Startup Monday: Latest tech trends & news happening in the global startup ecosystem (Issue 159- April 19)

Welcome to Startup Monday, my weekly newsletter that recaps the week in the global startup ecosystem. To have this newsletter emailed to you, you can sign up here.

Top startup news to follow this week:

1. AI eats up 58% of global venture dollars as fear of missing out drives up dealmaking

The capital is even more concentrated in North America, with 70.2% of deal value going into AI and ML startups. Globally, the sector raised $73.1 billion in the first quarter-more than half of last year’s annual total. Of that, $40 billion came from OpenAI’s recent round led by SoftBank.

AI and ML Deals as a Share of All VC Deals

The piling of VC into AI companies also means that the investment outcomes will be very uneven.

His biggest concern is investors betting big in areas where there’s no clear pathway to ROI. The massive amounts of funding can distract startups away from building a sustainable business sooner rather than later.

“When a new market comes along, VCs kind of lose their head a bit, and just flood in without really understanding the underlying economics of a category,” he said. “The jury is out on the economics of a lot of them.”

2. The Week’s Biggest Funding Rounds: Safe Superintelligence’s $2B Raise Leads The Way

Want to keep track of the largest startup funding deals in 2025 with our curated list of $100 million-plus venture deals to U.S.-based companies? Check out The Crunchbase Megadeals Board.

Another week and another big artificial intelligence round. All in all it was an active week with a half-dozen rounds of $100 million or more, with everything from AI to blockchain to biotech getting serious cash.

1. Safe Superintelligence , $2B, artificial intelligence: AI research lab Safe Superintelligence snatched its second big raise in fewer than seven months. SSI, co-founded by ‘s former chief scientist , raised a $2 billion round at a $32 billion valuation led by Ilya Sutskever . The startup, which is looking to develop safe artificial intelligence systems, raised a $1 billion round from a litany of big-name investors including reportedly and last September. Greenoaks Capital Partners Andreessen Horowitz Sequoia Capital

2. Mainspring Energy , $258M, energy: Mainspring Energy secured a $258 million Series F led by . The Menlo Park, California-based firm builds generators — a business that has become appealing to investors as artificial intelligence continues to suck down energy. The company already is shipping generators — which can provide 10s of megawatts of power — to U.S. data center customers this year. Founded in 2010, the company has raised $813 million, General Catalyst per Crunchbase.

4. Glycomine, $115M, biotech: San Carlos, California-based Glycomine, a biotech startup developing new therapies for orphan diseases, announced a $115 million Series C led by funds managed by , and . The company plans to use the new cash to advance its lead candidate into a phase 2b clinical trial. Founded in 2013, the company has raised $195 million, Advent Life Sciences . CTI Life Sciences Fund per Crunchbase

5. Alameda, $104M, biotech: A competitor raised big this week with a $104 million round led by . The Alameda, California-based biotech — which was founded by a Neurolink co-founder, is working on both a brain implant system and a retina implant to treat eye diseases. Founded in 2021, the company has raised $177 million, . Khosla Ventures per Crunchbase

8. Exaforce, $75M, cybersecurity: Exaforce locked up a $75 million Series A funding led by , Khosla Ventures Mayfield Fund

3. Climate-focused venture firm Stepchange raises $7M to back startups with ‘immediate’ impact

The fund is targeting four sectors: consumer and commercial transportation; the built environment; energy generation and the electrical grid; and climate adaptation and resilience.

Stepchange focuses on software innovation rather than capital-intensive devices and hardware. It supports low-carbon solutions that are cost-competitive with polluting alternatives.

Stepchange has already backed 13 startups and plans to make 30 total investments out of its inaugural fund.

Ben Eidelson , a Seattle tech vet who sold startups to Google and Stripe, was the sole general partner when he announced Stepchange’s launch in January 2024 with nearly $3 million and four investments.

Since then, the fund has more than doubled, and the firm has expanded its roster of limited partners, nearly tripling the number of investors to more than 100. Bain Capital Ventures is an anchor investor, and tech leaders from Microsoft, Google, Amazon, Remitly, Palantir, Zillow, and others are among the LPs, along with energy and sustainability industry experts.

Stepchange has also increased the size of checks being written, aiming for a maximum of $250,000.

