2025-Q3 Portfolio News

Arago has raised a $26M Seed round to commercialize its proprietary photonic processor, codenamed ‘JEF’, designed for running large-scale artificial intelligence models. The Paris-based startup has developed a light-powered chip that cuts energy consumption by up to 10× compared to leading GPUs while matching them on performance and cost. The round was co-led by Earlybird, Protagonist, and Visionaries Tomorrow.

ZeroEntropy has raised a $4.2M Seed round to build infrastructure that helps developers scale and evaluate retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) systems. The San Francisco-based startup offers a unified API that handles document ingestion, indexing, re-ranking, and feedback-driven evaluation. This allows teams to optimize RAG pipelines without stitching together multiple tools. The round was led by Initialized Capital, with participation from 22 Ventures, a16z Scout, and angels from OpenAI, Hugging Face, and Front.

SixSense has raised an $8.5M Series A round to expand its AI-powered defect detection platform for semiconductor manufacturers. The Singapore-based startup processes fab data such as defect images and machine signals in real time to give engineers early warnings, root cause analysis, and failure predictions without requiring any code. This enables process engineers to fine-tune models using their own data in as little as two days. The round was led by Peak XV’s Surge, with participation from Alpha Intelligence Capital, FEBE Ventures, and other investors.

Cleo has now reached $250M in annual recurring revenue (ARR). Its AI-powered financial assistant’s user base has expanded to over 920,000, all while maintaining net profitability. The fintech had closed 2024 with $136M annual revenue, already representing a 106% growth from the previous year. With $500M ARR on the horizon, CEO Barney Hussey‑Yeo has floated the possibility of an IPO in London or New York.

Delfa raised a $3.8M Seed round to streamline clinical trial recruitment with voice AI. The company has developed an AI‑native operating system that automates patient prescreening, scheduling, and engagement across 50+ live trials. Founded in 2025, Delfa already works with top site networks such as Flourish, Elevate, and Re:Cognition. The round was led by Air Street Capital, and the funding will be used to build out its CRM and deeper clinical‑operations integrations.

Tracelight has raised a $3.6M Seed round to embed generative AI directly into Excel workflows for financial modeling. The company’s engine translates spreadsheet logic into LLM-friendly data, enabling analysts to automate formula writing, analysis, and model maintenance, with early users reporting up to 90% time savings. Founded in 2024, Tracelight is backed by Chalfen Ventures, with participation from Acequia Capital, Inovo, and angels including Charlie Songhurst and Suhit Gupta. The funding will expand its product, team, and go-to-market capabilities.

Hydroleap has raised $4.75M in its latest funding round to scale its chemical‑free electrochemical water treatment technology across Asia‑Pacific. The company’s modular systems enable industrial clients in data centers, pharmaceuticals, semiconductors, and agrifood to recycle wastewater, eliminate chemical use and cut energy consumption by up to 10 %—helping slash both environmental and operational costs. Founded in Singapore, Hydroleap is backed by EDBI under SG Growth Capital, Enterprise Singapore, Antares Ventures and Woh Hup. The funding will expand its deployment footprint and strengthen local teams in key growth markets.

Prefer has raised $4.2M in an oversubscribed Pre‑A round to roll out fermentation‑based soluble coffee and cocoa powders with substantially lower carbon emissions. Its proprietary process upcycles byproducts like rice and soy into affordable ingredients—offering up to 85% lower emissions and 50% cost savings versus traditional Arabica. Founded in 2022, Prefer is backed by At One Ventures and Chancery Hill Capital, with participation from Forge Ventures. The company has secured commercial partnerships with Ajinomoto Co., (Thailand) Ltd in Thailand and The Coffee Ferm in Australia, and will use the proceeds to expand production, deepen R&D, and grow its APAC distribution network.

Orbital Matter is preparing to demonstrate its in-orbit 3D printing technology by fabricating a 2-meter beam aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9. The pilot mission is cofunded by Thales Alenia Space and follows the company’s successful CubeSat launch on Ariane 6 in July 2024, which validated its beam-printer technology at TRL 6. Founded in 2022, Orbital Matter has recently raised €1M from Early Game Ventures to support its next phase of development.

