29 rounds closed this week for ~$2.3B deployed — flat on last week's ~$2.3B across 19. Applied AI took 6 of the 29 checks; when one sector absorbs that share, partners in it answer cold decks faster — deployment pressure is visible. 94 more raises surfaced only in Form D filings, with no press coverage — fresh capital nobody is watching yet. If either is your lane, the window argues for sending your deck this week, not next.
📊 The Week's Deployment
Stage | Rounds | Total deployed |
Pre-seed | 1 | ~$30M |
Seed | 11 | ~$166.4M |
Series A | 6 | ~$304.1M |
Series B | 3 | ~$228M |
Growth (Series C+) | 3 | ~$770M |
Most active sector: applied AI (6 of 29 rounds). Quietest: biotech (1).
✅ Who Wrote Checks
The full list, free, as always — 29 rounds with stage, sector, and lead investor:
Antora Energy — $550M Growth (Series C+), led by G2 Venture Partners, climate · Pulse 2.0 |
Gravie — $463M Undisclosed stage, led by General Atlantic · Pulse 2.0 |
Spur Intelligence — $200M Undisclosed stage, led by Insight Partners · Mezha (Ukraine) |
Simile — $200M Series A, lead undisclosed · TechCrunch |
CAIS — $170M Growth (Series C+), led by Vista Equity Partners · citybiz |
Onyx Security — $113M Series B, lead undisclosed, cybersecurity · Financial IT |
groundcover — $100M Undisclosed stage, lead undisclosed, applied AI · calcalistech.com |
Freehand — $75M Series B, led by Battery Ventures, climate · Moneycontrol.com |
Fish Audio — $52M Seed, lead undisclosed, applied AI · TechCrunch |
Inforcer — $50M Growth (Series C+), led by Insight Partners, cybersecurity · TechCrunch Venture |
Lydian — $43M Series A, led by Breakthrough Energy Ventures, climate · PR Newswire |
DataBahn — $40M Series B, led by Insight Partners · Yahoo Finance |
Harmony — $34M Seed, led by Lightspeed, applied AI · Pulse 2.0 |
Agon — $30M Pre-seed, lead undisclosed · FinSMEs |
Vinyl Equity — $20M Undisclosed stage, led by Jump Capital · FF News |
Way Security — $20M Seed, led by Insight Partners, cybersecurity · Pulse 2.0 |
Balance Theory — $19M Series A, lead undisclosed · citybiz |
The Farmer Companies — $17M Series A, lead undisclosed · Pulse 2.0 |
Smallest.ai — $13M Undisclosed stage, lead undisclosed, applied AI · TechCrunch Venture |
Discern Security — $13M Series A, lead undisclosed, cybersecurity · Yahoo Finance |
Marpai — $12.1M Series A, led by Mitchell Companies · TradingView |
Intropy — $11M Seed, lead undisclosed, logistics · citybiz |
Ryan Williams — $10M Seed, lead undisclosed, applied AI · TechCrunch Venture |
Ellis — $10M Seed, led by First Round Capital · Pulse 2.0 |
Beyond Reach Labs — $10M Seed, lead undisclosed, defense & space · Payload Space |
Cheiron — $8M Seed, led by Menlo Ventures, biotech · Pulse 2.0 |
Freight Hero — $5M Seed, led by Field Ventures, logistics · Pulse 2.0 |
Beelzebub — €3M (~$3.3M) Seed, led by United Ventures · Pulse 2.0 |
🔍 Investor Spotlight: Insight Partners
Insight Partners wrote 4 checks in the last two weeks — 4 as lead (~$310M deployed). Led: Spur Intelligence ($200M Undisclosed stage), Inforcer ($50M Growth (Series C+)), DataBahn ($40M Series B), Way Security ($20M Seed). The pattern in the checks: cybersecurity with checks between $20M and $200M. A firm writing at that pace is deploying against a fresh fund, not trickling out of an old one — treat them as answerable this quarter.
Fit notes like this on every active firm — matched against your deck — live in Backable. Pitching any of this week’s check-writers?
📄 Filing Watch
6 raises surfaced in SEC Form D filings this week that no outlet has covered. The 6 below are the largest of 94 venture-relevant Form Ds we tracked with no coverage. Quiet raises tell you two things: who has fresh capital without the spotlight, and which investors are moving without press. Both are outreach gold. One caveat: Form D lags some closings — treat it as a signal, not ground truth.
Core Automation, Inc. — ~$432.1M total offering, Form D filed July 30 · filing |
Sila Nanotechnologies, Inc. — ~$309.6M total offering, Form D filed July 31 · filing |
ThreatLocker, Inc. — ~$189.2M total offering, Form D filed July 30 · filing |
PRIVATE TECH INC. — ~$105M total offering, Form D filed July 29 · filing |
ZeroStack Corp. — ~$92.1M total offering, Form D filed July 29 · filing |
MHR Acquisitions, Inc. — ~$75M total offering (amended filing — extension or upsize), Form D filed July 30 · filing |
💰 Fresh Dry Powder
5 venture funds filed Form Ds for their own new money this week. New funds mean deployment pressure on a clock — a firm that just closed is answering cold decks, not passing on them. Names and filings below.
Index Ventures — ~$2B reported, announced July 31 · TechCrunch Venture |
Elemental AI Fund I, L.P. — ~$450M in the filing, Form D filed July 30 · filing |
M13 Ventures V, L.P. — ~$400M in the filing, Form D filed July 29 · filing |
SemiAnalysis Capital Fund I, LP — ~$400M in the filing, Form D filed July 29 · filing |
TCGX Asia Life Sciences Fund I, L.P. — ~$400M in the filing, Form D filed July 29 · filing |
🎯 If You're Raising This Month
Seed is where the volume is: 11 of 29 rounds — 5 last week, 11 this week. Applied AI took 6 of 29 checks overall; if that's your lane, sequence outreach to the firms above this week — momentum begets attention. Biotech saw 1; if that's you, plan for a longer conversation and lead with revenue, not narrative.
About to pitch? Don’t send the deck you have — send the deck that survives a partner meeting.
— Martin
Free forever. If this saved you an hour of funding-news archaeology, forward it to a founder who is raising.