StrictlyVC Newsletter

Top News

The White House lashed out at Amazon over reports it considered tagging products with tariff-related cost increases, calling the move "hostile" and "political." Amazon said the idea was floated internally for its Haul service but was never approved—prompting Trump to later praise Jeff Bezos for killing it quickly. CNBC has more here. 

At its first-ever AI developer conference today, Meta unveiled a ChatGPT rival and a new cloud API for its Llama models—moves designed to grow its open AI ecosystem and undercut OpenAI. TechCrunch has more here.

Startups Launch Products to Catch People Using AI Cheating App Cluely

By Charles Rollet

AI cheating startup Cluely went viral last week with bold claims that its hidden in-browser window is “undetectable” and can be used to “cheat on everything” from job interviews to exams.

But some startups are claiming they can catch Cluely’s users. And Cluely says it’s ready to develop hardware products like smart glasses, or even brain chips, that bypass anti-cheating software altogether.

Validia, a San Francisco-based startup, launched a free product called “Truely” last week in direct response to Cluely. The software triggers an alarm if it detects someone using Cluely, Validia says.

Rhode Island-based startup Proctaroo also claims its platform can detect Cluely users.

“When a Proctaroo session is active, we can see running applications and ‘hidden’ background processes — Cluely is no different,” CEO Adrian Aamodt told TechCrunch, criticizing Cluely’s business model as “unethical.”

Cluely’s co-founder and CEO, Chungin “Roy” Lee, called the anti-cheating tools promoted by these startups pointless, comparing them to years of failed cheating crackdowns in the video game industry.

What’s more, Lee says Cluely may go into hardware anyway, rendering anti-cheating software obsolete.

More here. 

Massive Fundings

Thunes, a nine-year-old Singapore startup that provides cross-border payment infrastructure enabling instant money movement between banks, digital wallets, and payment platforms worldwide, raised a $150 million Series D round. Apis Partners and Vitruvian Partners co-led the transaction. More here.

Utilidata, a thirteen-year-old Providence company that develops distributed AI software embedded in smart meters to help utilities optimize grid performance and integrate renewable energy, raised a $60 million Series C led by Renown Capital Partners, with Quanta, Keyframe Capital, and Nvidia also anteing up. More here.

Big-But-Not-Crazy-Big Fundings

Basil Systems, a five-year-old Boston startup that offers an AI-powered platform integrating global regulatory, clinical, and commercial data to help life sciences companies make smarter, faster decisions, raised an $11.5 million round led by Golden Ventures, with Hearst Ventures and Argosy Capital also pitching in. More here.

Blooming Health, a five-year-old New York startup that provides an AI-powered communication and coordination platform connecting older adults with social service and healthcare providers, raised a $26 million Series A led by Insight Partners, with Afore Capital, Crossbeam Venture Partners, and Metrodora Ventures also buying in. More here.

DePoly, a five-year-old Swiss startup that converts post-consumer and post-industrial PET plastics into virgin-grade raw materials using a room-temperature chemical recycling process, raised a $23 million seed round led by MassMutual Ventures, with previous investors Founderful, ACE & Company, and Angel Invest also opting in. Tech Funding News has more here.

Eeden, a six-year-old German startup that has developed a chemical textile recycling process to extract high-quality raw materials from used cotton garments, raised a $20.5 million Series A led by Forbion, with Henkel Ventures, NRW.Venture, TechVision Fonds, HTGF, and D11Z Ventures also stepping up. Silicon Canals has more here.

Glacier, a six-year-old San Francisco startup that builds AI-powered robotics systems to automate the sorting of recyclables and reduce landfill waste, raised a $16 million Series A led by Ecosystem Integrity Fund, with AlleyCorp, Alumni Ventures, Amazon Climate Pledge Fund, Cox Exponential, Elysium, New Enterprise Associates, One Small Planet, Overlap Holdings, Overture, VSC Ventures, and Working Capital Fund also piling on. TechCrunch has more here.

IXI, a four-year-old startup based in Espoo, Finland, that develops autofocus eyewear that adapts instantly to users’ vision needs using liquid crystal lenses, raised a $36.5 million Series A led by Plural, with Tesi, Heartcore, FOV Ventures, byFounders, Eurazeo, Tiny Supercomputer, Amazon Alexa Fund, Maki.vc, First Fellow, and firstminute capital also chipping in. TechCrunch has more here.

Navro, a three-year-old London startup that provides embedded international payments infrastructure for businesses to send, receive, and manage cross-border money movement, raised a $41 million Series B led by Jump Capital, with Bain Capital Ventures, Motive Partners, and Unusual Ventures also investing. PYMNTS has more here.

