seed funding. Part of weekly Indian startup news roundup.
Callosum Raises $10.25M to Challenge Nvidia in AI Chips
London startup Callosum, founded by Cambridge neuroscientists, raised $10.25M led by Plural. Builds software to orchestrate AI workloads across chips, breaking Nvidia dominance.
Angels include Charlie Songhurst and Stan Boland.
U of T Entrepreneurship Week Features $100K Startup Prize
University of Toronto's Entrepreneurship Week (March 2-6) spotlights AI with 10 startups competing for $100K Desjardins Prize on March 5. Past winners like Genecis ($20M raised) and Xatoms ($3M) gained validation.
Livestreamed event with top judges.