Startup funding rounds across India and MENA — from pre-seed bets on first-time founders to Series B+ raises reshaping categories. Founder statements, investor disclosures, and regulatory filings, reported as news.
Runware aims to expand its unified API for generative image, video and audio applications. The company’s Sonic Inference Engine supports more than 400,000 models, giving developers faster and more reliable access to AI media generation.
The fresh Series E round includes a $200 million primary investment led by Goldman Sachs and a planned $40 million tender offer with participation from IVP, Menlo Ventures, and Unusual Ventures.
The round was led by Andreessen Horowitz and Lightspeed Venture Partners, with participation from Lux Capital, DCVC, Jeff Bezos, Databricks and Rao himself - marking the biggest early stage fundraises in the AI hardware sector this year
Football legend Cristiano Ronaldo expands his empire into AI with an undisclosed investment in Perplexity, the ChatGPT rival valued at $20B. As global partner and ambassador, he launches an interactive CR7 Hub for fans to explore his career via AI-powered queries and rare content. The deal signals athletes' rising bet on tech for fan engagement and performance edges.
With rapid user growth and expansion plans into apparel and electronics, the startup is positioning itself to challenge retail giants.
Tidalwave has raised a $22 million Series A led by Permanent Capital, with D.R. Horton joining as an investor and customer, as the AI-powered mortgage platform accelerates adoption and targets 4% of U.S. loan originations.
Boston-based EQORE has secured $1.7 million in seed funding from MassCEC, Henry Ford III, and Jonathan Kraft to expand behind-the-meter battery storage for industrial and commercial facilities, helping businesses cut soaring electricity costs and support grid stability.
AI-sourcing startup Cavela secured $6.6M in seed funding to help e-commerce brands streamline product manufacturing with autonomous AI agents that find global suppliers, negotiate quotes, and reduce costs despite tariff volatility.
San Francisco-based Numeric secures $51M Series B for AI-powered finance platform expansion. New funding supports launch of cash management product and growth beyond close management.
Paris-based NcodiN secures €16 million to scale its groundbreaking photonic interposers with the world's smallest laser, tackling the AI industry's critical memory bandwidth and energy limits.
Luma AI has raised $900M in Series C funding led by HUMAIN to accelerate its multimodal world models, with Saudi Arabia’s 2GW Project Halo supercluster set to power the company’s next stage of large-scale AI training.
Nuevo León has clarified the source of the US $1B data center investment after Nvidia denied involvement. The funding will come from Mexican AI firm Cipre Holdings, which plans to build the state’s first green AI data center.