Top Startup and Tech Funding News – July 28, 2025
Nickie Louise
Posted On July 28, 2025
It’s Monday, July 28, 2025. We’re back with a fresh wave of startup and tech funding news from around the world. Today’s funding spree reveals where capital is flowing — and it’s clear: AI agents, cybersecurity, automation, and climate-tech are leading the charge.
From energy AI startups racing toward IPOs to stealth-mode cyber firms tackling human risk, today’s deals highlight a shift toward purpose-built platforms that reduce complexity, automate decision-making, and unlock productivity across industries. Whether it’s building cloud sandboxes for autonomous agents, using AI to manage hotel pricing, or reimagining customer service with Arabic voice bots, founders are aiming squarely at the inefficiencies that still clog up modern systems.
Funding Highlights
1KOMMA5° raised a massive €150 million pre-IPO round to replace traditional utilities with real-time energy optimization. In the U.S., Farmers Business Network grabbed $50 million to expand its AI-driven farm platform, while BlinkOps and Dropzone AI scored sizable rounds to automate key layers of security operations.
Investor Activity
Major names like Insight Partners, GV, Bessemer, Redpoint, and Greylock fueled the momentum, while regional players in Saudi Arabia, India, and Europe also placed bold early bets on local-first innovation. Today’s lineup features everything from veteran-led defense startups to no-code mobile testing platforms built by former Coinbase PMs.
The deals span North America, Europe, the Middle East, and Asia — and include every stage from pre-seed to pre-IPO. Whether you’re building with AI or securing what others have built, today’s update offers a sharp look at where founders are focused and how investors are responding.
Here’s the full breakdown.
1KOMMA5° Raises €150M in Pre-IPO Funding Round for Home Energy AI Platform
1KOMMA5°, a German home electrification startup, has secured a hefty €150 million in pre-IPO funding to accelerate the deployment of its Heartbeat AI energy management system. The Hamburg-based company is on a mission to replace traditional utilities by automatically procuring the cheapest, cleanest electricity for households in Europe and Australia. We first covered 1KOMMA5° in 2023 when the German climate startup raised €430 million in funding to create a ‘virtual power plant’ for homes.
This strategic round – anchored by a major climate-focused investor – will boost 1KOMMA5°’s growth and expand its virtual power plant technology. Despite a recession and cooling solar markets in Europe, the four-year-old climate startup has achieved double-digit growth and over €500M in turnover last year. By leveraging AI to balance home energy generation and usage in real time, 1KOMMA5° aims to make sustainable power more affordable at scale as it gears up for a future IPO.
Founded in 2021 by Jannik Schall, Micha Grueber, Michael Hinderer, Philip Liesenfeld, and Philipp Schröder, 1KOMMA5° has grown into a global ClimateTech player with a team of 2,500 employees and more than 120,000 customers. The company provides CO₂-neutral solutions across energy, heating, and mobility, acting as a one-stop shop for smart, integrated systems including solar panels, battery storage, heat pumps, and EV charging. Operating from nearly 80 locations across 7 countries, 1KOMMA5° is reshaping how homes and businesses transition to sustainable energy.
Funding Details:
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Startup: 1KOMMA5°
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Investors: Sabanci Climate Ventures (lead), with backing from Hamilton Lane, CalSTRS, Porsche Ventures, G2VP, Eurazeo (notable existing investors)
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Amount Raised: €150 million
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Total Raised: ~€400 million
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Funding Stage: Pre-IPO Round
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Funding Date: July 28, 2025
Farmers Business Network Secures $50M in Funding to Expand AI-Powered Ag Marketplace
Farmers Business Network (FBN), a San Mateo, CA-based agtech company, raised $50 million in new funding to fuel expansion of its AI-driven farmer marketplace and financing platform. FBN operates a digital network where over 117,000 farms buy supplies, get financing, and receive agronomic insights – all aimed at cutting growers’ costs by 20% or more.
The fresh capital will accelerate FBN’s rollout of AI-powered tools (like its “Norm” AI advisor) and broaden its e-commerce offerings across North America. It comes as FBN opens its platform to third-party sellers and beefs up private-label crop inputs, even reaching new milestones like $3B in farm loans extended. Backed by top investors, FBN’s latest funding underscores confidence in its mission to empower family farms with data, automation, and direct-to-farm delivery for everything from seed to fertilizer.
