Top Startup and Tech Funding News – September 29, 2025

It’s Monday, September 29, 2025, and we’re back with the top startup and tech funding news stories shaping today’s headlines. From logistics automation and chip cooling breakthroughs to AI billing, vibe coding, and restaurant tech, investors deployed fresh capital across both mature scale-ups and ambitious early-stage players.

Today’s highlights feature Alvys’ $40 million Series B to turbocharge AI-powered freight logistics, Paid’s $21 million seed round to build billing infrastructure for AI agents, and Corintis’ $24 million Series A to push advanced chip cooling into the data center. On the global stage, China’s Galactic Energy secured a massive $336 million Series D for rocket launches, while India’s Petpooja closed a ₹137 crore growth round to scale its restaurant management platform.

Funding Highlights

• Alvys raised $40 million in Series B funding to expand its AI-driven logistics automation platform.

• Paid secured $21 million in seed capital to power usage-based billing for AI agents.

• Corintis landed $24 million in Series A financing to commercialize chip cooling technology.

• Galactic Energy closed a $336 million Series D to scale commercial rocket launches in China.

• Petpooja raised ₹137 crore to boost its restaurant tech platform across India and beyond.

Investor Activity

The day’s financings saw strong participation from global venture firms including RTP Global, Lightspeed, BlueYard Capital, and Accel, alongside regional funds such as Dharana Capital and ISB Angels. Strategic investors like Bazan Group, angel operators from Meta and Apple, and serial founders from Urban Company also made their mark across the day’s deals.

Together, these financings underscore continued conviction in AI infrastructure, logistics automation, chip hardware, space technology, and SaaS platforms — sectors attracting both deep-pocketed global VCs and local growth backers.

Here’s the full breakdown. Until tomorrow, have a great evening.

Alvys Raises $40M in Series B Funding for AI-Powered Logistics Platform

Alvys, an AI-driven transportation management startup, has secured $40 million in a Series B round to accelerate its freight logistics automation platform. The funding was led by RTP Global, with participation from Alpha Square Group and existing backers Titanium Ventures, Picus Capital, and Bonfire Ventures.

The Fremont, California, area company will use the capital to expand its integrations and AI automation tools, helping trucking companies consolidate data and streamline dispatch, billing, and other operations. Alvys has tripled its revenue for two years running and will use the investment to further scale its platform and customer base.

Founded in 2020 by Leo Gorodinski and Nick Darman, Alvys is positioning itself as a modern alternative in freight logistics software. The startup offers a transportation management platform designed to help trucking companies streamline operations across dispatch, load tracking, driver management, billing, and payroll. By layering AI and automation into the workflow, Alvys says it can cut down on repetitive tasks and give managers faster decision-making tools — helping fleets move goods with greater efficiency.

Funding Details:

• Startup: Alvys

• Investors: RTP Global (lead), Alpha Square Group, Titanium Ventures, Picus Capital, Bonfire Ventures

• Amount Raised: $40 million

• Total Raised: $77 million

• Funding Stage: Series B

• Funding Date: Sep 29, 2025

Paid Raises $21M in Seed Funding to Power AI Agent Billing

Paid, a London-based startup founded by Manny Medina (ex-Outreach CEO), announced a $21 million seed round led by Lightspeed Venture Partners to build its AI agent billing infrastructure. The company’s platform helps software firms create usage-based pricing models for AI agents, aligning costs with the value customers receive.

Bellevue, Washington–based Fuse Ventures and Seattle’s Founders’ Co-op also participated in the round, which brings Paid’s total funding to $21M. The capital will be used to accelerate product development and go-to-market efforts, enabling Paid to serve a growing market of SaaS companies monetizing generative AI features.

Funding Details:

• Startup: Paid

• Investors: Lightspeed (lead), Fuse Ventures, Founders’ Co-op

• Amount Raised: $21 million

• Total Raised: $21 million

• Funding Stage: Seed

• Funding Date: Sep 29, 2025

Corintis Raises $24M in Series A Funding for Advanced Chip Cooling

Corintis, a Swiss hardware startup spun out of EPFL in 2022, has raised $24 million in a Series A round led by BlueYard Capital. The Zurich-area company makes microfluidic cold plates that channel coolant directly through semiconductor chips, dramatically improving heat removal for AI and data-center processors. Other investors in the round include Founderful, Acequia Capital, Celsius Industries, and XTX Ventures.

