Happy Friday! [Dramatically sweeps books off table.] We're looking forward to seeing a bunch of you at Disrupt for the networking, dozens of amazing speakers, and the super-secret StrictlyVC event within the event (you gain entry with an investor pass). Meanwhile, we're hosting one last StrictlyVC evening this year on Wednesday, December 3rd, in Palo Alto, courtesy of our co-host, Playground Global. We want to get this on your calendar now because we know you're popular and your dance cards fill up this time of year. It'll be a great night with plenty of drinks, holiday cheer and, of course, intimate conversations with Big Deals, including former Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger, a general partner at Playground. (We are dying to ask him how he feels about what has happened to Intel since he stepped away.) These nights always sell out, so grab your seat now so you aren’t kicking yourself later. — CL

Top News

A hacking group is threatening to dump more than a billion records stolen from Salesforce-hosted databases of Allianz, Google, Kering, Qantas, Stellantis, TransUnion, Workday, and others unless its victims pay up. TechCrunch has more here.

Under pressure from the Trump administration, Apple pulled ICEBlock and similar apps that let users anonymously track ICE agents, sparking fresh debate over safety, privacy, and how far Big Tech will bend to government demands amid escalating tensions over immigration enforcement. TechCrunch has more here.

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Sources: Naveen Rao’s New AI Hardware Startup Targets $5B Valuation with Backing from a16z

By Marina Temkin

Naveen Rao, who was formerly the head of artificial intelligence at Databricks, is in talks to raise a $1 billion round at a $5 billion valuation for a new startup, called Unconventional, Inc., that’s building a new type of computer, according to four people familiar with discussions. 

Andreessen Horowitz has agreed to lead the investment, and Lightspeed and Lux Capital are also participating in the deal, two of the sources said, although none of those VCs firms responded to our request for comment. Databricks is also said to be investing in Rao’s new company, Bloomberg reported last month. 

Rao has already raised hundreds of millions and plans to begin building the startup without waiting for the full $1 billion round to close, our sources said. He plans to raise the rest of the capital in installments, a funding approach commonly referred to as a “tranched” round. 

Rao declined to comment, although he did publicly acknowledge the new startup on X last week, confirming its name, and describing its hoped-for product as “rethinking the foundations of a computer to build a new substrate for intelligence that is as efficient as biology. Brain Scale Efficiency without the biological baggage!”

Massive Fundings

Ansa Biotechnologies, a seven-year-old San Francisco startup that develops faster and more accurate DNA synthesis for biopharmaceutical research, raised a $54.4 million Series B round led by Cerberus Ventures, with Blue Water Life Science Advisors, Altitude Life Science Ventures, Fall Line Capital, AIM13, and Black Opal Ventures also taking part. Fierce Pharma has more here.

DualEntry, a two-year-old New York startup, raised a $90 million Series A round at a $415 million post-money valuation. The deal was co-led by Lightspeed Venture Partners and Khosla Ventures, with additional participation from GV. SiliconANGLE has more here.

Feedzai, a 14-year-old Portuguese company that helps banks detect fraud and financial crime by monitoring transactions and user behavior, raised a $75 million round at a $2+ billion valuation. Lince Capital, Iberis Capital, and Explorer Investments co-led the deal, with previous investors including Oxy Capital and Buenavista Equity Partners also participating. More here.

Midi Health, a five-year-old Los Angeles startup that provides virtual menopause and perimenopause care, raised a $50 million Series C round led by Advance Venture Partners, with previous investors Emerson Collective, GV, Anne Wojcicki, Amy Schumer, and Tory Burch also contributing. The company has raised a total of $150 million. Femtech Insider has more here.

Pacaso, a five-year-old San Francisco startup that runs a marketplace for co-owned luxury vacation homes, raised a $72.5 million Reg A+ round backed by more than 17,500 individual investors. The company has raised a total of more than $300 million. More here.

Supabase, a five-year-old San Francisco startup that provides an open-source Postgres-based database service used by developers and AI coding tools, raised a $100 million Series E round at a $5 billion valuation, 2.5x the valuation it secured in a $200 million Series D round it raised just four months ago. Accel and Peak XV co-led this latest transaction. The company has raised a total of $500 million. TechCrunch has more here.

Big-But-Not-Crazy-Big Fundings

Katana, an eight-year-old Tallinn startup that helps small and mid-sized businesses manage inventory, production, and orders across sales channels, raised a $16.4 million Series B extension round led by Cogito Capital Partners, with Fenton/Greer Family Trust as well as previous investors Northzone, Atomico, 42Cap, and Lightrock also contributing. The company has raised a total of $70.4 million. More here.

kiutra, a seven-year-old Munich startup that develops cooling systems that reach ultra-low temperatures without helium-3 for use in quantum chips and computers, raised a $15.3 million round co-led by NovaCapital and 55 North, with High-Tech Gründerfonds also participating. Quantum Computing Report has more here.

