Top 10 Startup and Tech Funding News – July 1, 2025

Genesis AI Raises $105M Seed to Build Robotics AI Model

Genesis AI, a robotics software startup spun out of academic research, has emerged from stealth with a $105 million seed round co-led by Eclipse Ventures and Khosla Ventures. The company is developing a foundational AI model for robotics by generating synthetic training data with its own physics simulation engine. Genesis AI has dual headquarters in Paris and Palo Alto.

Other backers include Bpifrance, former Google CEO Eric Schmidt, French tech mogul Xavier Niel, and HongShan—the venture firm previously known as Sequoia China. The company announced the funding on Tuesday. This new funding will support expanding Genesis AI’s research team (now over 20 specialists) and accelerating development of its general-purpose robot learning platform.

Genesis is building a foundational AI model for robots, betting that advances in generative AI will unlock autonomous machines capable of complex real-world tasks—from navigating military zones to folding laundry. While China is racing ahead in humanoid robot production, Europe’s slower pace in robotics and AI has raised alarms among analysts and policymakers. This funding marks an aggressive attempt to close that gap.

Founded in December by Zhou Xian, a Carnegie Mellon PhD in robotics, and Théophile Gervet, a former research scientist at French AI lab Mistral, Genesis AI is aiming to build a general-purpose AI model that equips robots to handle a wide range of repetitive tasks—from lab automation to household chores.

Funding Details:

• Startup: Genesis AI

• Investors: Eclipse Ventures (lead), Khosla Ventures (co-lead)

• Amount Raised: $105 million

• Total Raised: $105 million (seed round)

• Funding Stage: Seed

• Funding Date: July 1, 2025

Remark Raises $16M Series A for AI-Powered E-Commerce Experts

Remark, a Boston-based AI startup, announced a $16 million Series A round led by Inspired Capital. The company’s platform pairs thousands of human product experts with online shoppers, using their chat interactions to train AI personas that assist with purchase decisions.

Remark reports that this approach has driven about a 10% lift in net revenue for participating merchants, catching investors’ attention. With total funding now at $27 million, Remark plans to use the new capital to expand its team (25 employees) and improve its machine learning models for online retail personalization.

Funding Details:

• Startup: Remark

• Investors: Inspired Capital (lead), Stripe, Neo, Spero Ventures, Shine Capital, Visible Ventures

• Amount Raised: $16 million

• Total Raised: $27 million (after round)

• Funding Stage: Series A

• Funding Date: July 1, 2025

Waypoint AI Raises $3.1M Pre-Seed to Automate Support Escalations

Waypoint AI, a Prague-based startup, secured a $3.1 million pre-seed round led by 42CAP and Dreamcraft Ventures. The venture will scale Waypoint’s AI-powered “customer support engineer” platform, which automatically triages software escalation tickets, defects, and incident investigations.

By integrating with existing support and engineering systems, Waypoint uses LLMs and its proprietary “Escalation Graph” to cut resolution times dramatically – some enterprise clients like ClickHouse and Kpler have halved their mean time to resolution in weeks. The fresh funding will help grow Waypoint’s engineering team in Prague and enhance the platform to meet rising demand.

Funding Details:

• Startup: Waypoint AI

• Investors: 42CAP (lead), Dreamcraft Ventures (lead), with participation from Berkeley SkyDeck Fund, Lumiere AI Ventures

• Amount Raised: $3.1 million

• Total Raised: $3.1 million (pre-seed)

• Funding Stage: Pre-Seed

• Funding Date: July 1, 2025

Deeto Raises $12.5M Series A for AI-Driven Customer Insights

Deeto, a New York City startup that uses AI to “capture and activate” authentic customer feedback, announced a $12.5 million Series A financing led by Jump Capital. The round brought in participation from UpWest, TAL Ventures, Mertor, and TAU Ventures, taking Deeto’s total funding to about $17 million.