Corintis will use the funds to ramp up manufacturing (from 100,000 to over a million plates per year), expand its R&D team (adding up to 70 employees by year-end), and open offices in the U.S. to serve its American customers. The funding follows a deal with Microsoft in which Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan (added to Corintis’s board) touted the company’s cooling solutions as critical for next-generation chips.

Funding Details:

• Startup: Corintis

• Investors: BlueYard Capital (lead), Founderful, Acequia Capital, Celsius Industries, XTX Ventures

• Amount Raised: $24 million

• Total Raised: $24 million

• Funding Stage: Series A

• Funding Date: Sep 29, 2025

Petpooja Raises Nearly $17 Million Growth Round to Boost Restaurant Tech

Ahmedabad-based Petpooja, a restaurant management software platform, closed a ₹137 crore (~$17 million) growth funding round led by Dharana Capital. The round combined primary and secondary funding and included participation from Helion Ventures co-founder Ashish Gupta, Urban Company founders Abhiraj Singh Bhal, Varun Khaitan, and Raghav Chandra, and Urban Company executive Mukund Kulashekaran.

Petpooja will use the new capital to enhance its product offerings (such as tableside ordering and kitchen automation), accelerate AI-driven features, and strengthen customer support. The company said it plans to continue expanding in the Indian market and overseas, building on its track record of serving restaurants, cafes, and quick-service chains.

Funding Details:

• Startup: Petpooja

• Investors: Dharana Capital (lead), Ashish Gupta (Helion Ventures), Abhiraj S. Bhal, Varun Khaitan, Raghav Chandra, Mukund Kulashekaran (all from Urban Company)

• Amount Raised: ₹137 crore

• Total Raised: Not disclosed

• Funding Stage: Growth Round

• Funding Date: Sep 29, 2025

Akashalabdhi Secures $1.2M in Pre-Seed Funding for SpaceTech Projects

Space-tech startup Akashalabdhi raised $1.2 million in a pre-seed round on Sept. 29, 2025. The Ahmedabad-based company is working on space habitat projects, including inflatable solar arrays and high-altitude balloon experiments. Investors include Riceberg Ventures, 1Crowd, and LVX, among others.

Akashalabdhi said it will use the funds to advance its ongoing missions, such as testing inflatable habitat components and preparing for an orbital launch of its minimum viable product. The team aims to develop infrastructure for advanced habitation research, bridging the gap to future, larger satellite projects.

Funding Details:

• Startup: Akashalabdhi

• Investors: Riceberg Ventures, 1Crowd, LVX (and others)

• Amount Raised: $1.2 million

• Total Raised: $1.2 million

• Funding Stage: Pre-seed

• Funding Date: Sep 29, 2025

Wit & Chai Closes Seed Round at ₹40 Cr Valuation

Wit & Chai, a creative media agency headquartered in Mumbai, closed its seed funding round at a ₹40 crore valuation. The size of the round was not disclosed. Notable investors include real estate promoter Rohan Vijay Mantri, Sanjay Katkar (MD of Quick Heal Technologies), Monish Darda (co-founder of Icertis), and Satyen Patel (MD at Sahyadri Industries).

The firm said it will deploy the new funds to strengthen its Mumbai team, grow its London office, and establish a presence in the UAE. Wit & Chai plans to deepen its service offerings in B2B SaaS and enterprise media, and is evaluating strategic acquisitions to accelerate global growth.