Funding Details:
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Startup: Farmers Business Network (FBN)
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Investors: GV (Google Ventures), Temasek, Arteqin, Colle Capital, T. Rowe Price
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Amount Raised: $50 million
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Total Raised: Over $900 million
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Funding Stage: Late-Stage Growth Round
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Funding Date: July 28, 2025
BlinkOps Raises $50M in Series B Funding to Automate Security Operations
BlinkOps, a San Francisco-based cybersecurity automation startup, has raised $50 million in a Series B round to scale its “security micro-agents” platform. BlinkOps enables organizations to rapidly build custom lightweight agents that automate routine security workflows – from managing user access and patching systems to investigating alerts – all without coding.
Founded by Gil Barak and Zion Zatlavi, the company’s Micro-Agents Builder lets security teams generate unlimited agents that can even coordinate with each other to handle complex tasks. This new funding, led by Eyal Ofer’s O.G. Venture Partners, brings BlinkOps’ total funding to $90M and will support expanding its R&D and go-to-market efforts. BlinkOps is freeing up security teams by eliminating manual drudgery, so they can focus on critical threats and strategic defense, a value proposition attracting both investors and Fortune 500 customers alike.
Funding Details:
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Startup: BlinkOps
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Investors: O.G. Venture Partners (lead), Lightspeed Venture Partners, Hetz Ventures, Vertex Growth
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Amount Raised: $50 million
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Total Raised: $90 million
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Funding Stage: Series B
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Funding Date: July 28, 2025
Dropzone AI Lands $37M in Series B Funding for Autonomous Cybersecurity Agents
Dropzone AI, a Seattle-based cybersecurity startup, has secured $37 million in a Series B round to supercharge its autonomous SOC analyst platform. Founded by CEO Edward Wu in 2020, Dropzone develops AI agents that act as Tier-1 security analysts: triaging alerts, investigating incidents, and escalating threats that need human review. Its system leverages large language models to mimic the decision-making of expert analysts, allowing companies to handle routine security alerts in minutes instead of hours.
The new funding, led by Theory Ventures with participation from Madrona and others, will fuel Dropzone’s global expansion and the creation of more specialized AI “cyber agents” to automate tedious security tasks. With over 100 organizations already using its AI SOC analysts – including enterprises like UiPath and Zapier – Dropzone aims to help security teams stay ahead of rising cyber threats without having to massively grow headcount.
Funding Details:
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Startup: Dropzone AI
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Investors: Theory Ventures (lead), Madrona Venture Group, Decibel Ventures, Pioneer Square Labs, In-Q-Tel
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Amount Raised: $37 million
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Total Raised: ~$53 million
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Funding Stage: Series B
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Funding Date: July 28, 2025
Fable Security Launches with $31M in Funding to Curb Human Cyber Risks
Fable Security, a San Francisco-based startup, emerged from stealth with $31 million in funding to tackle the “human factor” in cybersecurity. Co-founded by CEO Nicole Jiang and CPO Dr. Sanny Liao, Fable has developed a modern human risk management platform that uses AI and behavioral science to identify risky employee behaviors and intervene in real time.
The system synthesizes signals from corporate tools (identity, email, cloud apps, etc.) to generate a Human Behavior Index, then auto-delivers tailored micro-trainings, nudges, or chat-based guidance via channels like Slack when an employee makes a risky mistake. This approach helps enterprises actively reduce security slip-ups and sharpen security culture at scale.
Backed by Greylock Partners and Redpoint Ventures, Fable will use the funding to expand its platform and team. In under a year with its first customers, Fable is already protecting organizations like Pennymac and the DNC by measurably cutting down phishing clicks and other human-centered threats.
Funding Details:
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Startup: Fable Security
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Investors: Greylock Partners, Redpoint Ventures
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Amount Raised: $31 million
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Total Raised: $31 million
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Funding Stage: Series A (combined Seed & Series A)
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Funding Date: July 28, 2025
E2B Grabs $21M in Series A Funding to Sandbox Cloud Environments for AI Agents
E2B (FoundryLabs Inc.), an agentic cloud infrastructure startup based in San Francisco, raised $21 million in Series A funding to build secure cloud “sandboxes” for AI agents. The round was led by Insight Partners with participation from Decibel, Sunflower Capital, Kaya VC, and angel investor Scott Johnston (former Docker CEO). E2B provides an open-source platform that gives autonomous AI agents their own cloud-based computers and browsers in which to operate – essentially safe, isolated environments to run code, browse data, and perform tasks just like a human would, but without risking production systems.
