Top 10 Startup and Tech Funding News – August 6, 2025
Nickie Louise
Posted On August 6, 2025
It’s Wednesday, August 6, 2025, and we’re back with today’s top startup and tech funding news from around the globe. Despite a cautious market, the pace of venture activity shows no signs of slowing down. From AI-driven sales automation and agent-native payments to clean nuclear energy and aerospace manufacturing, today’s funding deals spotlight founders building for the next wave of enterprise scale, autonomy, and deep-tech disruption.
What’s clear? Investors are placing deliberate bets across every layer of the stack—from infrastructure and compliance to specialized vertical platforms in law, healthcare, and accounting. Whether it’s Clay tripling its valuation to $3.1 billion or seed-stage players like Lava and Endex quietly shaping the future of AI utility, this batch of funding rounds offers a telling snapshot of where capital is flowing—and why.
Funding Highlights
Clay led the charge with a $100 million Series C backed by CapitalG and Sequoia to expand its AI-powered sales platform. Rillet raised $70 million to shake up accounting software, while Positive Development secured $51.5 million to scale its affordable autism care model. AI infrastructure players like Tavily and Endex locked in early-stage funding to help agents connect with the web and operate natively within tools like Excel. Meanwhile, Jeh Aerospace and HYLENR are pushing the boundaries of precision manufacturing and clean energy with cross-border and deep-tech strategies.
Investor Activity
Today’s deals drew capital from heavyweights like Andreessen Horowitz, ICONIQ, Insight Partners, OpenAI’s Startup Fund, Sequoia, B Capital, and Elevation. Strategic VCs and corporate-backed funds doubled down on vertical AI, fintech infrastructure, and climate tech, while niche firms backed early bets in legal tech, agent payments, and LENR. The spread of geography and funding stage—from New York to India, Seed to Series C—underscores a key point: real innovation is still getting funded, especially when the pain points are clear and the technology delivers.
Here’s the full breakdown.
Until tomorrow—keep building.
Rillet Raises $70M in Series B Funding for AI Accounting Automation
Rillet, a fintech startup developing AI-powered accounting software, has raised $70 million in a Series B round co-led by Andreessen Horowitz and ICONIQ. Founded in 2022 by Nicolas Kopp, former U.S. head of digital bank N26, Rillet builds AI-powered ledger software that automates accounting tasks and helps finance teams close their books in hours instead of weeks. The platform integrates with Salesforce, Stripe, and Brex, pulling in data directly and processing it in real time.
Coming just over two months after a previous fundraise, this round – also joined by Sequoia, Oak HC/FT, and FOG Ventures – brings Rillet’s total funding to over $100 million. The startup plans to use the capital to accelerate platform development and hiring as it looks to challenge legacy accounting systems from Oracle and Microsoft in enterprise finance.
Funding Details:
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Startup: Rillet
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Investors: Andreessen Horowitz (co-lead), ICONIQ (co-lead); Sequoia Capital, Oak HC/FT, FOG Ventures
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Amount Raised: $70 million
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Total Raised: Over $100 million
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Funding Stage: Series B
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Funding Date: August 6, 2025
Positive Development Raises $51.5M in Series C Funding for Autism Therapy Platform
Positive Development, a McLean, VA-based autism therapy startup, has raised $51.5 million in a Series C round to expand its tech-enabled developmental therapy model for autistic children. The company integrates technology, AI, and data insights into a relationship-centered care approach that delivers outcomes at over 50% lower cost than traditional ABA therapy for autism.
The new funding was co-led by aMoon Fund, B Capital, and Flare Capital, with participation from Healthworx and Digitalis Ventures, and will fuel Positive Development’s expansion into new markets and partnerships with health insurers and Medicaid programs. Including this round, the company has now raised over $100 million in total funding as it scales a more affordable, high-quality autism care alternative across the U.S.
Funding Details:
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Startup: Positive Development
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Investors: aMoon Fund (co-lead), B Capital (co-lead), Flare Capital Partners (co-lead); Healthworx, Digitalis Ventures, others
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Amount Raised: $51.5 million
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Total Raised: Over $100 million
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Funding Stage: Series C
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Funding Date: August 6, 2025
Clay Raises $100M in Series C Funding for AI Sales Platform
Clay, a New York City-based AI go-to-market startup, has raised $100 million in a Series C round, nearly tripling its valuation to $3.1 billion. The company’s platform uses over 150 integrations and AI agents to help sales teams find qualified leads and personalize outreach at scale. This funding, led by CapitalG (Alphabet’s growth fund) with participation from Sequoia, Sapphire Ventures, and others, will fuel Clay’s product development as it serves 10,000+ customers (including OpenAI and Canva) and aims to triple its revenue this year.
