AI Funding Tracker

What we captured

Higgsfield announced a $400 million Series B led by DST Capital, with participation from new and existing investors, valuing the AI startup at $5.4 billion.

• • Higgsfield raised $400 million in a Series B financing announced on August 18, 2026.
• • DST Capital led the round.
• • The financing valued Higgsfield at $5.4 billion.
• • Growth Equity at Goldman Sachs Alternatives, Tribe Capital, Intel Capital, Accel, Menlo Ventures, and GFT Ventures participated.

Source evidence

Confidence 99% / Completeness 100%

What we captured

Velaura AI announced a $110 million Series A led by Seligman Ventures, with participation from Capricorn Investment Group, Samsung Catalyst Fund, StepStone Group, and Maverick Silicon.

• • The financing was announced on August 18, 2026.
• • The round amount was $110 million.
• • The company was valued at more than $1 billion.
• • Seligman Ventures led the round.

Source evidence

Confidence 99% / Completeness 98%

What we captured

Groq announced a $350 million Series A led by Disruptive, valuing the AI infrastructure company at $3.5 billion. The financing remains subject to customary closing conditions.

• • Groq announced a $350 million Series A.
• • The round was led by Disruptive and values Groq at $3.5 billion.
• • Completion remains subject to customary closing conditions.

Source evidence

Confidence 99% / Completeness 100%

What we captured

Voice-first AI startup Wispr raised a $280 million Series B led by Menlo Ventures, with participation from Together Fund, at a $2 billion valuation.

• • Wispr announced a $280 million Series B funding round.
• • Menlo Ventures led the round and Together Fund participated.
• • The financing valued Wispr at $2 billion.

Source evidence

Confidence 99% / Completeness 100%

What we captured

OpenAI said it committed $1,000,000 total to a new set of grants (14 awardees chosen from 400+ applicants) to fund research on AI biorisk mitigation; awardees are also eligible for up to $1,000,000 in API credits.

• • OpenAI selected 14 organizations from 400+ applications for new grants.
• • OpenAI committed $1,000,000 total to the new grants.
• • Each awardee may receive up to $1,000,000 in OpenAI API credits.
• • NTI will use tokens to tag information to expand depth and scale of analysis for an international AI biorisk information-sharing system.

Source evidence

Confidence 90% / Completeness 88%

What we captured

NVIDIA said it will invest 1.5 billion in SB Energy to back the company's Ohio data-center project.

• • Article states NVIDIA will invest $1.5 billion in SB Energy to back its Ohio data-center buildout.
• • Article cites NVIDIA's plan with Wall Street firms to mobilize more than $500 billion for AI infrastructure.
• • Gavin Baker described NVIDIA's move to make GPUs financeable and called it potentially the 'Federal Reserve of AI.'

Source evidence

Confidence 92% / Completeness 88%

What we captured

Palona said a Series A brought its total funding to $20,000,000 (including converted SAFEs). The company did not disclose the Series A amount, a lead investor or a valuation.

• • Announcement states a Series A brought Palona's total funding to $20,000,000, including converted SAFEs.
• • The company did not identify the Series A size, a lead investor or a valuation in the announcement.
• • Disclosed investor group includes Ardenwood Ventures, CrimsonOx, UpHonest Capital, Turbo, Llama Ventures, Neo, Fusion Fund, Defy and Maynard Webb.
• • Palona launched an expanded restaurant operating layer on Aug 17, 2026, adding catering qualification, revenue intelligence and camera-triggered workflows.
• • Article cites a multi-brand production study: 481 orders over 194 location-days and 305 large-order and catering inquiries across seven restaurants.
• • U.S. Patent No. 12,481,517 (issued Nov 2025) is referenced; it covers routing among specialized AI agents using intent, latency, cost and historical performance.

Source evidence

Confidence 85% / Completeness 95%

What we captured

Xpander announced a $7.5M seed round led by Pico Venture Partners, with participation from Emerge Ventures, Samsung Next, and SeedIL.

• • Announcement date: August 17, 2026 (publication alongside Omni release).
• • Round amount: $7,500,000 (seed financing).
• • Lead investor: Pico Venture Partners; participants: Emerge Ventures, Samsung Next, SeedIL.
• • Founders and leadership: David Twizer, Ran Sheinberg, Moriel Pahima (CEO, CPO, CTO respectively).
• • Omni released concurrently and is available via chat.xpander.ai.

Source evidence

Confidence 98% / Completeness 98%

What we captured

Higgsfield announced a $400 million Series B led by DST Capital, valuing the company at $5.4 billion.

• • Higgsfield raised $400,000,000 in a Series B led by DST Capital (Reuters, Aug 17, 2026).
• • Higgsfield's valuation reached $5.4 billion after the round (Reuters, Aug 17, 2026).
• • Named participants included Growth Equity at Goldman Sachs Alternatives, Tribe Capital, Intel Capital, and existing investors Accel, Menlo Ventures, GFT Ventures (Reuters, Aug 17, 2026).
• • Company reported $700 million annualized revenue and over 30 million global users (Reuters, Aug 17, 2026).

Source evidence

Confidence 96% / Completeness 100%

What we captured

Aachen-based amber raised €7,000,000 in a Series A round led by NRW.Venture; existing investor Ventech expanded its participation.

• • Article reports amber closed a Series A of €7,000,000.
• • NRW.Venture (the VC fund of NRW.BANK) is named as lead investor.
• • Ventech, the prior seed lead, significantly expanded its investment in the round.
• • Article states amber will use funds to develop autonomous software, expand in Benelux, deepen enterprise integrations and grow the team.

Source evidence

Confidence 95% / Completeness 98%