This month, the pressure to secure enterprise AI agents has dialed up. A few notable moves from the last few weeks:
Companies are setting limits.JPMorgan is restricting Claude's system access, while Okta expanded its controls for governing AI agents.
Startups are building controls.Outerlimit launched this week to govern what agents can do, while Eve Security raised additional funding last week to stop dangerous actions during execution.
Acquirers are buying in.Cyera completed its $1B Oasis acquisition this month, adding identity controls for AI agents.
As AI agents get permission to do more, controlling what they're allowed to do is becoming its own security market.
So we dug into CB Insights data to see which emerging companies are getting traction, who’s behind them, and which could be approaching another funding round.
But first, Wall street is moving onto blockchain
Four years after FTX collapsed, finance is building on blockchain. Banks, asset managers, and payment networks are launching stablecoins, tokenizing deposits, and settling trades around the clock, often with tech they buy from startups.
Bastion: lets companies issue and move their own stablecoins. Sony's venture arm invested in 2025, and months later Sony Bank tapped Bastion to issue its first stablecoin.
Stablecore: offers tokenized deposits for community banks and credit unions. Bank of Utah invested in its Series A and became a customer.
Digital Asset: its Canton Network completed the first fully on-chain financing of US Treasuries against USDC, letting repo deals settle after market hours.
R3: its Corda network handles settlement for HSBC, Barclays, Deutsche Bank, and BNY Mellon, and holds $17B in tokenized assets.
Hollywood spent 2023 fighting AI on the picket line. Meanwhile, a few actors were building it. Most of their tools handle production work like lighting, editing, and effects, as opposed to replacing performers.
A few worth knowing:
InterPositive (Ben Affleck): trains AI models on a production's own footage to fix problems after filming, like missing shots and bad lighting. Netflix confirmed in July that it paid $587M in cash for the company, and it plans to keep the tools for its own productions rather than sell them.
Wonder Dynamics (Tye Sheridan): lets filmmakers add CGI characters to live-action footage without a VFX studio. Autodesk acquired it in 2024 after it had raised $12.5M, and the product now lives on as Autodesk Flow Studio.
Asteria (Natasha Lyonne): an AI film studio backed by CAA and Comcast Ventures that only uses models trained on licensed content. In March, it launched Continuum Suite, software for running film and TV productions. Lyonne is also directing its first feature, Uncanny Valley.
AI is still a small slice of what actors build. Historically, most start production companies, including Affleck himself, who co-founded Artists Equity with Matt Damon in 2022. The space’s biggest exit so far is Reese Witherspoon'sHello Sunshine, which Candle Media bought in 2021.
When athletes start their own leagues
New leagues usually lose money for years, since ticket sales and broadcast deals take a while to cover the costs. Famous athletes start with a fanbase, but they still need investors willing to wait.
Influencers used to get paid to post about other companies' products. Now the biggest ones are launching their own CPG brands and using their audiences as a built-in marketing channel.
A few standouts:
W (Jake Paul): a men's personal care brand Paul co-founded in 2023. It launched at Walmart and set a record as the retailer's best launch in its "Emerging Brands" category.
Khloud (Khloé Kardashian): a protein popcorn brand that launched in spring 2025 and is now in Target, Walmart, and Starbucks. It has raised $27M, including a $15M Series A in May, and Fortune reported in August that it's growing faster than Poppi did.
Sprinter Spirits (Kylie Jenner): launched as a canned vodka soda and has raised $17M. In April, it expanded into alcohol-free hydration packets.
Many of these brands come out of the same playbook. Night, the talent firm that helped build MrBeast's Feastables and Sprinter's new hydration line, raised $70M in February from Founders Fund, House Capital, and K5 Global. House Capital and K5 are also on Sprinter's and Khloud's cap tables.
Still, not every audience turns into customers. Alex Cooper shut down Unwell's drink line in August, days after her media company was valued at $500M.
The list keeps growing
Celebrity-founded businesses span more than leagues, AI tools, and consumer brands. Jalen Brunson launched Thirty Third Management in September to manage his off-court business and represent other athletes and entrepreneurs. Coco Gauff’s iROC announced its first two documentaries for Tennis Channel in June.
Earlier launches include Issa Rae’s Ensemble, which connects brands with creators to make sponsored content. MrBeast’s Viewstats sells tools to other YouTubers. Dua Lipa’s Service95 publishes articles, newsletters, and podcasts, alongside a book club.
Some are selling to fans; others count creators, athletes, and brands as customers.
We'll keep tracking who turns these companies into a payday.
CB Insights' emerging technology insights platform provides all the analysis and data from this newsletter. Our data is the easiest way to discover and respond to emerging tech.
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