Funding Details:
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Startup: Clay
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Investors: CapitalG (lead), Sequoia Capital, Meritech Capital, First Round Capital, BoxGroup, Boldstart Ventures, Sapphire Ventures
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Amount Raised: $100 million
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Total Raised: $204 million
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Funding Stage: Series C
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Funding Date: August 6, 2025
Tavily Raises $25M in Series A Funding to Connect AI Agents to the Web
Tavily, a one-year-old startup that provides compliant internet access for AI agents, has raised a $25 million Series A funding round led by Insight Partners. Founded in 2024 by data scientist Rotem Weiss after his open-source project “GPT Researcher” went viral, Tavily’s platform allows enterprise AI agents to search and crawl the web securely while adhering to company-specific policies.
The startup already counts organizations like Groq, Cohere, MongoDB, and Writer as clients, and it aims to onboard “the next billion agents to the web” by expanding its suite of tools that let AI agents safely interact with public and private data. With this latest investment (bringing total funding to $25 million), Tavily plans to accelerate product development as it competes to power the growing demand for web-connected AI in the enterprise.
Funding Details:
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Startup: Tavily
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Investors: Insight Partners (lead)
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Amount Raised: $25 million
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Total Raised: $25 million
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Funding Stage: Series A
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Funding Date: August 6, 2025
Endex.ai Raises $14M in Seed Funding Round to Bring AI into Excel
Endex.ai, a startup bringing AI agents directly into Microsoft Excel, emerged from stealth with a $14 million funding round led by the OpenAI Startup Fund. Co-founded in 2022 by Tarun Amasa and Kevin Yang, Endex embeds an AI assistant within Excel to help finance professionals handle time-consuming tasks like financial modeling, data cleanup, and analysis – effectively “supercharging” the ubiquitous spreadsheet without requiring any new software.
The OpenAI-backed investment signals confidence in Endex’s approach and will help the New York-based company ramp up development and expand its reach, as it begins rolling out its Excel-native AI agent to more enterprise users following successful pilots with financial institutions.
Endex isn’t trying to replace Excel—it’s trying to supercharge it. The tool sits inside spreadsheets and helps finance pros handle time-consuming tasks like financial modeling, data cleanup, and detailed analysis. It understands financial language, offers smart suggestions, and can even point to the source of the numbers it’s using.
The company describes its product as “an Excel-native AI Agent that accelerates financial modeling and data analysis backed by OpenAI and ChatGPT.” The idea is to give financial analysts something that feels familiar, but works smarter—without needing to switch apps or learn a new interface.
Funding Details:
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Startup: Endex.ai
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Investors: OpenAI Startup Fund (lead)
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Amount Raised: $14 million
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Total Raised: $14 million
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Funding Stage: Seed Round
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Funding Date: August 6, 2025
August Raises $7M in Seed Funding for AI Legal Platform
August, a New York-based startup building AI tools for midsize law firms, closed a $7 million seed round to expand its configurable legal AI platform. August’s technology allows law firms to deploy modular AI “agents” tailored to their own workflows, combining automated document analysis with personalized onboarding by legal and engineering experts to improve efficiency and client service.
The funding was co-led by NEA and Pear VC, with strategic participation from Afore Capital, leading law schools, and notable angels, including executives from OpenAI, Ramp, and Bain Capital Ventures. The new capital will help August enhance its platform and bring its AI-driven solutions to more law firms worldwide, targeting a largely underserved midsize firm segment eager for innovation in legal services.
Funding Details:
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Startup: August
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Investors: NEA (co-lead), Pear VC (co-lead); Afore Capital; angels from OpenAI, Ramp, Bain Capital Ventures; and others
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Amount Raised: $7 million
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Total Raised: $7 million
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Funding Stage: Seed Round
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Funding Date: August 6, 2025
Lava Raises $5.8M in Seed Funding for AI Agent Payment Platform
Lava, a New York-based fintech startup, raised a $5.8 million seed round to build a payment platform for the emerging “agent-native” economy. Founded by serial entrepreneur Mitchell Jones (Y Combinator alum and ex-Goldman Sachs), Lava is developing a digital wallet that lets AI agents autonomously pay for services using a unified pool of credits – eliminating the need for separate subscriptions or human approval for each transaction.
The startup’s vision is to become the invisible payment layer powering online AI agents, and its seed funding, led by Lerer Hippeau with participation from Harlem Capital, Streamlined Ventures, and Westbound, will go toward hiring, product development, and go-to-market efforts. Lava’s solution aims to enable AI agents to transact seamlessly across the web, a capability that could unlock new possibilities as more autonomous software agents come online.