New podcast, new investments

Shah, who is based in Los Angeles, was an early employee of Seattle-based Remitly, a digital payments company serving immigrants, and most recently senior vice president for Global Business at fintech company Tala.

“We have built, scaled and sold software-oriented companies,” Shah said, “and that’s where we find our confidence to be able to have a differentiated advantage.”

Some of the Stepchange’s recent investments include:

“We have a lot of the tools that we need now to reduce most of humanity’s [greenhouse gas] emissions and adapt to climate change, but we’re just not deploying them fast enough,” Eidelson said. “We continue to see software and fintech as the largest lever to actually go faster.”

Stepchange’s leaders are hopeful that the companies they fund will succeed despite political headwinds, as their products are cost-competitive regardless of climate benefits.

Investors are eager to support these businesses, Eidelson and Shah said, offering financial backing as well as expertise and advising. They noted that climate tech 1.0 gained traction during the first Trump administration, partly in response to policies opposing the sector.

“I’ve seen a lot of LPs very frustrated with what feels like backwards federal progress, [who are] saying, ‘I want to do more,’” Eidelson said. “So I’m very excited by the new people have joined us.”

4. Miami area startups raised $900M in Q1, Pitchbook report says. Here are the top deals

The funding represents nearly a third of 2024’s total, but exits were elusive. We also bring you the state and national trends.

The South Florida picture

For Q1 2024, Pitchbook reported that the Miami-Fort Lauderdale metro area pulled in $

Q4 top deals: According to Pitchbook’s data, here were the top 10 rounds by companies headquartered in the Miami-Fort Lauderdale metro area in Q1:

• One Amazon: this later-stage Miami fintech in the life sciences sector raised $105 million.
• Open Blue Cobia: this later-stage agtech company based in Miami raised $98.7 million.
• Ubiquia: This later-stage cleantech company in Fort Lauderdale raised $70.6 million.
• Sardine: This later-stage Miami-based network management software startup raised $70 million.
• SellersFi: This later-stage fintech based in Weston raised $44.8 million.
• Prosper Health: This early-stage healthtech startup based in Weston raised $16.2 million.

The Q1 total for South Florida could go significantly higher. Not included by Pitchbook among top deals were sportstech startup Rocket Youth , which scored $100 million; software modernization startup that raised $30 million; that raised $25 million; and on-chain ecommerce startup that raised $23.6 million, according to Galatea Bio Refresh Miami’s reporting.

In Q1 2025, the Miami-Fort Lauderdale metro area ranked 8th nationally by amount of funding and 9th by number of deals. That puts it among the top 10 US tech hubs.

There were no exits for South Florida companies recorded for Q4, according to Pitchbook.

5.Exaforce Lands $75M To Bring AI Agents To Security

The San Jose, California-based startup is helping bring artificial intelligence agents to security operations centers, or SOC. The idea is, with the help of data, to significantly reduce human-led SOC work while improving security outcomes.

Intersection of AI and security

“It has the potential to make cybersecurity professionals more effective, streamline operations and reduce the time to resolution of critical hacks within enterprise security operations centers,” he said. “Automation is emerging as a critical solution in these environments.”

6. OpenAI pursued Cursor maker before entering into talks to buy Windsurf for $3B

After all, OpenAI Startup Fund has been an investor in Anysphere, the maker of Cursor, since the quickly growing coding assistant’s in late 2023. (Anysphere is often referred to by its product name, Cursor.) It turns out that OpenAI indeed approached Anysphere in 2024 and again earlier this year about a potential acquisition, according to a . The talks failed. Instead, Anysphere has been in talks to raise capital at about report from CNBC , Bloomberg reported last month.$10 billion valuation

7. Phantom Neuro grabs $19M to help amputees put their phantom limbs to use

The science fiction trope of humans superpowered by computer and bionic implants is fast becoming a reality, and today, a startup hoping for a role in how that plays out is announcing some funding.

Phantom Neuro , which is developing a wristband-like device that gets implanted under the skin to let a person control prosthetic limbs, has raised $19 million to fund its next stage of development.

Phantom Neuro, a German maker of prosthetics and other medical devices, is leading the round as a strategic backer. Also participating were the company’s previous investors Breakout Ventures, Draper Associates, LionBird Ventures, Time BioVentures, and Risk and Return (aka Rsquared), plus new investors Actual VC, METIS Innovative, E1 Ventures, Jumpspace, MainSheet Ventures, and Brown Advisory. Other investors in the startup include Johns Hopkins and Intel.

