Deployment jumped 176% this week, to ~$2.4B across 31 rounds. When the money speeds up, partners take more first meetings — this is a week to be in inboxes, not drafting.
Applied AI took 6 of the 31 checks; when one sector absorbs that share, partners in it answer cold decks faster — deployment pressure is visible. 50 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 | 2 | ~$12.1M |
Seed | 4 | ~$43.2M |
Series A | 7 | ~$268.5M |
Series B | 4 | ~$254M |
Growth (Series C+) | 8 | ~$1.3B |
Most active sector: applied AI (6 of 31 rounds). Quietest: cybersecurity (1).
📈 The Radar, 9 issues in
232 rounds tracked, ~$22.9B deployed, plus 800 quiet raises that never got press. Median check by stage across every week we have tracked: Pre-seed ~$3.4M · Seed ~$6.6M · Series A ~$23M · Series B ~$50M · Growth ~$125M. Most active lead investors since Issue #1, by rounds led: Insight Partners (6), Khosla Ventures (3), Radian Capital (3). 78% of the raises we saw got zero press — a quiet round is the norm, not a red flag. Size your ask against the medians, not the headlines.
✅ Who Wrote Checks
The full list, free, as always — 31 rounds with stage, sector, and lead investor:
TEKEVER — $580M Growth (Series C+), led by UC Investments · Tekever |
Enveda — $311M Growth (Series C+), led by Catalio Capital Management · Pulse 2.0 |
AI Cloud Startup Verda — $189M Undisclosed stage, no lead named, applied AI · Bloomberg.com |
BRAHMA AI — $150M Undisclosed stage, led by MULTIPLES, applied AI · Yahoo Finance |
Luma Health — $130M Growth (Series C+), led by FTV Capital, healthcare · Dealroom |
Solutions by Text — $110M Undisclosed stage, led by Edison Partners · Dealroom |
OnPay — $100M Series B, no lead named · Dealroom |
Go.AI — $85M Series A, led by Updata Partners, applied AI · Pulse 2.0 |
Canary Technologies — $80M Growth (Series C+), led by Brighton Park Capital · Dealroom |
Ema — $77M Series B, led by Creaegis, applied AI · TechCrunch |
LucidLink — $75M Growth (Series C+), led by Brighton Park Capital · Dealroom |
BigHat Biosciences — $75M Growth (Series C+), led by DFJ Growth · Pulse 2.0 |
CharterUP — $60M Series A, led by Tritium Partners · Dealroom |
Confido — $55M Series B, led by Insight Partners, applied AI · Pulse 2.0 |
Niche — $35M Growth (Series C+), led by Radian Capital · Dealroom |
Baselayer — $35M Series A, led by M13, cybersecurity · Pulse 2.0 |
Onapsis — $31M Growth (Series C+), led by LLR Partners · Dealroom |
BusRight — $30M Undisclosed stage, led by Volition Capital · Dealroom |
Lula — $28M Series A, led by PeakSpan Capital · Dealroom |
PicoJool — $27.5M Series A, led by Socratic Partners · Pulse 2.0 |
Corridor — $25M Seed, no lead named, healthcare · TechCrunch |
Biller Genie — $22M Series B, led by Radian Capital · Dealroom |
Trebellar — $18M Series A, no lead named, proptech · Yahoo Finance |
GreyNoise — $15M Series A, led by Radian Capital · Dealroom |
NG.CASH — $15M Undisclosed stage, led by Blockchain Capital · Pulse 2.0 |
Atomic Insights — $10M Seed, led by Aquiline · Dealroom |
American Supercritical — $8M Pre-seed, led by Silent Ventures · Pulse 2.0 |
AI hospitality partner Dextr AI — $6.7M Seed, led by Elevation Capital, applied AI · BusinessLine |
Beagle Labs — $4.1M Pre-seed, led by Chingona Ventures · Pulse 2.0 |
DASH Dog Food — $1.5M Seed, led by Voltage Ventures · Pulse 2.0 |
Silver jewellery brand Unniyarcha — $1M Undisclosed stage, led by Sauce VC · Dealroom |
🔍 Investor Spotlight: Radian Capital
Radian Capital wrote 3 checks in the last two weeks — 3 as lead (~$72M deployed). Led: Niche ($35M Growth (Series C+)), Biller Genie ($22M Series B), GreyNoise ($15M Series A).
Pitching any of this week’s check-writers? Get a VC-style read on your deck before you send it. Get your free verdict first.
🎊 Who Bought
5 startup exits crossed the wire this week. Acquirers tell you which categories are consolidating — and who might be your buyer, or your competitor's.
Mainstay acquired Truelist for ~$18M · GeekWire |
Brandlin acquired Celexir · Dealroom |
Grai acquired Hangout · Music Ally |
RAIN acquired Tensor Networks · Dealroom |
Falconstar acquired Fanmore · Dealroom |
📄 Filing Watch
6 raises surfaced in SEC Form D filings this week that no outlet has covered. The 6 below are the largest of 50 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.
Cityblock Health, Inc. — ~$206.2M total offering, Form D filed September 25 · filing |
Twenty Technologies, Inc. — ~$131.3M total offering, Form D filed September 25 · filing |
Typewriter Therapeutics, Inc. — ~$56.3M total offering, Form D filed September 21 · filing |
Caspian Therapeutics, Inc. — ~$50M total offering, Form D filed September 23 · filing |
BioStem Technologies, Inc. — ~$40M total offering, Form D filed September 21 · filing |
Vulcan Infrastructure & Power Inc. — ~$39.3M total offering, Form D filed September 24 · filing |
💰 Fresh Dry Powder
4 venture funds filed new Form Ds this week, and 1 that began raising earlier updated its. Money that has to be put to work means deployment pressure on a clock — a firm raising or investing a fresh fund is answering cold decks, not passing on them. Names and filings below.
Evolution Technology Fund IV, L.P. — ~$562.6M in the filing, amended Form D filed September 24 · filing |
Atomus Fund I, L.P. — ~$500M in the filing, Form D filed September 21 · filing |
Vida Ventures IV, L.P. — ~$500M in the filing, Form D filed September 22 · filing |
Arbor Venture Fund IV, L.P. — ~$350M in the filing, Form D filed September 22 · filing |
Interlagos Select I, LP — ~$200M in the filing, Form D filed September 21 · filing |
🤓 Worth your time
Tunguz on the 2026 model-vendor fight: Anthropic's metered enterprise billing doubled revenue in a quarter, and OpenAI answered by cutting Luna pricing 80% — the same models, aimed at different buyers, priced to match. If you are raising in applied AI, have your answer ready for "what happens when the model vendor prices into your segment", because a partner will ask it before the second meeting. Read it.
🎯 If You're Raising This Month
Growth (Series C+) is where the volume is: 8 of 31 rounds. Applied AI took 6 of 31 checks overall; if that's your lane, sequence outreach to the firms above this week — momentum begets attention. Cybersecurity 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.