CEO Vasek Mlejnsky conceived E2B after realizing current cloud infrastructure wasn’t designed for non-human agents. Enterprises are already embracing the solution (customers include Perplexity AI, Hugging Face, and Groq) to deploy armies of AI agents for complex workflows securely. With this new infusion, E2B plans to accelerate development of its sandbox standard – adding features like secret vaults and better orchestration – and make its AI agent cloud stack a universal standard as demand for “autonomous software workers” grows.
Funding Details:
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Startup: E2B
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Investors: Insight Partners (lead), Decibel, Sunflower Capital, Kaya VC, Scott Johnston (angel)
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Amount Raised: $21 million
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Total Raised: ~$35 million
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Funding Stage: Series A
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Funding Date: July 28, 2025
Apera AI Secures Series A Funding to Advance 4D Vision for Industrial Robots
Apera AI, a Vancouver-based company specializing in vision technology for industrial automation, closed an oversubscribed Series A funding round (amount undisclosed) to fuel its rapid growth. The round was led by BDC Capital and joined by Lobby Capital, Flying Fish Ventures, and J-Ventures.
Apera’s patented “4D Vision” platform blends 3D machine vision with AI (the “fourth dimension”) to give robots human-like visual perception and adaptability. This allows factory robots to handle complex tasks like bin picking and assembly at high speed and precision, even as conditions change (e.g., shifting parts, varying lighting, or worn equipment).
With this new funding, Apera is investing in talent and product development to meet rising demand from manufacturers seeking smarter robotics. The startup, led by CEO Sina Afrooze, also announced four new executive hires to drive its next stage of expansion. Apera’s technology helps robots see and think in real time, enabling them to adapt on the fly – a key innovation as industries push for greater automation and flexibility on the factory floor.
Funding Details:
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Startup: Apera AI
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Investors: BDC Capital (lead), Lobby Capital, Flying Fish Ventures, J-Ventures
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Amount Raised: Not disclosed
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Total Raised: Not disclosed
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Funding Stage: Series A
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Funding Date: July 28, 2025
TakeUp Raises $11M in Series A Funding to Bring AI to Independent Hotel Revenues
TakeUp, an AI-powered revenue optimization startup for independent hospitality, has raised $11 million in Series A financing led by 1848 Ventures. Based in San Francisco, TakeUp is developing the first full-funnel AI revenue engine for boutique hotels, inns, and short-term rental properties. Its platform uses causal AI models to continuously adjust room pricing based on real-time market and guest behavior data – automating what 92% of independent hotel operators still do manually.
By democratizing sophisticated pricing and demand tools (once available only to big hotel chains with data science teams), TakeUp helps smaller hospitality brands capture more revenue and improve occupancy. Over the past year, the company’s customer base grew 300%, with clients seeing up to 20% lifts in revenue while saving hours of work per week. With the new funding, led by the venture arm of insurance firm Westfield (1848 Ventures), TakeUp plans to expand beyond pricing into AI-driven demand generation and guest conversion products, offering independent stays an end-to-end system to compete with industry giants.
Funding Details:
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Startup: TakeUp
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Investors: 1848 Ventures (lead)
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Amount Raised: $11 million
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Total Raised: $11 million
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Funding Stage: Series A
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Funding Date: July 28, 2025
Julius AI Snags $10M in Seed Funding to Democratize Data Analysis with AI
Julius AI, a San Francisco-based startup building an AI “data scientist” for knowledge workers, has raised a $10 million seed round to accelerate its product development. The funding was led by Bessemer Venture Partners with participation from Y Combinator, Horizon VC, AI Grant, and 8VC. A slew of notable angel investors also joined in, including the founders of Notion, Vercel, Replit, Perplexity, Intercom, Dropbox, Zapier, and Twilio.
Julius is on a mission to make data analysis as easy as asking a question. Users can connect their data sources and pose queries in plain English; Julius’s backend then writes and executes millions of lines of code to return charts, answers, and insights automatically. By removing the need for SQL or Python skills, the platform helps business teams and non-technical staff unlock insights from data on their own. The fresh seed capital will go toward expanding the engineering team and refining the AI models, as Julius prepares to onboard more enterprise customers. With backing from top VC and tech leaders, Julius aims to empower everyone – not just data scientists – to analyze and understand data through a simple AI interface.