Phantom has raised $28 million to date and is not disclosing its valuation.

From stress fractures to scaled impact

Austin, Texas-based Phantom is the brainchild of Dr. Connor Glass, a polymath-big thinker type whose eyes widen when he talks about his past and his visions for the future.

Growing up in Oklahoma, Glass says he had a kind of intensity of purpose from early on. His plan, he said, was to join the military when he grew up “to make a scaled impact on the world.”

8. Italian FinTech Tundr secures €7.2 million to scale its digital platform for corporate welfare

The round was led by 360 Capital through its 360 Digitaly fund, supported by CDP Venture Capital via the Digital Transition Fund — PNRR.

The funding round also drew support from Azimut Libera Impresa SGR (through ALIcrowd III and IV ), Exor Ventures with Vento, Alecla7, Vesper Holding, and a group of prominent international business angels including Jean Canzoneri (Founder of Ogury) and Carlo Enrico (former Mastercard president for Latin America), who is also joining Tundr’s Board of Directors.

“More than ever, corporate welfare is shaping the world we live and work in ,” said Giorgio Seveso , CEO and Co-founder of Tundr. “ It’s no longer a side benefit-it’s a strategic pillar for how companies connect with their people. In a rigid and inefficient market, we’ve made welfare plans truly easy to use, flexible, and impactful. We’re building an ecosystem that’s open, democratic, and designed around people. This new funding will help us scale faster and make benefits truly accessible-anytime, anywhere .”

Founded in 2022 by Giorgio Seveso, Jules Arthur Sastre, and Luca Milesi, Tundr is building a new standard for corporate welfare in Italy: digital-first, regulation-compliant, and designed with people in mind. With offices in Milan and Lecce , and a team of 30, Tundr has onboarded over 400 companies across sectors like logistics, HR, fashion, e-commerce, and manufacturing.

At the heart of Tundr’s offering is the Tundr Card , a smart welfare card that works on the Mastercard network at more than 70,000 points of sale in Italy. It enables employees to spend their welfare credits easily and legally, fully compliant with the Italian regulatory framework.

The platform allows companies to activate customised welfare plans in “ just a few clicks “-managing both fringe benefits (such as shopping, fuel, and gift vouchers) and more structured flexible benefits (including healthcare, pensions, mobility, and education), all within one seamless app experience.

Tundr’s UX has driven over €20 million in welfare credits issued, with usage rates exceeding 95% — according to figures provided by Tundr.

9. British HealthTech company Skin Analytics raises €17 million to deliver AI skin cancer detection

Skin Analytics , a HealthTech company focused on building a future where “nobody dies of skin cancer”, has secured €17.5 million in Series B funding led by Intrepid Growth Partners in order to expand to Europe and Australia, as well as the US market.

This investment follows Skin Analytics’ recent EU MDR Class III CE mark approval, making its technology, DERM, the world’s first legally authorised AI medical device to independently make clinical decisions on skin cancer without human review.

“ We have proven this technology in the UK and are now making it available globally .”

Founded in 2012 by Neil Daly, Skin Analytics began providing teledermatology services in 2015 and since 2020 is now deployed in 26 NHS sites across the UK. According to figures provided by Skin Analytics, they have consulted more than 150,000 NHS patients and detected more than 14,000 cancers. Post-market surveillance has shown that DERM found 97% of cancers with a Negative Predictive Value (NPV) of 99.8%, compared to face-to-face dermatologist evaluations of 98.9%.

DERM can reportedly autonomously discharge up to 40% of urgent suspected skin cancer referrals. Settings in which DERM has been deployed have been able to reduce the number of face-to-face dermatologist appointments required for the volume of suspected skin cancer referrals by 60–95%.

10.”DeepTech into deep impact”: Nyobolt raises €26 million for high-power energy solutions

The funding was led by IQ Capital and Latitude, the sister fund of LocalGlobe, with strategic partners including Scania Invest and Takasago Industry — bringing the total funding raised to €87.9 million.

Founded in 2019, Nyobolt looks to transform critical industries with uptime using its fast charge technology. By leveraging new materials, battery cell designs, efficient software controls, and advanced power electronics, Nyobolt produces high-power energy systems, enabling faster charging rates and higher endurance.

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