Meta Goes All-In on Muse

Top News

At Meta's Connect event today, Mark Zuckerberg gave his new AI agent Muse a face, an email address, a spot in your smart glasses, and the keys to your Mac. It's all free, in exchange for just a little training data. TechCrunch has more here.

Meta's big Connect surprise: $1,300 VR glasses that don't look insane or weigh a pound and a half and put IMAX right on your face, TechCrunch reported from the show.

Bloop. Turns out OpenAI's AI agents went rogue at least four more times this spring, trying to hack a university library, a public data site, and two Australian government health portals (and succeeding with one) just because they got frustrated doing routine data collection. The New York Times has more here.

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Your Next Winter Tire Swap Might Be Done By a Robot

By Sean O’Kane

If you live in Canada, this year’s set of snow tires might be installed by a robot.

San Francisco startup PitPro Automation said Wednesday that it has installed its first automatic tire-changing system at a tire shop in Calgary, Alberta. The startup says its robotic system, first revealed last year, can swap a full set of four tires in under 15 minutes. The first deployment is at a Kal Tire location — one of Canada’s largest independent tire service chains.

PitPro is one of myriad startups trying to disrupt different parts of the car ownership experience. While founder and CEO Jeremy Conrad told TechCrunch he ultimately wants to move into other kinds of automated maintenance, he thinks there’s big opportunity to build a business around tires in the near term.

Changing tires is “backbreaking” work, and tire shops are facing a major labor shortage, he said in an interview. Even when shops can find people for the job, he said, those workers often leave within a few months to a year.

“One shop manager was telling me they had to get special permission to pay more because a Panda Express opened across the street and it took about half their employees,” he said.

Massive Fundings

Anaconda Biomed, an 11-year-old Spanish company that develops catheters and related devices for removing blood clots from the brain during ischemic strokes, raised a $56 million round led by Omega Funds, with FOCO as well as previous investors Asabys, Ysios Capital, and CDTI also anteing up. More here.

Basecamp Research, a seven-year-old London startup that uses AI and genomic data to design new medicines, raised a $140 million Series C round led by S32, with NVentures, Anthology Fund, Catalio, NATO Innovation Fund, Rockefeller, European Tech Collective, and the UK Sovereign AI Fund as well as previous investors Firebrand, River Capital King Philanthropies, and Redalpine also chiming in. The company has raised a total of $225 million. Tech.eu has more here.

Ema, a three-year-old startup based in Mountain View, CA, whose AI agents automate HR, IT, and finance workflows, raised a $77 million Series B round led by Creaegis, with previous investors Accel, S32, and Prosus also participating. The company has raised a total of $140 million. TechCrunch has more here.

Enveda, a seven-year-old Boulder startup that uses AI to identify naturally occurring molecules and develop promising candidates into medicines, raised a $311 million Series E round at a $2 billion valuation. The deal was led by Catalio Capital Management, with Durable Capital Partners, ICONIQ, Lightspeed, Surveyor Capital, T. Rowe Price Investment Management, Digitalis Ventures, and Alderline Group as well as previous investors Baillie Gifford, Premji Invest, FPV Ventures, True Ventures, Kinnevik, Dimension, Lifeforce Capital, and Lux Capital also piling on. The company has raised a total of $845+ million. TechCrunch has more here.

Hubble Network, a five-year-old Seattle startup that enables standard Bluetooth devices to connect directly to satellites for global asset tracking, raised a $200 million Series C round at a $1.6 billion valuation. The deal was led by Smith Point Capital, with Seraphim, Carthona Capital, Earthshot Ventures, Y Combinator, and RPM Ventures also opting in. The company has raised a total of $300 million. GeekWire has more here.

Modal Labs, a five-year-old New York startup that provides cloud infrastructure and isolated testing environments for AI developers, is in discussions to raise a new round at a roughly $15 billion valuation. Reuters has more here.

Numeral, a four-year-old San Francisco startup that automates sales tax registration, calculation, filing, remittance, and exemption-certificate management for businesses operating across jurisdictions, raised a $100 million Series C round led by Insight Partners, with additional support from Salesforce Ventures and Geodesic as well as previous investors Benchmark, Mayfield, FCVC, Y Combinator, and Uncork. The company has raised a total of $157 million. More here.

Tekever, a 25-year-old Lisbon company that designs surveillance drones and sells the intelligence they gather through a subscription service, raised a $580 million Series D round at a $6.4 billion post-money valuation. The deal was co-led by UC Investments and Baillie Gifford, with Merlyn Advisors as well as previous investors Crescent Cove, Ventura Capital, and Iberis Capital also chipping in. Tech Funding News has more here.

Ultraviolette, a 10-year-old Bengaluru company that develops high-performance electric motorcycles and EV platforms, raised an $85 million round co-led by Yali Capital and TDK Ventures, with Lip-Bu Tan also participating. ETAuto has more here.

Big-But-Not-Crazy-Big Fundings

Dialybrid, a six-year-old startup based in Cantù, Italy, that develops silk-and-polyurethane vascular grafts that provide bloodstream access for patients undergoing dialysis, raised a $17.2 million Series A round led by XGEN Venture, with CDP Venture Capital also chipping in. Tech Funding News has more here.

Mojave Energy Systems, a four-year-old startup based in Sunnyvale, CA, that makes commercial air-conditioning systems that control humidity and temperature independently using liquid desiccant technology, raised a $19 million Series B round led by Fairtree Elevant Ventures, with River Bay Investments, Cleo Capital, and MetaTrail as well as previous investors At One Ventures, Fifth Wall, Myriad Venture Partners, and Starshot Capital also taking part. More here.

Nexstrom, a two-year-old Singapore startup that builds equipment and processes for growing atomically thin semiconductor materials directly on commercial chip wafers, raised a $12 million seed round led by Xora Innovation, with Foothill Ventures and SEEDS also taking part. The company has raised a total of $15 million. TechCrunch has more here.

NG.Cash, a five-year-old São Paulo startup that provides digital accounts, payments, and credit products to teens and young adults in Brazil, raised a $15 million round led by Blockchain Capital. The company has raised a total of $65+ million. More here.

Pilgrim, a four-year-old startup based in Redwood City, CA, that develops hardware using air sampling and genomic sequencing to detect airborne biological threats, raised a $25 million seed round at a $150 million valuation. The deal was led by Buckley Ventures, with Logan Graham, Sholto Douglas, and Fred Ehrsam also investing. The Wall Street Journal has more here.

Ramona Optics, a nine-year-old startup based in Durham, NC, that develops microscopy systems that capture and analyze high-resolution biological images across large areas for life sciences researchers, raised a $25 million Series A round led by ARCH Venture Partners, with Stealthpoint Ventures, ND Capital, Fall Line Capital, Hamamatsu Ventures, Murchison Capital Partners, and Overlap Holdings also anteing up. More here.

StandardX, a one-year-old London startup that develops compact particle accelerators that produce rare isotopes for cancer care and fusion energy, raised a $13.4 million seed round co-led by Vsquared Ventures and East X Ventures, with firstminute Capital, UK Innovation and Science Seed Fund, Brevan Howard Macro Venture, and Geometry also chiming in. Tech Funding News has more here.

Terasi, a six-year-old Stockholm startup that develops compact directional radios that create high-speed wireless links resistant to detection, interception, and jamming, raised a $12.6 million seed round co-led by NATO Innovation Fund and Join Capital, with In-Q-Tel and D3 as well as previous investors Navigare Ventures, Almi Invest, Onsight Ventures, Further Than Capital, and KTH Ventures also chiming in. More here.

Smaller Fundings