Smaller Fundings

Aventra, a one-year-old startup based in Herndon, VA, that develops low-cost guidance kits to convert unguided munitions into long-range precision weapons, raised a $3 million seed round led by Lavrock Ventures. More here.

Flai, a one-year-old San Francisco startup that builds AI voice and messaging tools to help car dealerships manage customer interactions, raised a $4.5 million seed round led by First Round Capital, with Y Combinator, RedBlue Capital, Liquid 2 Ventures, and Innovation Endeavors also anteing up. TechCrunch has more here.

Lore, a five-year-old New York startup that lets fans dig deep into internet rabbit holes with tools to map obsessions and fandoms, raised a $1.1 million pre-seed round led by Village Global, with Precursor Ventures also stepping up. TechCrunch has more here.

OpusFlow, a three-year-old Dutch startup that provides workflow automation software for renewable energy installers, raised a $4.5 million round led by Move Energy, with Rise PropTech and previous investor Peak Capital also pitching in. Vestbee has more here.

Podonos, a one-year-old startup based in Los Gatos, CA, that provides human-in-the-loop systems to evaluate voice AI models for accuracy, emotion, and reliability, raised a $2.4 million pre-seed round led by Serac Ventures, with Naver D2SF and KAIST Ventures also investing. More here.

TiHive, a nine-year-old startup based in Grenoble, France, that develops terahertz imaging systems for real-time quality inspection on industrial production lines, raised a $9.4 million round. Investors included EIC Fund, Karista, and Wind. Tech.eu has more here.

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New Funds

Wave Function Ventures, a one-year-old San Francisco VC firm that backs early-stage deep tech startups in fields like nuclear energy, robotics, and aerospace, raised a $15.1 million debut fund. TechCrunch has more here.

Exits

Uber has acquired Segments.ai, a six-year-old Belgian startup that builds multi-sensor labeling tools for robotics and autonomous vehicles, with the team joining Uber AI Solutions to expand its lidar and data annotation work. Terms were not disclosed. PYMNTS has more here.

Roi, a three-year-old New York startup that offers an AI-powered personal finance app to track and manage everything from stocks to crypto and real estate, was acquired by OpenAI, with only its CEO joining the acquirer. Roi’s backers include Balaji Srinivasan, Spark Capital, Gradient Ventures, and Spacecadet Ventures. Terms were not disclosed. TechCrunch has more here.

Going Public

Cerebras Systems, a nine-year-old startup based in Sunnyvale, CA, that makes AI chips and hardware systems and offers cloud services, has withdrawn its IPO plans a year after filing, only days after raising $1.1 billion in private funding at an $8.1 billion valuation. CNBC has more here.

People

Peter Beck, the self-taught engineer behind Rocket Lab, is betting the company’s first reusable heavy-lift rocket can finally put him in the same competitive orbit as Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos, with a maiden flight targeted for late 2025 from Rocket Lab’s gleaming new Virginia launchpad. The Wall Street Journal has more here.

Sam Altman used his personal blog late Friday to announce that OpenAI will give rightsholders more control over how their characters appear in Sora and may even cut them in on revenue, a public pivot aimed at calming Hollywood’s fury over losing control of its IP to the app. The Hollywood Reporter has more here.

Post-Its

Essential Reads

Slack is giving AI agents direct, real-time access to workplace conversations and files under a permissions-based model, a move that could make it the nerve center for enterprise AI but also raises big questions about whether its customers are comfortable letting sensitive IP and decision-making chatter flow through third-party systems. VentureBeat has more here.

A new game called YC Arena made by a Berlin student lets you see if you can pick startups like a Y Combinator partner. TechCrunch has more here.

California police pulled over a Waymo robotaxi in San Bruno after it made an illegal U-turn, but with no driver inside, officers couldn’t issue a ticket. The AP has more here.

Detours

Forget Paris and Rome; wealthy expats are flocking to once-gloomy Milan for the art scene, walkability, and a tax break nicknamed after Cristiano Ronaldo.

Report: 83% of Americans just want to put on sunglasses and say “Let's do this.”

Brain Rot

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[H/T Bruno]

Retail Therapy

Sanlorenzo just rolled out a 243-foot megayacht boasting a private 3,200-square-foot owner’s deck with terraces and spa-style baths, a waterside lounge that glows from the glass-bottomed pool overhead, a Sky Lounge with indoor-outdoor entertaining space, and a diesel-electric propulsion system. (Don’t even dare to ask the price.)

The Georgetown house where Jackie and JFK lived during his 1960 campaign just hit the market for $7.5 million. It’s a 6,000-square-foot Federal-style home with five bedrooms, double parlors where JFK met future cabinet members, period-appropriate details, and a garden with dogwood trees growing through a custom glass dining table.

Adidas just unveiled the Trionda, the official 2026 World Cup ball with a built-in AI chip that feeds data to refs for more accurate offside and handball calls.

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