In a blog post, Deeto said, “Today is a milestone moment for Deeto. We’re thrilled to announce our $12.5 million Series A, led by Jump Capital with participation from UpWest, TAL Ventures, Mertor, TAU Ventures and a group of forward-thinking partners who share our belief: that the most powerful growth engine isn’t your product, pitch, or pipeline — it’s your customer.”

Founded by Eran Baron (CEO), Yossi Gelman (CTO), and Golan Raz (COO), Deeto’s platform continuously collects qualitative customer voice data (from channels like surveys, chats, calls) and delivers AI-powered analytics to help sales and marketing teams make better decisions. The new capital will enable Deeto to scale its AI features and expand its presence across North American and European markets.

Funding Details:

• Startup: Deeto

• Investors: Jump Capital (lead), UpWest, TAL Ventures, Mertor, TAU Ventures

• Amount Raised: $12.5 million

• Total Raised: $17 million

• Funding Stage: Series A

• Funding Date: July 1, 2025

Syntis Bio Scores $33M Series A to Accelerate Oral Metabolic Therapies for Obesity and Rare Diseases

Syntis Bio, a Boston-area biotech, announced the close of a $33 million oversubscribed Series A round led by Cerberus Ventures. New investors in the round included Mansueto Investments, Woori Venture Partners, and Apollo Labs, alongside returning backers like BOLD Capital Partners, Safar Partners, and others. Syntis is a clinical-stage company developing oral therapies that leverage the small intestine to treat obesity, diabetes, and rare diseases.

The funding will advance its synthetic tissue-lining (SYNT) platform and pipeline, including lead program SYNT-101 for obesity, through clinical trials. (Syntis also secured up to $5M in NIH SBIR grants to bolster this research.) This infusion of capital accelerates Syntis Bio’s goal of delivering non-injectable metabolic treatments to patients worldwide.

Funding Details:

• Startup: Syntis Bio

• Investors: Cerberus Ventures (lead), Mansueto Investments, Woori Venture Partners, Apollo Labs; existing backers included BOLD Capital, W.R. Berkley, Safar Partners, Portal Innovations, Colorcon Ventures, Cerity Partners Ventures

• Amount Raised: $33 million

• Total Raised: $33 million (Series A)

• Funding Stage: Series A

• Funding Date: July 1, 2025

Wisq Raises $15M to Expand AI HR Platform

Wisq, an AI-powered HR software startup based in Redwood City, CA, announced a $15 million funding round from its existing investors Norwest Venture Partners, Shasta Ventures, and True Ventures. Wisq offers an “AI HR Generalist” platform and language model to automate HR service delivery, claiming it can reduce HR operations workloads by over 80%.

The new funding will help Wisq accelerate development of its agentic HR platform – deploying AI assistants that can answer employee questions, automate routine tasks, and improve employee experience – as it scales to serve larger enterprises.

Funding Details:

• Startup: Wisq

• Investors: Norwest Venture Partners, Shasta Ventures, True Ventures

• Amount Raised: $15 million

• Total Raised: Not disclosed (this round)

• Funding Stage: Growth funding round

• Funding Date: July 1, 2025

Beep Scoops $52.7M to Expand Autonomous Shuttle Network

Beep, a Jacksonville, FL-based autonomous mobility company, closed a $52.7 million round co-led by Intel Capital and Blue Lagoon Capital. The financing comes as Beep launches NAVI – billed as the nation’s first fully driverless public transit service – under a five-year operation contract with Jacksonville’s transit authority.

Beep’s AutonomOS platform dispatches electric self-driving shuttles for shared mobility routes, aiming to reduce congestion and emissions. This investment will fund Beep’s rollout of similar autonomous shuttle networks in other cities and enhance the AI software that manages its mobility-as-a-service offerings.

