Photonic quantum computing firm PsiQuantum has secured a massive $1 billion Series E round, pushing its valuation to $7 billion. The funding, led by BlackRock and with a strategic investment from Nvidia, is aimed squarely at building a commercial, fault-tolerant quantum computer.
This deal signals a major market shift, treating quantum computing as an industrial-scale engineering challenge rather than a pure research endeavor. The round sets a new capital benchmark for deep tech, raising the stakes for competitors in the global race for foundational compute power.
In Today’s Startup News Recap:
PsiQuantum raises $1B Series E at a $7B valuation
Perplexity AI hits $20B valuation with $200M raise
You.com pivots to enterprise with a $100M Series C
Koi raises $48M to secure enterprise software
PsiQuantum Lands $1B to Build a Million-Qubit Computer
Photonic quantum computing firm PsiQuantum secured a massive $1 billion Series E round led by BlackRock, with strategic investment from Nvidia's NVentures, pushing its valuation to $7 billion to build a commercial-grade, fault-tolerant quantum computer.
What’s the Deal?
The landmark $1 billion Series E provides the immense capital required to scale production and move from research to engineering, validating the company's capital-intensive strategy to build a million-qubit machine. Read the announcement.
Strategic investment from Nvidia's NVentures arm signals a powerful endorsement from the leader in AI compute, highlighting the perceived future synergy between advanced AI and quantum for solving complex problems.
This funding round more than doubles PsiQuantum's 2021 valuation to $7 billion, solidifying its position as one of the best-capitalized players in the race for quantum supremacy and validating its specific photonic-based approach.
Why care?
This deal signals a market shift, treating quantum computing as a commercial engineering challenge rather than a pure research endeavor. The round sets a new benchmark for capital needed to compete in deep tech infrastructure, proving that foundational compute is attracting significant institutional and strategic investment.
Perplexity AI Hits $20B Valuation with $200M Raise
AI search startup Perplexity AI has secured another $200 million in funding, catapulting its valuation to $20 billion. The round comes just two months after its last financing, signaling intense investor appetite to back credible challengers to Google's search monopoly.
What’s the Deal?
The rapid funding cadence and massive $20 billion valuation underscore extreme investor conviction in Perplexity's strategy and its potential for a significant market capture in the lucrative search advertising space.
The company is demonstrating clear product-market fit and commercial momentum, having attracted over 30 million users and established a rapidly growing revenue base, according to reports.
This capital infusion provides a substantial war chest for Perplexity to accelerate R&D and scale its go-to-market efforts as a leading challenger to Google's search dominance.
Why care?
This deal shows that significant capital is available for AI startups that can demonstrate a clear path to unseating a Big Tech incumbent. Perplexity’s soaring valuation serves as a key benchmark for the potential returns in foundational AI applications, driving further investment in the high-stakes search market.
You.com Pivots to B2B, Raises $100M at $1.5B Valuation
You.com has secured a $100 million Series C at a $1.5 billion valuation to pivot from a consumer search engine to an enterprise AI infrastructure platform. The round was led by Cox Enterprises, with continued participation from Georgian and Salesforce Ventures.
What’s the Deal?
The pivot to an enterprise AI provider is validated by significant early traction, with the platform already processing over one billion API queries monthly for clients like DuckDuckGo and Harvey.
You.com is positioning itself as essential AI plumbing for enterprises, offering a platform that integrates private company data with live public web data to power trusted, autonomous AI agents.
The funding from a strategic investor like Cox Enterprises, alongside enterprise SaaS experts at Salesforce Ventures, signals strong market confidence in You.com’s B2B strategy and its ability to meet enterprise-grade security and privacy demands.
Why care?
You.com’s successful pivot highlights a major commercial trend: the "picks and shovels" market for foundational AI infrastructure is attracting significant capital. This deal validates the enterprise demand for reliable, scalable platforms that can power autonomous agents.
AI Security Startup Koi Raises $48M Series A
AI cybersecurity startup Koi emerged from stealth, announcing $48 million in combined seed and Series A funding co-led by Battery Ventures and Team8. The capital is aimed at helping enterprises gain control over unmanaged, self-installed software, a growing security vulnerability.
What’s the Deal?
The funding addresses a significant market need as companies struggle with security gaps created by unmanaged enterprise software and shadow IT. Koi's platform uses AI to provide visibility and control over these endpoint blind spots.
The company was founded by veterans of Israel’s elite Unit 8200, a background that signals deep technical expertise and strong credibility to investors and customers in the competitive cybersecurity sector.
Koi has already demonstrated early market traction and product validation, with its platform currently protecting over half a million endpoints. The new capital will be used to fuel global expansion and further product development.
Why care?
The deal highlights the continued investment focus on AI-native solutions built to address modern software supply chain risks. The combination of a highly-credentialed founding team and backing from a strong investor syndicate signals high conviction in Koi's potential to capture a significant share of the endpoint security market.
The Shortlist
Replit closes a $250 million funding round, tripling its valuation to $3 billion as it doubles down on its agentic AI platform for software development following a recent major database incident.
OpenWav launched its AI-powered music platform with Grammy-winner Wyclef Jean as Chief Creative Officer, aiming to provide artists with tools for direct fan engagement, monetization, and merch creation.
Eloquent AI raised $7.4 million in a seed funding round led by Foundation Capital to expand its AI operator platform, which automates complex customer operations for the financial services industry without requiring APIs.
Kamiwaza secured a major opportunity with the Department of Homeland Security's CISA after maturing its AI orchestration engine through Intel’s Liftoff program, which provides startups with access to advanced compute power.