Funding Details:
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Startup: Julius AI
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Investors: Bessemer Venture Partners (lead), Y Combinator, Horizon VC, AI Grant, 8VC; angels including founders of Notion, Vercel, Replit, Perplexity, Intercom, Dropbox, Zapier, Twilio
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Amount Raised: $10 million
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Total Raised: $10 million
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Funding Stage: Seed
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Funding Date: July 28, 2025
Tonic Security Attracts $7M in Seed Funding to Contextualize Cyber Threat Data
Tonic Security, a Tel Aviv-based cyber startup, has raised $7 million in seed funding to help companies prioritize and remediate threats more effectively using context and AI. The round was led by Hetz Ventures, with participation from Vesey Ventures and prominent angel investors.
Tonic’s platform aggregates data from threat intelligence feeds and an organization’s internal sources (like tickets, logs, and emails), then employs an “agentic AI” engine to correlate and contextualize security findings. By understanding each issue’s potential business impact, likelihood of exploitation, and remediation options, Tonic can tell security teams which vulnerabilities truly matter and which alerts are noise.
Early enterprise users have seen a 50% drop in time to remediate critical exposures and significantly less alert fatigue. Co-founded by Sharon Isaaci (CEO), David Warshavski (CPO), and Greg Ainbinder (CTO), Tonic will use the seed funding to expand its development team and global reach. As businesses grapple with overflowing security data, Tonic’s context-driven approach promises to cut through the clutter so teams can fix the most important problems first.
Funding Details:
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Startup: Tonic Security
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Investors: Hetz Ventures (lead), Vesey Ventures, angel investors
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Amount Raised: $7 million
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Total Raised: $7 million
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Funding Stage: Seed
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Funding Date: July 28, 2025
Overwatch Imaging Scores $6M in Funding to Advance AI for Aerial Surveillance
Overwatch Imaging, an Oregon-based developer of AI-enabled airborne imaging systems, secured $6 million in venture funding to accelerate deployment of its technology for defense and emergency response. The Hood River company provides advanced camera systems and Automated Sensor Operator (ASO) software that together allow drones and aircraft to autonomously detect, map, and track targets like wildfires or security threats in real time.
The investment round was led by Squadra Ventures, joined by SEMCAP AI, Elevate Oregon Venture Fund, and Edo Capital – highlighting confidence in Overwatch’s dual-use tech. Founded by CEO Greg Davis in 2016, Overwatch has already achieved cash-flow positive operations and deployed its systems globally for missions ranging from military ISR (intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance) to search-and-rescue.
By offloading “sensor operator” duties to AI, its platform dramatically reduces analysts’ workload while improving detection capabilities beyond human levels. The new funding will help Overwatch grow its team, enhance partnerships with sensor manufacturers, and speed delivery of its ASO software to both government and commercial customers, aiming to bolster situational awareness from the skies.
Funding Details:
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Startup: Overwatch Imaging
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Investors: Squadra Ventures (lead), SEMCAP AI, Elevate Oregon Venture Fund, Edo Capital
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Amount Raised: $6 million
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Total Raised: Not disclosed
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Funding Stage: Seed/Growth Round
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Funding Date: July 28, 2025
Drizz Launches with $2.7M in Seed Funding to AI-Test Mobile Apps via Vision
Drizz, a Bengaluru-based startup using AI to reinvent software testing, has launched with $2.7 million in seed funding. The round was co-led by Stellaris Venture Partners and Shastra VC, with participation from angel investors Anuj Rathi (former Cleartrip exec) and Vaibhav Domkundwar. Drizz’s platform employs vision-enabled generative AI agents to test mobile applications the way a human would – by looking at the app’s interface and performing actions – rather than relying on brittle code scripts.
Developers can simply describe test scenarios in plain English, and Drizz’s AI “Copilot” generates and executes the tests, automatically adapting to different screen sizes, device types, and even UI changes. Co-founded by CEO Asad Abrar (who previously managed products at Coinbase) and CTO Yash Varyani, Drizz aims to eliminate the QA bottleneck in fast-paced app development. With the seed funds, the company plans to enhance its Vision AI engine’s speed and accuracy and bring its no-code testing solution to enterprise mobile teams globally. As every software team races to adopt AI, Drizz is ensuring the testing process keeps up with modern development cycles.