Funding Details:
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Startup: Lava (Lava Payments)
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Investors: Lerer Hippeau (lead), Harlem Capital, Streamlined Ventures, Westbound
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Amount Raised: $5.8 million
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Total Raised: $5.8 million
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Funding Stage: Seed Round
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Funding Date: August 6, 2025
Jeh Aerospace Raises $11M in Series A Funding to Scale Aerospace Manufacturing
Jeh Aerospace, a cross-border aerospace manufacturing startup operating in the US and India, secured $11 million in Series A funding to advance its software-driven production of high-precision aerospace and defense components. Founded in 2022, the company leverages a “friend-shoring” model – using India’s skilled talent pool for cost-efficient fabrication while tapping into the American market – to serve global aerospace customers with advanced manufacturing standards.
The new round was led by Elevation Capital with participation from General Catalyst, coming 18 months after Jeh’s initial $2.75 million seed funding. Jeh Aerospace will use the Series A funds to expand operations and enhance its technology capabilities across both its U.S. and Indian facilities, aiming to strengthen its role in the global aerospace supply chain.
Funding Details:
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Startup: Jeh Aerospace
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Investors: Elevation Capital (lead), General Catalyst
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Amount Raised: $11 million
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Total Raised: ~ $14 million
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Funding Stage: Series A
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Funding Date: August 6, 2025
HYLENR Closes $3M in Pre-Series A Funding for Clean Nuclear Energy Tech
HYLENR, an Indian deep-tech energy startup, has closed a strategic Pre-Series A round of about $3 million to commercialize its patented low-energy nuclear reaction (LENR) systems. Backed by Valour Capital and Chhattisgarh Investments Limited, HYLENR is developing scalable, carbon-free heat and power generators for industry – positioning LENR as a breakthrough alternative to fossil fuels with a promising safety and efficiency profile.
The fresh capital injection will enable HYLENR to fast-track its transition from pilot prototypes to market-ready products, accelerating R&D and manufacturing as the company prepares to expand into the US, Europe, India, and Japan. This funding round underscores growing investor confidence in LENR technology as a potential cornerstone of the post-carbon energy era.
Funding Details:
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Startup: HYLENR
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Investors: Valour Capital (lead), Chhattisgarh Investments Ltd (lead); individual investors Karthik S. Iyer, Anant Sarda
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Amount Raised: $3 million
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Total Raised: $3 million
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Funding Stage: Pre-Series A
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Funding Date: August 6, 2025
DPDZero Raises $7M in Series A Funding for AI Debt Collection Platform
DPDZero, a Bengaluru-based fintech startup specializing in AI-driven debt collection, secured $7 million in a Series A round to scale its platform for lenders. The startup’s machine learning-based system helps financial institutions automate and improve loan recovery, which has led DPDZero to achieve 6× revenue growth while recovering over ₹150 crore (around $18 million) from 3.5 million borrowers to date.
The Series A was led by Japan’s GMO Venture Partners with participation from India Quotient, Sinarmas Group, SMBC’s Asia Rising Fund, and Blume Ventures. DPDZero plans to leverage the new funds to expand its services in India’s vast lending market (projected at $1 trillion by 2030) and to further enhance its AI platform for efficient, scalable debt resolution.
Funding Details:
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Startup: DPDZero
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Investors: GMO Venture Partners (lead), India Quotient, Sinarmas Group, SMBC Asia Rising Fund, Blume Ventures
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Amount Raised: $7 million
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Total Raised: ~ $10 million
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Funding Stage: Series A
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Funding Date: August 6, 2025
Tech Funding Summary Table
| Startup | Investors (Lead and notable investors) | Amount Raised | Total Raised | Funding Stage | Funding Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Clay | CapitalG (Alphabet), Sequoia, Sapphire Ventures | $100M | $204M | Series C | Aug 6, 2025 |
| Rillet | Andreessen Horowitz, ICONIQ, Sequoia | $70M | $100M+ | Series B | Aug 6, 2025 |
| Positive Development | aMoon Fund, B Capital, Flare Capital | $51.5M | $100M+ | Series C | Aug 6, 2025 |
| Tavily | Insight Partners | $25M | $25M | Series A | Aug 6, 2025 |
| Endex.ai | OpenAI Startup Fund | $14M | $14M | Seed | Aug 6, 2025 |
| August | NEA, Pear VC, Afore Capital | $7M | $7M | Seed | Aug 6, 2025 |
| Lava | Lerer Hippeau, Harlem Capital, Streamlined | $5.8M | $5.8M | Seed | Aug 6, 2025 |
| Jeh Aerospace | Elevation Capital, General Catalyst | $11M | ~$14M | Series A | Aug 6, 2025 |
| HYLENR | Valour Capital, Chhattisgarh Investments | $3M | $3M | Pre-Series A | Aug 6, 2025 |
| DPDZero | GMO Venture Partners, India Quotient, Blume | $7M | ~$10M | Series A | Aug 6, 2025 |
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