Neptune Robotics has raised a $52M Series B led by Granite Asia, with strategic participation from NYK Line, one of the world’s largest shipping giants. The Singapore-based startup builds AI-powered underwater robots that clean ship hulls 3–5 times faster than divers, helping limit human fatalities, protect hull coatings, and cut CO2 emissions. Neptune currently operates across 61 ports in Asia, with plans to expand into 20 markets globally and invest in R&D.

Omnea has raised a $50M Series B led by Insight Partners and Khosla Ventures. The AI-native procurement platform has developed conversational intake to route approvals, manage vendor risk, and centralize spend. On average, customers save >$1M on supplier spend with a 60% faster procurement process when using the platform. Omnea works with customers such as Spotify, Wise, and McAfee, and will scale hiring in London and New York. Further participating investors in the round include Accel, First Round Capital, and Point Nine.

Mimica has raised a $26.2M Series B led by Paladin Capital Group with continued backing from Khosla Ventures and LGVP. The process intelligence startup captures how work actually happens and converts it into structured process maps to train agentic AI. In the last 18 months, ARR has grown >570% and the company now serves 30+ large enterprises, including multiple Fortune 500s. The funding will scale deployments across the U.S. and Europe.

Genomines has raised a $45M Series A led by Engine Ventures and Forbion BioEconomy. The Paris-based company has genetically-enhanced hyperaccumulator plants to absorb nickel from soil. Once harvested and processed, these plants yield battery-grade metals faster, cheaper, and with a fraction of the emissions of traditional mining. Genomines is running proof-of-concept projects with Hyundai Motor Company and Jaguar Land Rover whilst progressing collaborations with refiners, battery manufacturers and commodity traders. Additional backers include Lowercarbon Capital, Wind Capital and DTCF | DeepTech & Climate Fonds.

Founded in 2023 by three exited founders (Periscope, Magic Pony Technology, Terriblyclever), Macroscope has raised an additional $30M in a Series A bringing the total raised to $40M. The San Francisco startup has built an AI “understanding engine” that summarizes code changes, reviews PRs, and answers natural-language questions grounded in a team’s codebase. In internal tests, Macroscope caught 5% more bugs than the next best tool, with 75% fewer comments. The latest round was led by Lightspeed with participation from Adverb, Thrive Capital, and Google Ventures.

Atomionics has raised $12.7M in a pre-Series A round led by Paspalis. The Singapore-based deep tech startup uses quantum sensors to help find copper, lithium and other critical minerals, providing the mining and energy industries with an unprecedented ability to locate and assess resources sustainably. Early deployments are underway in Australia with plans to set up an office there, followed shortly by North America. The company will focus on resource exploration and pursue dual-use applications for both commercial and defense sectors.

Plumerai has raised $8.7M in a Series A led by Partech and OTB Ventures. The London–based startup is expanding from home security into enterprise and retail with AI that is faster, cheaper, and privacy-first. Plumerai has developed on-device “Tiny AI” that runs vision models directly on cameras, and has recently introduced Vision LLM features for real-time understanding. The round brings total funding to just over $17M.

Icarus Robotics has raised an oversubscribed $6.1M Seed led by Soma Capital and Xtal, with participation from Nebular and Massive Tech Ventures. The space robotics startup is developing dexterous mobile robots to augment astronaut crews by taking on routine, time-consuming, and hazardous tasks at a fraction of human labor costs. It has demonstrated long-distance teleoperation of a bimanual system and is preparing its first International Space Station deployment for full-scale testing.

Wexler.ai has raised $5.3M in a Seed round led by Pear VC, with participation from Seedcamp, The LegalTech Fund, and Myriad Venture Partners. The AI platform for complex litigation has recently launched ‘Real-Time’ to flag inaccuracies as they appear during live legal proceedings. The startup counts Clifford Chance, Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer, Goodwin Procter, Burges Salmon, and Addleshaw Goddard as customers. The company is now expanding product capabilities and adoption.

Messium has raised €3.8M in a Seed round co-led by UK Innovation & Science Seed Fund and Expansion Aerospace Ventures. Founded in 2023, the London-based startup delivers weekly, field-level nitrogen guidance using hyperspectral satellite data, crop growth models, and AI. The system helps farmers cut fertilizer costs and lift yields. Messium currently serves 75+ farms across the UK and Europe, with pilots in Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and the U.S.