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OpenAI’s $3 billion deal to acquire Windsurf has collapsed, and Google DeepMind is scooping up Windsurf’s CEO, cofounder, and key R&D staff to boost its agentic coding efforts. TechCrunch has more here. 

Elon Musk’s xAI is reportedly seeking a $200 billion valuation in what would be its third fundraising round in two months, even as its chatbot faces backlash for antisemitic posts. The Financial Times has more here.

Bitcoin surged past $118,000 for its second record in 24 hours, as institutional investors pile in on expectations that Trump’s pro-crypto stance and strategic Bitcoin reserve mandate will cement the currency’s place in the financial mainstream. TechCrunch has more here. 

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Sequoia Bets on Silence

By Connie Loizos

There is a time-honored crisis management strategy, wherein one says nothing and waits for the outrage to pass. For Sequoia Capital, the strategy worked pretty well this week. While partner Shaun Maguire initially weathered criticism over an inflammatory social media post, that initial indignation cooled quickly. Now, some seem to think that Maguire’s defiant stance may even be strengthening his position. Business Insider actually called it “good for deal flow” — controversy as competitive advantage.

Sequoia’s calculated gamble carries real risk, though. Another provocative post from Maguire that hits the wrong nerve, a shift in political winds, or escalating consequences could quickly transform their unflappable partner from an asset into a liability the firm can no longer afford to ignore.

A crisis communications professional who has managed reputation disasters for dozens of major brands tells this editor, “Firms like Sequoia are bulletproof until they aren’t.”

What happened

Sequoia’s hands-off approach was put to the test earlier this week when the storied venture firm found itself in the eye of a storm over Maguire’s comments about New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani. Maguire called him an “Islamist” who “comes from a culture that lies about everything” in a July 4th tweet on X that has since been viewed more than five million times. More than one thousand signatures have poured in regarding a petition demanding that Sequoia condemn the remarks, investigate Maguire’s conduct, and apologize.

There’s been a lot of talk about why Sequoia hasn’t done this, with many outlets noting that Maguire isn’t just any partner. This status owes partly to his friendship with Stripe co-founder Patrick Collison. According to reports, at a 2015 Founders Fund event, Maguire -- then a Founders Fund-backed entrepreneur -- defended Collison during an argument with Anduril’s Palmer Luckey about quantum computing, earning Collison’s friendship. The connection proved valuable when Maguire joined Google Ventures in 2016; he helped secure a $20 million Stripe investment during his first week. When Maguire left Google Ventures in 2019, Collison personally recommended him to Sequoia’s partners. (Stripe has been in Sequoia’s portfolio since 2010, with the firm investing more than $500 million over 15 years.)

Maguire also led Sequoia’s investment in Bridge, a stablecoin platform that Stripe acquired for $1.1 billion, and is reportedly Sequoia’s link to Elon Musk, though he's hardly its only link.

More here.

Massive Fundings

Bilt, a four-year-old New York startup that offers a rewards program that lets renters and homeowners earn points on housing payments and neighborhood spending that are redeemable for travel and lifestyle perks, raised a $250 million round at a $10.75 billion valuation. General Catalyst and GID co-led the deal, with United Wholesale Mortgage also pitching in. Bloomberg has more here.

Neuros Medical, an 18-year-old Cleveland company that offers an implanted nerve-stimulation device that enables amputees to reduce chronic post-amputation pain without using opioids, raised a $56 million Series D round led by EQT Life Sciences, with USVP, Amzak Health, Osage University Partners, Sectoral Asset Management, and Aperture Venture Partners also piling on. More here.

RealSense, a recent Intel spinout based in Santa Clara, CA, that builds 3D vision cameras that enable robots and security systems to see depth in their surroundings and understand their environment, raised a $50 million Series A round. Investors included Intel Capital and MediaTek Innovation. CTech has more here.

Virtru, a 13-year-old company based in Washington, DC, that sells encryption software that lets organizations control who can access their emails and files even after they have been shared, raised a $50 million Series D round at a $500 million post-money valuation. The deal was led by Iconiq, with Bessemer Venture Partners, Foundry Capital, and The Chertoff Group also investing. More here.

Zerohash, an eight-year-old Chicago startup that provides backend infrastructure for banks, brokerages, and fintech firms to move between cash, stablecoins, and tokenized assets, is reportedly looking to raise a $100 million round at a valuation of approximately $1 billion. The purported lead is Interactive Brokers. Fortune has the scoop here. 

Big-But-Not-Crazy-Big Fundings

QuiX Quantum, a seven-year-old Amsterdam startup that builds photonic quantum computers that use light-based chips to help research labs and government agencies run advanced simulations and computations, raised a $17.5 million Series A round co-led by Invest-NL and EIC Fund, with previous investors PhotonVentures, Oost, and FORWARD.one also participating. Startup Rise EU has more here.

Tolan, a one-year-old San Francisco startup whose AI companion app features animated alien characters who interact with young adult users in order to support emotional well-being and encourage healthy routines, raised a $20 million Series A round led by Khosla Ventures, with NFDG, Bloomberg Beta, Homebrew, and Lachy Groom also chipping in. GeekWire has more here.

