Top News

In news unlikely to thrill a crypto industry pushing for legitimacy, GameStop, the ever-flailing video game retailer best known for its meme-fueled short squeeze, just bought $500 million worth of bitcoin. TechCrunch has more here. 

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Founder Sahil Lavingia Says He Was Booted from DOGE After Just 55 Days

By Julie Bort

Sahil Lavingia has published a diary recounting his time as a member of Elon Musk’s DOGE workforce. It’s a short read — Lavingia’s DOGE stint lasted just 55 days — but it does provide new details on the temporary government organization formed by President Trump’s executive order.

Lavingia is a well-known name in Silicon Valley, from his days as an early employee of Pinterest to his current gig as founder of Gumroad, a platform where creators can sell their goods. He’s also a well-known seed and angel investor.

He joined DOGE as a software engineer for the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) in mid-March, he wrote.What stands out from his account is his surprise that the 473,000-employeegovernment agency had strict rules on who could be targeted in a layoff, and he quickly learned that all things at the VA were not as inefficient as he imagined. He also lamented that DOGE itself isn’t a well-oiled machine.

As a volunteer who had a salary of $0, he was immediately tasked with identifying “wasteful” contracts and the people the VA should lay off, he wrote. But he was surprised to discover facets like seniority and the person’s veteran status (this was the VA, after all) determined who could be targeted. Performance could be factored in lower on the list, in Lavingia’s view.

More here.

Massive Fundings

CloudZero, a nine-year-old Boston startup that provides cloud cost visibility and analytics tools to help engineering and finance teams manage cloud spending, raised a $56 million Series C round co-led by BlueCrest Capital Management and Innovius Capital, with Matrix Partners, Threshold Ventures, Underscore VC, G20 Ventures, and MongoDB also pitching in. More here.

GRIN Therapeutics, a four-year-old New York company that develops treatments for conditions like epileptic encephalopathy and other complex neurodevelopmental disorders, raised a $140 million Series D round co-led by Angelini Pharma and previous investor Blackstone. More here.

Hex, a six-year-old San Francisco startup that helps data teams analyze and collaborate on projects through a shared workspace environment, raised a $70 million Series C round led by Avra, with Andreessen Horowitz, Amplify, Box Group, Redpoint, Sequoia, and Snowflake Ventures also contributing. More here.

Horizon3.ai, a six-year-old San Francisco startup that provides autonomous penetration testing to help organizations identify and remediate security vulnerabilities, has raised $73 million of a planned $100 million round, according to TechCrunch. The outlet also reports that NEA is the lead investor and that the valuation is "believed to be valued upward of $750 million." TechCrunch has more here. 

Big-But-Not-Crazy-Big Fundings

Amplitude, a 14-year-old Paris company that develops strategy-focused video games for console and PC players, raised a $13.5 million Series A round. Griffin Gaming Partners was the deal lead, with Bpifrance also chiming in. The Hollywood Reporter has more here.

Applied Computing, a two-year-old London company that develops machine learning tools to help oil and gas facilities predict equipment failures and optimize operations, raised a $12.1 million seed round. Stride.VC was the lead investor, with Repeat.vc also participating. EU-Startups has more here.

Cerby, a five-year-old startup based in Alameda, CA, that helps organizations automate identity security tasks across platforms and applications, raised a $40 million Series B round led by DTCP, with previous investors Okta Ventures, Salesforce Ventures, and Two Sigma Ventures also stepping up. SiliconANGLE has more here.

Context, a one-year-old Palo Alto startup that helps professionals analyze information and generate documents, spreadsheets, and presentations through an AI-powered office suite, raised an $11 million seed round at a $70 million post-money valuation. The deal was led by Lux Capital, with Qualcomm Ventures and General Catalyst also pitching in. The company has raised a total of $15.75 million. TechCrunch has more here.

Infinity Constellation, a two-year-old New York startup that builds and acquires AI-native companies under a unified operational framework, raised a $17 million seed round led by Freestyle, with Backed VC, Deepwater, and BY Venture Partners also engaging. More here.

Palla, a five-year-old Miami startup that enables banks to integrate cross-border payment features directly into their apps, raised a $14.5 million Series A round led by Revolution Ventures, with Y Combinator, Cowboy Ventures, Dash Fund, Ardent, Uncommon Capital, Meta Fund, Evolution VC, First Check Ventures, Vitalize, and DeepWork Capital also piling on. More here.

ProteinQure, an eight-year-old Toronto startup that uses computational tools to help pharmaceutical companies design next-generation peptide therapeutics for cancer and other complex diseases, raised an $11 million Series A round led by Heron Rock Fund, with Golden Ventures and Kensington Capital also engaging. The company has raised a total of $16 million. BetaKit has more here.

Rillet, a three-year-old New York startup that helps finance teams at mid-sized businesses automate and accelerate the creation of financial statements using AI, raised a $25 million Series A round led by Sequoia Capital, with previous investors First Round Capital, Creandum, and Susa Ventures also chiming in. TechCrunch has more here.

Smaller Fundings

Alba Health, a three-year-old Stockholm startup that develops AI-driven tools to help women identify and manage digestive health conditions through personalized tracking and insights, raised a $2.5 million seed round led by Unconventional Ventures, with Exceptional Ventures and previous investors Voima Ventures and Calm/Storm also opting in. Femtech Insider has more here.

Alrik, a three-year-old Stockholm startup that provides logistics software to help construction firms coordinate material deliveries and reduce delays on job sites, raised a $7.9 million seed round. PeopleVentures was the deal lead, with previous investor Pi Labs also chiming in. Business Matters has more here.

Ankar, a one-year-old London company that provides an agentic AI IP platform to help enterprise customers manage and commercialize their intellectual property, raised a $4.1 million round led by Index Ventures, with Daphni, Motier Ventures, Booom, and Puzzle Ventures also chipping in. Tech Funding News has more here.

