VC Funding Top Ten — July 27, 2026: SSI's $5B Seed, AI Dominates, Khosla's New Fund

Overview

Monday afternoon, July twenty-seventh, three PM Pacific. Today's biggest check is a staggering five billion dollars for a company with no product. Safe Superintelligence just locked in a five-billion-dollar seed round co-led by Nvidia, setting a new benchmark in the AI arms race. We'll break down that massive deal and

In this show

• Monday afternoon, July twenty-seventh, three PM Pacific. Today's biggest check is a staggering five billion dollars for a company with no product. Safe Superintelligence just locked in a five-billion-dollar seed round co-led by Nvidia, setting a new benchmark in the AI arms race. We'll break down that massive deal and the day's top ten financings. With me are our Markets and World-desk Analysts. Let's get to the numbers.
• Here is today's snapshot. We've tracked just over six billion dollars in disclosed capital across today's ten rounds. The largest round, as mentioned, is Safe Superintelligence's five-billion-dollar seed. The hottest category is AI, representing four of the top ten deals. And in M&A news, Argenx is set to acquire Forte Biosciences for approximately two-point-two billion dollars. But the story of the day remains Nvidia's massive bet on OpenAI's former chief scientist.
• Let's dive into that number one deal. Safe Superintelligence, or SSI, has raised a five-billion-dollar seed round co-led by Nvidia. This is a pure research lab, co-founded by OpenAI's former chief scientist, Ilya Sutskever, with the singular goal of developing safe AGI. A seed round of this magnitude is unprecedented. It's not just capital; it's a strategic alignment with the world's most important AI chipmaker, giving SSI immense resources and compute access from day one. This instantly creates a formidable new competitor for OpenAI and Google.
• In at number two, a major European AI deal. Multiverse Computing raised five hundred seventy million dollars in a Series C, hitting a one-point-seven-billion-dollar valuation. The company develops software using quantum and quantum-inspired algorithms to make large language models more efficient. As the cost to run and train AI models skyrockets, investors are pouring capital into solutions that can compress models and reduce inference costs. This is a critical infrastructure play in the AI ecosystem.
• At number three, defense tech continues to attract significant capital. Kraken Technology Group raised one hundred seventy-five million dollars in a Series B, reaching a one-billion-dollar valuation and achieving unicorn status. The UK-based company builds autonomous maritime platforms—think drone ships—for defense applications. This funding, led by DTCP, is earmarked to accelerate the rollout of these systems to NATO and its partners, reflecting a broader trend of venture investment in national security and hardware.
• Biotech takes our fourth spot. Crystalys Therapeutics closed an oversubscribed one-hundred-thirty-million-dollar Series B. The company is in the late clinical stages of developing a next-generation oral inhibitor, called dotinurad, for the treatment of gout. Gout is a common and extremely painful form of inflammatory arthritis, and a best-in-class oral treatment represents a massive market opportunity. This capital will fund their final global trials and pre-commercialization activities.
• Following at number five, we have a notable public market debut. Scribe Therapeutics, a molecular engineering company using CRISPR for gene therapies, raised one hundred twenty-eight-point-seven million dollars in an upsized IPO. The deal, which could top one hundred forty-seven million with underwriter options, is a positive signal for a strengthening biotech IPO market. The funds are designated for advancing their lead in vivo gene-editing therapy into the clinic, targeting the underlying causes of disease.
• At number six, a massive seed round in robotics. Enigma raised seventy million dollars, co-led by Index Ventures and Ribbit Capital. For a seed-stage company, this is an exceptionally large check, and it highlights a key thesis in the sector: user interface is everything. Enigma is building simplified, intuitive interfaces for controlling complex robots. The bet is that unlocking ease-of-use is the final barrier to mass adoption of robotics across industries, moving beyond just factory floors.
• Number seven is Genius AI, formerly known as GlossGenius, which raised forty-four million dollars in a Series D led by Lux Capital. This brings their total raised to over one hundred twenty-five million. The company provides an all-in-one platform for service-based small businesses—think salons, spas, and studios—automating everything from scheduling and payments to marketing. The funding will fuel its push to capture more of this massive but fragmented market with its AI-powered workflow tools.
• The eighth deal takes us to Singapore. Axis Robotics secured twelve million dollars in a seed round to build out its browser-based simulation platform. The goal is to accelerate the development of physical AI by making it easier to generate high-quality training data for robots. Instead of relying solely on expensive and slow real-world trial-and-error, developers can use Axis to simulate tasks and train their models in the cloud. It's a 'picks and shovels' play for the burgeoning physical AI space.
• At number nine, a healthtech startup aiming to bridge the healthcare gap. Dopl Technologies, based in Washington, raised six-point-three million dollars in seed funding. They are developing a remotely operated robotic ultrasound system. This technology allows a specialist in a major city to perform an ultrasound on a patient in a rural or underserved clinic hundreds of miles away. The funding will help them pursue FDA clearance and begin commercialization, tackling a key challenge in healthcare disparity.
• And that brings us to what we're watching. While not a direct investment, Khosla Ventures is raising a massive five-point-five-billion-dollar war chest across three new funds. This is the firm's largest fundraise ever and a major signal of capital concentrating among top-tier VCs with proven AI track records. This dry powder will be deployed from seed to growth stages, likely driving up valuations for the most sought-after AI startups in the coming months. A big week for AI funding, capped by a big new fund. Back tomorrow afternoon at three PM Pacific with the next deal flow.