Funding Details:
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Startup: Drizz
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Investors: Stellaris Venture Partners (lead), Shastra VC; angel backers Anuj Rathi and Vaibhav Domkundwar
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Amount Raised: $2.7 million
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Total Raised: $2.7 million
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Funding Stage: Seed
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Funding Date: July 28, 2025
Sawt Raises $1M in Pre-Seed Funding to Automate Call Centers with Arabic Voice AI
Sawt, a Riyadh-based voice AI startup, has raised $1 million in a pre-seed funding round to reimagine customer service in the Middle East using intelligent speech technology. The round was co-led by Saudi Telecom’s STV (through its new AI-focused fund) and regional tech investor T2. Founded in 2024 by Abdulmalik Al-Saeed, Sawt builds natural-sounding AI voice agents that can handle customer calls for bookings, support, and sales in Arabic 24/7, reducing wait times and operational costs for businesses.
The startup’s proprietary Arabic language models have already powered hundreds of thousands of customer interactions within months of launch, as companies explore automating call centers without losing the human touch. With Saudi Arabia heavily investing in AI as part of Vision 2030, Sawt’s local-first approach (developing its tech entirely in-country for data privacy) resonates with the market.
The new funds will be used to grow Sawt’s engineering team, scale its cloud infrastructure, and further refine its speech models, enabling the platform to handle millions of voice queries seamlessly. Sawt’s early momentum exemplifies the region’s push to lead in AI innovation while addressing local language needs in tech.
Funding Details:
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Startup: Sawt
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Investors: STV (AI Fund) and T2 (co-leads)
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Amount Raised: $1 million
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Total Raised: $1 million
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Funding Stage: Pre-Seed
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Funding Date: July 28, 2025
Tech Funding Summary Table
| Startup | Investors (Lead and notable investors) | Amount Raised | Total Raised | Funding Stage | Funding Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1KOMMA5° | Sabanci Climate Ventures (lead); Hamilton Lane, CalSTRS, Porsche Ventures, G2VP, Eurazeo (notable) | €150 M | ~€400 M | Pre-IPO Round | July 28, 2025 |
| Farmers Business Network | GV (Google Ventures), Temasek, Arteqin, Colle Capital, T. Rowe Price | $50 M | $900 M+ | Late-Stage Growth | July 28, 2025 |
| BlinkOps | O.G. Venture Partners (lead); Lightspeed VP, Hetz Ventures, Vertex Growth | $50 M | $90 M | Series B | July 28, 2025 |
| Dropzone AI | Theory Ventures (lead); Madrona, Decibel, Pioneer Square Labs, In-Q-Tel | $37 M | ~$53 M | Series B | July 28, 2025 |
| Fable Security | Greylock Partners, Redpoint Ventures | $31 M | $31 M | Series A | July 28, 2025 |
| E2B | Insight Partners (lead); Decibel, Sunflower Capital, Kaya, Scott Johnston (angel) | $21 M | ~$35 M | Series A | July 28, 2025 |
| Apera AI | BDC Capital (lead); Lobby Capital, Flying Fish Ventures, J-Ventures | Not disclosed | Not disclosed | Series A | July 28, 2025 |
| TakeUp | 1848 Ventures (lead) | $11 M | $11 M | Series A | July 28, 2025 |
| Julius AI | Bessemer VP (lead); Y Combinator, Horizon VC, AI Grant, 8VC; angels (Notion, Vercel, etc.) | $10 M | $10 M | Seed | July 28, 2025 |
| Tonic Security | Hetz Ventures (lead); Vesey Ventures; angel investors | $7 M | $7 M | Seed | July 28, 2025 |
| Overwatch Imaging | Squadra Ventures (lead); SEMCAP AI, Elevate Oregon VF, Edo Capital | $6 M | Not disclosed | Seed/Growth Round | July 28, 2025 |
| Drizz | Stellaris Venture Partners (lead), Shastra VC; Anuj Rathi, Vaibhav Domkundwar (angels) | $2.7 M | $2.7 M | Seed | July 28, 2025 |
| Sawt | STV (AI Fund) and T2 (co-leads) | $1 M | $1 M | Pre-Seed | July 28, 2025 |
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