ICYMI News Roundup
December ecosystem highlights so far — startups, venture trends, M&A moves, and must-watch interviews.
Another week, another roundup of recent tech news — let’s dive in. But first:
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What has been happening across tech these past few weeks?
The startup ecosystem is evolving so much (and fast)
The startup ecosystem is shifting fast. The AI bubble is in full swing, $100M ARR is the new badge of honor over unicorn status, startups are raising record rounds, new VC funds are emerging, and acquisitions are heating up.
To help you make sense of it all, we’ve rounded up the most talked-about startup stories from the past few weeks — broken down into these categories:
🗝️ Read of the week
🔍 Top tech news
💰 Startup funding news
👀 New VC funds
🤝 Acquisitions
🎤 Must-watch interviews
Let’s dive in 🚀
🗝️ Read of the week
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🔍 Top tech news
Kalshi raised $1B at an $11B valuation – its third funding round this year and one of the fastest valuation climbs in the fintech ecosystem.
MrBeast just announced he’s launching new companies, including Beast Mobile and MrBeast Financial. How will the most followed creator launch new consumer products? Creators can spark a surge of first-time customers, but turning that attention into a brand with real staying power is an entirely different game. Perhaps Beast will go public (IPO) in 2026/2027?
Gemini 3 launches: A new era of intelligence.
Clay just hit $100M ARR. It took them six years to go from $0-1m, then two years to go from $1-100m. Impressive!
U.S. Commerce Department to allow exports of NVIDIA H200 chips to China.
💰 Startup funding news
Airwallex raised $330M at an $8B valuation and reached $1B ARR.
Harvey raised $160M, in a round led by Andreessen Horowitz, valuing the legal AI startup at $8B.
Bending Spoons acquired Eventbrite in a $500M all-cash transaction, adding to prior acquisitions including AOL, Vimeo, Meetup, and others.
Andreessen Horowitz led a $21M Series A into Sphere, an AI-native tax compliance startup.
Lunar Ventures led a $9M Seed round into Emm, which is building one of the first smart menstrual cups.
Kindred Ventures led a $3.8M Seed round into Kaaj, which focuses on credit risk automation.
FirstMark Capital and Eurazeo led a $70M round into Paris-based AI voice startup Gradium.
General Catalyst led a $2.8B round into satellite imaging startup Iceye.
Brevo became Europe’s newest unicorn, hitting a $1.2B valuation in a $580M secondary share sale.
AMP and Salesforce led a $300M round into Black Forest Labs.
London-based Sokin raised $50M amid hype in B2B fintech.
Khosla Ventures led a $5.4M round into Radical Health, which is using AI to personalize cancer care.
Magic Patterns raised $6M Series A round led by Standard Capital, with participation from Y Combinator, Essence VC, Pioneer Fund, Twenty Two Ventures, and several angels.
👀 New VC funds
FoodLabs raised its third fund of $120M to invest in health, agriculture, and food-security startups.
Lulu Cheng Meservey raised a $40M VC fund.
Expedition Growth Capital raised its third fund of $375M to back bootstrapped businesses.
Nexus Venture Partners raised Fund VIII at $700M.
Conexus Venture Capital raised Fund II at $30M.
Future Energy Ventures raised $270M to invest in renewable-energy transition startups.
Carles Reina (ElevenLabs investor) raised a $15M solo GP fund for defense and AI.
Propeller raised Fund III at $50M.
Backed VC raised its third fund at €86M ($100M).
Incore Invest raised a second closing of Fund II, bringing it to $46M.
India Global Forum announced a $250M fund to back Indian brands.
The Haptik co-founder launched a $75M AI fund.
EIF committed €70M to Alantra’s new Energy Transition Growth Fund.
Jake & Logan Paul announced they raised a $30M venture fund backing AI and robotics startups.
Investors with massive distribution channels and powerful networks are going to be the ones founders favor over those with traditional setups — just providing capital.
🤝 Acquisitions
Atlassian acquires Secoda to democratize enterprise data analysis for business teams.
Meta acquiring AI wearable company Limitless.
IBM acquiring Confluent in $11 billion all-cash deal
🎤 Must-watch interviews
Forget AI: Inside the Meltdown That Made Airalo #1 eSIM Unicorn | Ahmet Bahadir Ozdemir
In this week’s episode, we’re joined by Ahmet Bahadir Ozdemir, the self-described “accidental telecom guy” and co-founder of Airalo, the eSIM marketplace that’s quietly rewiring how travelers get online around the world.
Watch our recent podcast episodes:
The Hidden Skill Behind Every Successful Founder | Lindsay Kaplan.
The Harsh Truth About Building a Startup in the AI Era | Anish Acharya.
The AI Version of You Will Outperform You — Emad Mostaque.
How Solana Survived When Most Other Coins Fell | Anatoly Yakovenko.
This Is How AI Will Reshape Startups Forever | Henry Ward, Co-Founder of Carta.
Spotify’s Early Investor Shares His Blueprint for Outlier Founders | PJ Pärson (Northzone).
Watch now!
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