NetFoundry, an eight-year-old startup based in Charlotte, NC, that provides zero-trust networking software for developers to embed secure connectivity into applications without relying on traditional VPNs or dedicated hardware, raised a $12 million seed round led by SYN Ventures. SecurityWeek has more here.

P-1 AI, a one-year-old San Francisco startup that is building large-scale foundational models for aerospace, manufacturing, energy systems, and scientific simulations, raised a $23 million seed round led by Radical Ventures, with Village Global, Schematic Ventures, and Lerer Hippeau also anteing up. More here.

Sennos, an eight-year-old startup based in Durham, NC, that develops AI-powered sensing, analytics, and automation solutions to optimize fluidics and fermentation processes across biotech and industrial manufacturing, raised a $15 million round led by TomEnterprise. The company has raised a total of $20+ million. Tech Funding News has more here.

Villa, a San Francisco startup that builds accessory dwelling units (ADUs) like backyard homes and garages and manages the entire process from permitting to construction for homeowners, raised a $20 million round led by Unless, with additional participation from previous investors Atomic and Tectonic Ventures. More here.

VSORA, a ten-year-old Paris company that designs high-performance AI inference chips for automotive, mobile, and data center applications, raised a $45.5 million round. Otium and an unnamed French family office were the co-leads, with Omnes Capital, Adélie Capital, and the EIC Fund also chipping in. More here.

Smaller Fundings

Dex, a London startup founded this year that helps recruiters and sales professionals organize and automate their outreach workflows through AI-driven CRM tools, raised a $3.1 million pre-seed round. Andreessen Horowitz and Concept Ventures were the co-leads. TechCrunch has more here.

Gestalt Diagnostics, a ten-year-old company based in Spokane, WA, whose platform is designed to transform traditional pathology workflows by digitizing slide analysis, enabling remote collaboration, and integrating AI tools to assist in disease diagnosis, raised a $7.5 million Series A round. Cowles Ventures, TVF Funds, Inland Imaging Investments, and Kickstart Funds invested in the deal. GeekWire has more here.

Particula, a two-year-old Munich startup that provides AI-powered risk ratings and data analytics for digital asset investors and institutions, raised a $5.5 million round co-led by SixThirty Ventures, Vanagon Ventures, and Futury Capital, with TX Ventures, Blackwood Ventures, and Tenity also taking stakes. Tech Funding News has more here.

Pistachio, a six-year-old Oslo startup that offers cybersecurity awareness training programs tailored to help businesses improve employee resilience against phishing and social engineering attacks, raised a $7 million Series A led by Walter Ventures, with dékapital, Angel Invest, MP Pensjon, and J12 Ventures also chiming in. SecurityWeek has more here.

Zest Equity, a four-year-old Dubai startup that operates a platform enabling private market transactions across venture-backed companies and funds, raised a $4.3 million seed round. Prosus Ventures was the deal lead, with Morgan Stanley also opting in. More here.

New Funds

Thrive Capital, a 16-year-old New York VC firm, is raising $1 billion for a holding company called Thrive Holdings that will buy and build businesses in unglamorous sectors like accounting and property management and attempt to supercharge them with AI. The New York Times has more here. 

Going Public

Tomasz Tunguz of Theory Ventures argues that secondaries are the new IPO. Fortune has more here. 

People

In a fireside chat with Meta co-founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg at Meta’s LlamaCon conference today, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said that 20%-30% of code inside the company’s repositories was "written by software" — meaning AI. TechCrunch has more here. 

Essential Reads

Figure AI, a three-year-old startup based in Sunnyvale, CA, that is developing general-purpose humanoid robots designed to perform tasks in environments such as manufacturing, logistics, warehousing, and retail, sent out cease-and-desist letters to at least two brokers who run secondary marketplaces. TechCrunch has more here.

As fewer startups need VC money, new models like debt financing are gaining traction, forcing traditional venture firms to rethink their high-ownership, high-risk approach or risk getting left behind. Fast Company has more here. 

The New Yorker wonders, "Why even try if you have AI?" More here.

Detours

Short-term rental hosts are installing golf simulators, hammock gardens, and James Bond-themed décor in an effort to lure luxury travelers willing to pay thousands a night for a one-of-a-kind stay. 

Why it's probably not such a good idea to race a speedboat at 200 MPH.

OK GO's latest one-take video features 29 robots and 60 mirrors.

Retail Therapy

For $33 million, you can buy your own British isle an hour from central London complete with 38 residential properties, a village pub, a swimming pool, a gym, tennis court, and more.