Two, a four-year-old Oslo startup that provides a cloud-based system that lets businesses offer other businesses flexible invoice payment terms while handling credit checks and fraud risk for merchants, raised a $15.2 million Series A round co-led by Idékapital and Shine Capital, with Investinor as well as previous investors Antler, Sequoia Capital, Alliance Ventures, Arkwright, and Local Globe also stepping up. Fintech Finance has more here.

Woba, an eight-year-old Brazilian startup that helps companies manage flexible office access by selling subscriptions that let teams use coworking spaces, meeting rooms, and private offices from a shared network, raised a $13.5 million round led by Bewater, with additional participation from Kaszek Ventures, Valor Capital, Endeavor Catalyst, Endeavor Scale-Up Ventures, and Citrino Ventures. More here.

Smaller Fundings

ALTR, a six-year-old Phoenix startup that has developed a membrane-based system that lets winemakers and beverage producers remove alcohol from drinks while preserving taste, raised a $5 million seed round led by Demeter and including Suntory Global Spirits, Techmind, AZ Venture Capital, FTW Ventures, Bluestein Ventures, Solvable, and Xinomavro. More here.

Apolink, a one-year-old, Palo Alto-based space-tech startup founded by a 19-year-old entrepreneur, has raised $4.3 million in seed funding at a $45 million post-money valuation to build a real-time connectivity network for satellites in low Earth orbit (LEO). The round was provided by Y Combinator, 468 Capital, Unshackled Ventures, Rebel Fund, Maiora Ventures, and several angel investors, including Laura Crabtree (CEO of Epsilon3), Benjamin Bryant (co-founder of Pebble Tech), and Kanav Kariya (president of Jump Crypto). TechCrunch has more here.

Knox, a New York startup founded this year that helps software companies meet U.S. federal security requirements so they can offer their cloud products to government agencies, raised a $6.5 million seed round led by Felicis, with Ridgeline and FirsthandVC also taking part. TechCrunch has more here.

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New Funds

OnePrime Capital, a nine-year-old firm headquartered in Palo Alto that targets high-growth, late-stage software deals, closed its third secondary fund with $305 million in commitments. More here. 

Sarah Smith, founder and managing partner of the eponymous Sarah Smith Fund, announced Thursday the final closing of the outfit's debut vehicle with $16 million in capital commitments. Smith launched her fund in 2022 after spending seven years as an investor with Bain Capital Ventures and is a solo GP. TechCrunch has more here.

Layoffs

Indeed and Glassdoor, two U.S.-based hiring platforms owned by Japan’s Recruit Holdings, are laying off 1,300 employees and folding Glassdoor into Indeed as part of a restructuring aimed at doubling down on AI-driven recruiting. TechCrunch has more here. 

Going Public

Zhipu, a six-year-old Beijing startup that builds open-source AI models and tools, is weighing a $300 million IPO in Hong Kong instead of mainland China as it competes with regional rivals like MiniMax and DeepSeek for leadership in the fast-growing Chinese AI market. Bloomberg has more here. 

Firefly Aerospace, a seven-year-old startup based in Cedar Park, TX, that builds rockets and lunar landers for government and commercial clients, filed to go public after booking $56 million in Q1 revenue and lining up $1.1 billion in launch and spacecraft bookings. TechCrunch has more here. 

People

Essential Reads

A new METR study found that experienced developers working on mature codebases completed tasks 19% slower when using AI coding tools despite believing they were 20% faster with AI. TechCrunch has more here. 

JPMorgan is planning to charge fintechs for access to customer bank data, threatening the core economics of apps like Venmo, Coinbase, and Robinhood that have long relied on that data for free to power payments, trading, and transfers. Bloomberg has more here. 

Wired digs deep into the high-stakes "AGI clause" at the heart of the Microsoft and OpenAI deal, revealing a three-part structure that includes a $100 billion profit threshold, an AGI declaration, and a ban on Microsoft developing AGI. More here. 

While Tesla underwhelms, SpaceX is riding a $400 billion valuation, $16 billion in projected revenue and surging global demand for Starlink. The Wall Street Journal has more here. 

Vacation resell sites like SpareFare and Eluxit are turning canceled trips into travel bargains, creating a secondary market where flexible buyers can scoop up nonrefundable vacations for steep discounts and sellers can recoup part of their losses. The Wall Street Journal has the story here. 

Detours

Meet Dika, the 11-year-old Indonesian boat dancer turned ambassador for Gen Alpha’s latest obsession: aura farming.

Managing a billionaire’s properties now requires a full-time entourage of chefs, tech specialists, art handlers, and traveling housekeepers, as ultrawealthy homeowners spend millions to keep them pristine, functional, and Instagram-perfect year-round.

"We now live in a post-Bill Ackman world."

Retail Therapy

A Japanese company known for its alcohol-themed novelties is selling a $14,000 limited-edition Jenga set in which each of the blocks is actually a mini bottle filled with 25-year-old Japanese whisky.