Funding Details:

• Startup: Beep

• Investors: Intel Capital (co-lead), Blue Lagoon Capital (co-lead)

• Amount Raised: $52.7 million

• Total Raised: Not disclosed (this round)

• Funding Stage: Growth funding round

• Funding Date: July 1, 2025

Limitless Raises $4M Ahead of Token Launch in Prediction Markets

Limitless, a crypto-based prediction market platform built on Coinbase’s Base network, raised $4 million in a strategic funding round led by Maelstrom, the family office of trader Arthur Hayes. The New York-based startup enables traders to bet on ultra-short-term price movements (as short as hourly) for assets like Bitcoin, and has amassed over $250 million in trading volume since launch.

With this new capital and advisory support from Hayes, Limitless has now raised $7 million total. The funds will support Limitless’s upcoming token generation event and its newly launched rewards points program, as well as enhancements like a mobile-first trading interface to grow its user base.

Funding Details:

• Startup: Limitless

• Investors: Maelstrom (Arthur Hayes’s family office, lead), Coinbase Ventures, 1confirmation, Collider, Node Capital, Paper Ventures, Public Works, Punk DAO, WAGMI Ventures

• Amount Raised: $4 million

• Total Raised: $7 million

• Funding Stage: Strategic funding round

• Funding Date: July 1, 2025

Gecko Robotics Raises $125M Series D for Inspection Robots

Gecko Robotics, a Pittsburgh startup that makes AI-powered wall-climbing robots for industrial inspection, joined the unicorn club by securing $125 million in a Series D round led by Cox Enterprises. The deal values the company at $1.25 billion post-money and brings its total funding to $347 million.

Gecko’s robots and software crawl around tanks, refineries, and ships to collect data much faster and safer than manual inspections. The new funding will help Gecko speed expansion into defense, energy, and manufacturing sectors, deploying more inspection robots globally to optimize maintenance and enhance infrastructure safety.

Funding Details:

• Startup: Gecko Robotics

• Investors: Cox Enterprises (lead), USIT, XN, Founders Fund, Y Combinator

• Amount Raised: $125 million

• Total Raised: $347 million

• Funding Stage: Series D

• Funding Date: June 12, 2025

Carbon Upcycling Closes $18M to Scale CO₂-to-Materials Tech

Carbon Upcycling Technologies, a Calgary-based cleantech startup, closed an $18 million investment round led by Builders Vision. Existing strategic backers also participated, including Canada’s BDC, Climate Investment, Amplify Capital, CRH Ventures, Oxy Low Carbon Ventures, and cement maker TITAN Group.

Carbon Upcycling has developed a carbon capture and utilization process that turns industrial CO₂ and waste into cement additives and construction materials. The latest funds will drive its first commercial projects – notably a demonstration at Ash Grove Cement’s plant – and accelerate deployment of its low-carbon material solutions in the construction industry.

Funding Details:

• Startup: Carbon Upcycling Technologies

• Investors: Builders Vision (lead), Business Development Bank of Canada, Climate Investment, Amplify Capital, CRH Ventures, Oxy Low Carbon Ventures, TITAN Group (strategic)

• Amount Raised: $18 million

• Total Raised: Not disclosed

• Funding Stage: Growth investment round

• Funding Date: June 18, 2025

Fiber Global Secures $20M Series A for Circular Building Materials

Fiber Global, a San Francisco startup that makes building panels from recycled waste, announced a $20 million Series A round led by DBL Partners. DBL Founder Ira Ehrenpreis is joining Fiber Global’s board through the deal. The company’s proprietary process upcycles agricultural byproducts and industrial residues into formaldehyde-free wall panels and insulation.

With the new capital, Fiber Global will build a 150,000 sq. ft. manufacturing plant in Indiana (coming online in 2026) to scale production. This will allow it to supply major construction firms with high-performance materials that dramatically reduce embodied carbon in buildings.

Funding Details:

• Startup: Fiber Global

• Investors: DBL Partners (lead) [with Ira Ehrenpreis joining the board]

• Amount Raised: $20 million

• Total Raised: $20 million

• Funding Stage: Series A

• Funding Date: June 17, 2025

Funding Summary Table