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HomeBoost’s app will show you where to save on your utility bills; plus, Waymo reportedly raising a $16B funding round Feb 02, 2026

Show notes

The startup is partnering with utilities to help homeowners determine the best upgrades to cut their energy use.

Also, Waymo is reportedly finalizing a new funding round that will value the robotaxi company at $110 billion.

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Upwind raises $250M at $1.5B valuation to continue building ‘runtime’ cloud security; plus, AI security startup Outtake raises $40M Jan 30, 2026

Show notes

The $250 million Series B was led by Bessemer Venture Partners, with participation from Salesforce Ventures and Picture Capital.

Also, Outtake makes an agentic cybersecurity platform to help enterprises detect identity fraud. Its angel investors are a who's who.

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Flapping Airplanes and the promise of research-driven AI; plus, Upwind raises $250M at $1.5B valuation to continue building ‘runtime’ cloud security Jan 29, 2026

Show notes

A new AI lab called Flapping Airplanes launched yesterday, and a Sequoia partner has an interesting take on why they stand out.

Also, Upwind's $250 million Series B was led by Bessemer Venture Partners, with participation from Salesforce Ventures and Picture Capital.

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Tiny startup Arcee AI built a 400B-parameter open source LLM from scratch to best Meta’s Llama Jan 29, 2026

Show notes

30-person startup Arcee AI has released a 400B model called Trinity, which it says is one of the biggest open source foundation models from a U.S. company.

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Jennifer Garner’s Once Upon a Farm resumes IPO plans; plus, Fashion rental app By Rotation partners with Uber Jan 28, 2026

Show notes

Once Upon A Farm food company may debut as soon as next week. It has issued a price range for shares, an SEC filing shows.

Also, By Rotation, one of the UK’s most popular peer-to-peer fashion rental platforms, is partnering with Uber to deliver ski clothes.

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Phia raises $35M to ‘make shopping fun again’; plus, Risotto raises $10M seed to use AI to make ticketing systems easier to use Jan 28, 2026

Show notes

Phoebe Gates and Sophia Kianni’s Phia raises $35M to ‘make shopping fun again’

Also, designed to autonomously resolve help desk tickets, Risotto has raised $10 million in seed funding in a round led by Bonfire Ventures.

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Northwood Space secures a $100M Series B and a $50M Space Force contract; plus, AI chip startup Ricursive hits $4B valuation Jan 27, 2026

Show notes

This is the El Segundo, California-based startup's second raise in less than a year.

Also, Ricursive joins Recursive and Unconventional AI in raising massive funds at multi-billion valuations out of the gate.

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AI startup CVector raises $5M for its industrial ‘nervous system’ Jan 27, 2026

Show notes

Industrial AI startup CVector built a brain and nervous system for big industry. Now, founders Richard Zhang and Tyler Ruggles are tasked with a bigger challenge: showing customers and investors how this AI-powered software layer translates to real savings on an industrial scale.

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How PopWheels helped a food cart ditch generators for e-bike batteries Jan 26, 2026

Show notes

PopWheels realized its battery swapping network could be used for more than food delivery workers who need to charge their e-bikes. Now, its planning for an "aggressive rollout" this summer.

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This startup will send 1,000 people’s ashes to space — affordably — in 2027 Jan 26, 2026

Show notes

Started by an engineer who worked on the space shuttle program, and at Blue Origin, Space Beyond has a spot on a 2027 Falcon 9 flight.

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