Community Capital: Building Founder-Funder Ecosystems—Part Two
Now let’s talk about the “how.” While there’s no one-size-fits-all approach to building effective founder-funder ecosystems, I’ve found there are core principles that consistently generate high net promoter score (NPS) outcomes: intentionality, authenticity and alignment. Here’s how to design and scale communities that matter—and that drive results.
Foundation EGI Secures $23M in Oversubscribed Series A to Build the World’s First Engineering General Intelligence Platform
Foundation EGI, creator of the world’s first Engineering General Intelligence (EGI) platform, today announced $23M in oversubscribed Series A funding, raising over $30M total. The company is accelerating its vision of turning manufacturing’s biggest bottlenecks into breakthroughs using domain-specific AI. The latest round was led by Translink Capital with participation from RRE Ventures, McRock Capital, Escape Investment Management (Jim Scapa), Fifth Growth Fund, and returning backers including E14 Fund, UNION, GRIDS Capital, and Henry Ford III.
Raise Robotics Secures $7.75M Seed Round & Announces St. Jude Hospital Project Success
Raise Robotics, developer of the Raise Robotics construction platform, today announced a $7.75 million seed funding round led by MaC Venture Capital with participation from Undivided Ventures and existing investors Cybernetix Ventures, Zacua Ventures, and Union Labs. The funding coincides with the successful completion of curtain wall layout for over 10,000 glass panels at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.
Hajoca Acquires Onsemble to Boost Contractor-Focused AI
Hajoca, one of the largest privately-held wholesale distributors of plumbing, HVAC and industrial supplies in the U.S., has acquired Onsemble — a software provider developing intuitive, AI-enabled tools that help contractors grow.
Community Capital: How Networks Drive Deep Tech—Part One
Unlike traditional software-as-a-service (SaaS) or consumer startups, deep tech ventures live at the intersection of hard sciences, engineering and bespoke go-to-market cycles. They require trust-rich collaboration across industries, disciplines and stages of readiness. In these environments, “community” is not just a nice-to-have—it’s a strategic asset. In fact, it’s often an unlock behind accelerating disruptive innovation.
The Silicon Valley Christians Who Want to Build ‘Heaven on Earth’
A high-profile network of investors and founders in Silicon Valley are promoting a new moral vision for the tech industry, in which job choices and other decisions are guided not by the pursuit of wealth, but according to Christian values and Western cultural frameworks.
SPOILER ALERT: The Future of SaaS is DeepTech (Where Software Meets Hard Science)
In the early 1990s, venture capitalists passionately debated the merits of investing in shrink-wrap software, dial-up internet services, and networking hardware. Skepticism was abundant, yet visionary investors such as Kleiner Perkins, Sequoia Capital, and Benchmark recognized the transformative potential of these technologies, shaping today’s technology landscape and reaping substantial rewards.
Urban Sky raises $30 million for stratospheric balloons
Urban Sky, a company that has developed portable stratospheric balloons to perform imaging and other applications typically done by satellites, has raised $30 million to expand its work.
Extending your runway in uncertain times
The fundraising environment right now is exceptionally challenging, even in climate tech. The length of time between Seed and Series A is increasingly being drawn out, while the number of startups that are funded at Series A is falling and exits are at a 10 year low.
Butlr secures $38M in Series B Funding
Butlr, a physical AI (PAI) startup, today announced $38M in Series B funding to meet the increasing demand for its sensors and anonymous data that can be used in any building to better understand how humans interact in a space. This results in more collaborative, energy efficient and safer buildings where people work and live. Butlr’s primary customers are in senior living communities and workplaces, with a growing interest among brick-and-mortar retailers. To date, the company has raised $68 million with Foundry as the lead investor for Series B.