Asigna, a three-year-old New York startup that provides custody infrastructure for institutional investors by operating a Bitcoin vault platform using multi-signature security protocols, raised a $3 million round. Hivemind Capital and Tykhe Block Ventures were the co-leads, with Sats Ventures and Trust Machines also anteing up. More here.

Brainreader, a 14-year-old Danish company that develops diagnostic software to help clinicians analyze brain scans for early signs of neurological conditions, raised a $7.4 million seed round led by Dahlgren Capital and including previous backer Investo Capital. Medical Device Network has more here.

Brooklyn Health, a two-year-old Brooklyn startup that develops tools to track and quantify mental health using neural signals and biometric data, raised a $6.5 million seed round led by HealthX, with Metrodora Ventures, Story Ventures, RiverPark Ventures, Laconia Capital, Everywhere Ventures, Hypothesis Studio, and Blue Falcon Capital also chiming in. MobiHealthNews has more here.

Frinks AI, a five-year-old Bengaluru startup that offers computer vision and AI tools to help manufacturing companies improve quality control, raised a $5.4 million pre-Series A round. Prime Venture Partners led the financing, with previous investor Chiratae Ventures also taking part. The company has raised a total of $6.25 million. More here.

kyron.bio, a 12-year-old Paris company that develops precision biotech platforms to modify glycans for improved drug efficacy and safety, raised a $6.2 million seed round led by HCVC, with Verve Ventures, Entrepreneur First, and Saras Capital also stepping up. Silicon Canals has more here.

Sequence, a one-year-old Tel Aviv startup that offers digital finance tools to help consumers and small businesses manage payments, budgets, and recurring expenses, raised a $7.5 million round co-led by Aleph and Emerge, with Yasmin Lukatz and ICON also investing. The company has raised a total of $14.5 million. CTech has more here.

Spott, a one-year-old San Francisco startup that uses AI to automate recruiting workflows and deliver qualified candidates to hiring teams, raised a $3.2 million round led by Base10 Partners, with Y Combinator, Fortino, and True Equity also buying in. VentureBeat has more here.

Traceloop, a three-year-old Tel Aviv startup that provides infrastructure for evaluating and monitoring AI agents in real-time, raised a $6.1 million seed round co-led by Sorenson Capital and Ibex Investors, with Y Combinator, Samsung NEXT, and Grand Ventures also participating. CTech has more here.

Velocity, a London startup founded this year that builds infrastructure to help fintechs and banks manage stablecoin transactions across global markets, raised a $10 million pre-seed round led by Activant Capital, with Fuel Ventures, Triton Capital, Fabric Ventures, Commerce Ventures, and Preface Ventures also opting in. CityBiz has more here.

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New Funds

The CEO of Saudi Arabia’s Humain tells the Financial Times that Humain is talking to OpenAI, xAI, and Andreessen Horowitz about raising money for a massive AI infrastructure push while also getting ready to raise a $10 billion VC fund to back AI startups globally. TechCrunch has more here. 

Going Public

Blocked by Chinese regulators and facing political headwinds in the West, the online fast-fashion retailer Shein is moving its IPO listing from London to Hong Kong, a move that undercuts its global branding push and puts added pressure on its embattled business model. Reuters has the scoop here. 

People

Perhaps still bitter over losing control of OpenAI to Sam Altman, Elon Musk reportedly tried to sabotage OpenAI’s massive UAE data center deal by pressuring G42 execs and U.S. officials to include xAI, but to no avail. The Wall Street Journal has more here.

Instacart’s chief business officer Chris Rogers is taking over as CEO in August, stepping in as Fidji Simo exits to lead apps at OpenAI while staying on as board chair. TechCrunch has more here. 

Reed Hastings is joining Anthropic’s board through its Long-Term Benefit Trust, an unusual outside body with no financial stake and a mandate to prioritize humanity over growth, giving the OpenAI rival a seasoned operator as it tries to scale without selling out. TechCrunch has more here. 

Essential Reads

In a bid to expand Grok’s reach, xAI is paying Telegram $300 million in cash and equity, along with 50% of Grok’s subscription revenue from Telegram users, in exchange for bundling the chatbot into the messaging app for at least a year. (Always one to keep things interesting, Musk later tweeted that "No deal has been signed.") TechCrunch has more here. 

North Korea has been quietly infiltrating U.S. companies by posing as remote IT workers using stolen identities and "laptop farms" like the one run by a Minnesota TikToker, netting millions in paychecks while slipping spyware into major corporate networks. The Wall Street Journal has more here.

Auto Shanghai 2025 served notice that the U.S. dominance of the auto market may soon be at an end. Wired has more here.

Detours

Professional spelling bee coaches are now a thing.

Retail Therapy

A 2,127 hp hypercar that has zero interest in being "green."

In case you've ever wanted to smell like your grandpa, these colognes are for you. 

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TC Sessions: AI is headed to UC Berkeley on June 5, bringing together a powerhouse lineup — including cofounders from Anthropic, Databricks, and other top minds shaping AI. It’s a rare gathering of builders, researchers, and investors offering unfiltered, actionable insights for founders and operators navigating an evolving frontier.

To kick things off, we’re giving away Trivia Master Passes — 2 tickets for the price of 1 ($200) — across 7 days of AI trivia. Earn your seat. Outsmart the average bot!

Here is today’s three-part question:

Which AI company’s CEO recently warned that AI could eliminate up to 50% of entry-level white-collar jobs?

What is the name of the large language model they released in early 2025?

What nonprofit originally incubated this company?

The first 10 correct responseswin. 

👉 [Submit Your Answer]

See you at TC Sessions: AI | June 5 | UC Berkeley