Funding Details:

• Startup: Wit & Chai

• Investors: Rohan Vijay Mantri, Sanjay Katkar, Monish Darda, Satyen Patel (all marquee business leaders)

• Amount Raised: Undisclosed

• Total Raised: Not disclosed

• Funding Stage: Seed

• Funding Date: Sep 29, 2025

Vaani AI Research Raises $0.4M in Pre-Seed Funding for Voice AI Platform

Vaani AI Research, a startup developing voice agent technology, has raised $400,000 in pre-seed funding led by Venture Catalysts. The round also included a slate of angel backers from Silicon Valley and India: Dr. Abhishek Sharma (Meta’s SuperIntelligence team), Dr. Viveka Kulharia (MoonValley/Apple), Shashikant Chaudhary (ex-GlobalLogic), Ejaz Ahmed (Meta Reality Labs), Nikhil Tripathi (Bijak), Uday Sodhi (ex-Sony Pictures), KK Venkata (Oliver Wyman), Swapnil Sheth (IndigoEdge), Michele Barbazza (VAT Group), and others.

Vaani’s platform enables enterprises to build custom voice assistants; the new capital will be used to expand the team, improve its voice-processing stack, deepen its proprietary AI models, and deploy pilots with early customers looking to move beyond demos to production.

Founded in 2024 by Tushar Shinde, Nitesh Tripathi, and Nitish Mishra, Vaani draws on its research roots at IISc and IIT-Madras and the team’s decade-long experience in AI and infrastructure. The startup calls itself the “Stripe for Voice AI,” offering APIs, SDKs, and enterprise-ready models that let developers, BPOs, and large companies roll out human-like, multilingual voice agents in days instead of months.

Funding Details:

• Startup: Vaani AI Research

• Investors: Venture Catalysts (lead), Dr. Abhishek Sharma (Meta), Dr. Viveka Kulharia (Apple), Shashikant Chaudhary, Ejaz Ahmed, Nikhil Tripathi, Uday Sodhi, KK Venkata, Swapnil Sheth, Michele Barbazza

• Amount Raised: $400,000

• Total Raised: $400,000

• Funding Stage: Pre-seed

• Funding Date: Sep 29, 2025

iGo Raises ₹8.2 Cr in Pre-Seed Funding to Scale Electric Trikes

iGo, an electric vehicle startup focusing on smart three-wheeler trucks, raised ₹8.2 crore in a pre-seed round. Investors included ISB Angels, 888VC, and Guptaji VC. The funds will be used to automate tooling and reduce production costs, expand customer service and after-sales operations, drive new product variants, and build working capital to fill its existing order book.

iGo said it plans to accelerate R&D on its EV platform as it fulfills orders for micro-businesses and delivery operators in India.

Funding Details:

• Startup: iGo

• Investors: ISB Angels, 888VC, Guptaji VC

• Amount Raised: ₹8.2 crore

• Total Raised: ₹8.2 crore

• Funding Stage: Pre-seed

• Funding Date: Sep 29, 2025

Chinese Launcher Galactic Energy Raises $336M in Series D Funding

Galactic Energy, a Beijing-based rocket company, raised RMB 2.4 billion (~$336 million) in Series D funding. One of China’s largest commercial launch providers, Galactic Energy has chalked up the most orbital launches among private Chinese firms. The new capital will finance further expansion of its rocket fleet and development of next-gen vehicles as demand surges for satellite launches and space services.

The round, announced on Sept. 28, 2025, is one of the biggest investments in China’s space sector this year and positions Galactic Energy to scale production and R&D for its solid- and liquid-fueled launchers.

Funding Details:

• Startup: Galactic Energy

• Investors: Not disclosed

• Amount Raised: $336 million

• Total Raised: $336 million

• Funding Stage: Series D

• Funding Date: Sep 29, 2025

Gain Secures $12M in Seed Funding to Build AI Procurement ‘Employees’

Gain, an Israeli deep-tech startup, emerged from stealth with a $12 million seed round led by The Garage, with BlueRed Partners and Bazan Group also investing. The Tel Aviv company has developed autonomous “AI employee” agents to handle end-to-end procurement processes for enterprises – from strategy and sourcing to contract execution and exception management.

The new funding will support further R&D and customer pilots for Gain’s platform, which charges based on output outcomes rather than per-seat licenses. With procurement increasingly complex in industries like retail, CPG, and energy, Gain’s investors believe its end-to-end AI agents can unlock hidden efficiency.

