VC Funding Top Ten — July 24, 2026: Atoms $1.7B, Physical AI, Scribe IPO

Overview

Friday, July twenty-fourth, and the biggest check of the day is a staggering one-point-seven-billion dollars for a new venture called Atoms. Today's deal flow saw ten major rounds close, bringing the total disclosed funding to three-point-two-one billion dollars. The story of the day is the massive bet on 'physical AI,

In this show

• Friday, July twenty-fourth, and the biggest check of the day is a staggering one-point-seven-billion dollars for a new venture called Atoms. Today's deal flow saw ten major rounds close, bringing the total disclosed funding to three-point-two-one billion dollars. The story of the day is the massive bet on 'physical AI,' a sector aiming to digitize heavy industry. We'll break down all the top deals, from AI hardware to a new fintech unicorn. With me are our Markets and World analysts. Let's get into the numbers.
• Here is today's snapshot. Total disclosed funding hit $3.21B across 10 rounds. The largest round was Atoms with $1.7B for Physical AI. AI was the hottest category, accounting for five of the top ten deals. On the public markets front, a notable IPO saw Scribe Therapeutics raise $128.7M in an upsized offering. But the main story remains the sheer scale of the Atoms round, founded by Uber's former CEO, signaling massive investor confidence in applying AI to real-world industrial problems.
• Let's start with that top deal. Atoms, a physical AI startup from former Uber CEO Travis Kalanick, raised an enormous $1.7B venture round. Andreessen Horowitz led the financing. The company is focused on digitizing large industrial sectors, applying AI to tangible, real-world applications rather than just software. This massive check isn't just a bet on a founder; it signals a new wave of capital flowing into the 'physical AI' space, which could reshape manufacturing, logistics, and robotics.
• The AI trend continues at number two. Meshy AI secured a $400M Series B, reaching a post-money valuation of $1.5B. The round was co-led by Monolith Capital, IDG Capital, and Matrix Partners China. Meshy develops foundation models specifically for AI-powered 3D content generation. This is a critical technology for gaming, special effects, and the continued buildout of metaverse applications. The significant valuation for a Series B highlights the intense global demand for tools that can automate and scale the creation of complex 3D assets.
• At number three, we shift to climate tech. Sila, a battery technology company, raised $300M in a late-stage venture round led by Atreides Management and Sutter Hill Ventures. Sila is developing advanced silicon anode materials, which are key to improving the performance, density, and charging speed of batteries. This funding is earmarked to expand production capacity, directly addressing a critical bottleneck in the supply chain for both electric vehicles and consumer electronics. It's a crucial investment in the hardware side of the green transition.
• Back to AI at number four, but this time it's the infrastructure. Etched raised a $300M Series C, hitting a massive $10B valuation. Sequoia Capital led the round. The company is taking a holistic approach, co-designing the chips, racks, software, and even manufacturing methods specifically for running frontier AI models. This isn't just about making a faster chip; it's about re-imagining the entire hardware stack for AI. The sky-high valuation underscores the intense strategic importance and investor appetite for startups building the next generation of AI-specific hardware, a key area of geopolitical tech competition.
• At number five, a new unicorn in fintech. Augustus raised a $180M Series B led by Tiger Global, pushing its valuation to an even $1B. The company's platform provides financial institutions around the world with direct access to dollar accounts, aiming to simplify a complex and often fragmented part of global finance. Achieving unicorn status in this environment is notable. It shows that investors are still willing to write large checks for companies solving fundamental problems in cross-border financial plumbing, a massive and lucrative market.
• Number six marks a significant move in defense tech. Cathedral has raised $160M in a venture round with backing from two of the biggest names in venture capital: Sequoia Capital and Andreessen Horowitz. The startup is focused on expanding U.S. military cyber capabilities. The dual backing from these top-tier firms is a powerful signal. It reflects a broader, accelerating trend of Silicon Valley's premier investors moving more assertively into the national security and defense sectors, particularly in high-stakes domains like cybersecurity.
• The rest of our list covers biotech, healthtech, and enterprise software. At number seven, Crystalys Therapeutics raised a $130M oversubscribed Series B. Frazier Life Sciences led the round for the biotech, which is developing new therapies for people living with gout. At number eight, Candid Health secured a $120M Series D led by Sixth Street Growth. The company's revenue cycle management platform aims to automate and simplify billing and payments for the entire healthcare industry, a notoriously complex and inefficient system.
• At number nine, we see a strategic investment in India's enterprise SaaS scene. BusinessNext raised a $40M Series C at a $700M valuation. The round was notably led by ServiceNow Ventures, the corporate venture arm of the software giant ServiceNow. BusinessNext provides an autonomous operating platform for banking and financial services. This strategic investment is designed to help the company expand its AI-powered offerings and scale its operations across the rapidly growing Asia-Pacific region, leveraging ServiceNow's extensive enterprise network.
• And rounding out our top ten is an early-stage bet on disrupting the insurance industry. Coverwatch, an AI-native commercial insurance platform, closed a $4.5M pre-seed round. The financing was led by CoFound and Restive. The company aims to automate risk evaluation and policy management, a process that is still highly manual at many firms. Its key differentiator is a flat-fee structure, aiming to upend the traditional brokerage model. This pre-seed funding will go towards platform development and initial customer acquisition.
• Looking ahead, the one thing to watch is the rise of Physical AI. Following the massive $1.7B investment in Atoms, expect a surge of investor focus and new company formations in this space. Applying AI to industrial, real-world problems could become the next major frontier for venture capital. We'll be watching for established industrial giants to begin partnering with or acquiring startups in this emerging field. That's the top ten for today. We'll be back tomorrow afternoon at three PM Pacific with the next deal flow.