AI Gets Physical: $230M Flows to Warehouses, Brains, and Insurance
A new funding round shows investors are betting big on AI that interacts with the real world. From warehouse docks to brainwaves and insurance, here’s what’s getting funded.
Category: Startups
VinFast’s Taxi Arm GSM Eyes Huge Hong Kong IPO
GSM, the electric taxi operator that uses only VinFast vehicles, is targeting a massive public listing. The move could fund regional expansion and ease financial pressure on its parent company, Vingroup.
This $99 Dock Packs a Knob and 11 Ports, But You’ll Wait Until 2026
A startup is crowdfunding the HubKey Pro 2, a compact dock with a circular controller, 11 ports, and dual 4K HDMI support. It’s smashed its funding goal, but backers face a long wait for delivery.
Sapporo Sells Real Estate Arm to KKR-PAG in $2.6 Billion Deal
Sapporo Holdings is offloading its real estate division to private equity giants KKR and PAG in a deal worth over 400 billion yen. The move comes after a lengthy campaign by activist investors pushing the brewer to shed non-core assets. The new owners aim to boost profits by attracting new tenants.
Marissa Mayer’s AI startup Dazzle raises $8M after Sunshine flop
Marissa Mayer is back with a new AI venture called Dazzle. After shutting down her previous startup, Sunshine, she’s raised an $8 million seed round at a $35 million valuation to build what she hopes is a world-changing personal assistant.
Ex-FTX President Raises $35M for His New, Non-Crypto Exchange
Brett Harrison, former president of FTX US, has secured $35 million in funding for his new startup, Architect Financial Technologies. The firm’s exchange, AX, offers perpetual futures on traditional assets like stocks and forex, but not cryptocurrencies.
German startup gets €1.5M to pull rare earths from waste with bacteria
German bio-tech startup BIOWEG has raised €1.5 million from Germany’s SPRIND agency. The funding will advance its platform to recover Rare Earth Elements from waste streams using a fermentation and green chemistry process developed with Technische Universität Berlin.
VCs are obsessed with AI, but they’re looking for more than hype
Venture capitalists are laser-focused on AI investments for the coming year. The challenge for founders is proving they have a defensible business, not just a flashy demo, in an increasingly crowded market.
Can an AI Startup Actually Fix How America Builds Stuff?
A new AI construction startup, Unlimited Industries, just landed $12 million from Andreessen Horowitz’s American Dynamism Fund. The company, founded this year and already valued at $50 million, is using AI to design and manage projects, with a long-term goal of fully automated building. Founder Alex
An entrepreneur makes $200 an hour training AI. Is this the new side gig?
Utkarsh Amitabh, a busy entrepreneur and Oxford PhD student, took on a freelance gig training AI models in January 2025. He now earns $200 an hour, pulling in nearly $300,000 so far, by using his deep expertise to refine how machines think.