Funding Details:

• Startup: Gain

• Investors: The Garage (lead), BlueRed Partners, Bazan Group

• Amount Raised: $12 million

• Total Raised: $12 million

• Funding Stage: Seed

• Funding Date: Sep 29, 2025

Polars Raises €18M in Series A Funding to Scale Its Data Engine

Polars, the Amsterdam-based company behind the popular Rust data analysis library, closed an €18 million (approx. $21 million) Series A led by Accel. Bain Capital Partners and a group of angel investors also participated. Polars’ open-source framework (an alternative to Pandas) has seen millions of downloads thanks to its high performance.

The startup recently launched Polars Cloud and is building Polars Distributed, a new query engine for massive datasets. The funding will be used to accelerate these cloud products and grow the engineering team. Polars co-founder Ritchie Vink said the company aims to challenge incumbents like Apache Spark by giving developers a scalable, managed solution built on their beloved data tool.

Funding Details:

• Startup: Polars

• Investors: Accel (lead), Bain Capital Partners, angel investors

• Amount Raised: $21 million (approx.)

• Total Raised: ~$25 million (including $4M seed)

• Funding Stage: Series A

• Funding Date: Sep 29, 2025

Lexroom.ai Raises €16M in Series A Funding for AI LegalTech Platform

Lexroom.ai, a Milan-based AI legaltech startup, raised €16 million in a Series A round led by Base10 Partners. The investment, which included participation from Acurio Ventures, View Different, and gaming exec Riccardo Zacconi, will fund Lexroom’s international expansion. Founded in 2023 by lawyers Paolo Fois, Martina Domenicali, and Andrea Lonza, Lexroom.ai offers an AI platform that streamlines legal research and document drafting.

By letting lawyers ask questions in natural language and automatically generating summaries and legal texts, the system is already used by hundreds of law firms. With this financing, Lexroom plans to enter new markets (starting with Spain and Germany), enhance its AI models for jurisdiction-specific accuracy, and grow its headcount to accelerate development.

Funding Details:

• Startup: Lexroom.ai

• Investors: Base10 Partners (lead), Acurio Ventures, View Different, Riccardo Zacconi, and existing backers Entourage, Verve Ventures, Joe Zadeh

• Amount Raised: €16 million

• Total Raised: €18 million (including €2M seed)

• Funding Stage: Series A

• Funding Date: Sep 29, 2025

Maximor Raises $9M in Seed Funding for AI Finance Automation

Maximor, a New York startup building an AI-native finance automation platform, raised $9 million in seed funding. Backed by venture firms Foundation Capital, Gaia Ventures, and BoldCap, Maximor helps mid-market companies streamline accounting, revenue, and reporting processes through its ERP-agnostic AI agents.

CEO Ramnandan Krishnamurthy said the funds will be used to further develop the platform and expand sales, addressing the “system sprawl” that hampers many finance teams. The company’s Audit-Ready Agent™ technology unifies financial data and generates detailed evidence trails automatically, reducing manual work for accounting teams.

Funding Details:

• Startup: Maximor

• Investors: Foundation Capital, Gaia Ventures, BoldCap

• Amount Raised: $9 million

• Total Raised: $9 million

• Funding Stage: Seed

• Funding Date: Sep 29, 2025

Anything Raises $11M in Series A Funding After Vibe Coding Breakout

Anything, an AI-driven “vibe coding” platform, raised $11 million in a Series A round at a $100 million valuation. The round was led by Footwork Ventures, with participation from Uncork Capital, Bessemer Ventures, and M13. Anything’s full-stack coding system made headlines by reaching $2 million in annual recurring revenue (ARR) within two weeks of its public launch, as users built real businesses (like habit-tracker apps) from natural-language prompts.

Co-founders Dhruv Amin and Marcus Lowe built the platform in-house to go beyond simple prototypes. The new funding will help Anything scale its engineering team, refine its product features, and capitalize on rapid early customer growth. Footwork Ventures noted that Anything’s approach could enable non-technical users to launch production-grade software from AI prompts.

Funding Details:

• Startup: Anything

• Investors: Footwork Ventures (lead), Uncork Capital, Bessemer Ventures, M13

• Amount Raised: $11 million

• Total Raised: $11 million

• Funding Stage: Series A

• Funding Date: Sep 29, 2025