Top Startup and Tech Funding News – October 1, 2025

It’s Wednesday, October 1, 2025, and we’re back with the top startup and tech funding news stories making waves today. From nine-figure rounds in AI hardware and workflow platforms to early bets in healthcare, compliance, and asset tokenization, investors continued to spread capital across every stage of the startup spectrum.

Today’s highlights feature Empower Semiconductor’s $140 million Series D to supercharge energy efficiency for AI processors, Temporal’s $105 million secondary that pushes its valuation to $2.5 billion, and Einride’s $100 million raise to accelerate its autonomous freight trucks. Phaidra joined the mid-stage action with $50 million to optimize data center efficiency, while Aerska launched with $21 million in seed capital to tackle brain-targeted RNA therapeutics.

AI and developer tools also saw steady momentum, with AudioShake, Composite, Rocket.new, and SolidCore.ai all announcing fresh funding. On the consumer side, Price.com secured $12 million to expand its AI-powered savings platform, while Returnalyze and Notch.cx closed rounds to advance retail returns prevention and autonomous customer support.

Funding Highlights

• Empower Semiconductor raised $140 million in Series D funding to scale its power-management solutions for AI compute.

• Temporal closed a $105 million secondary sale, valuing the workflow orchestration startup at $2.5 billion.

• Einride secured $100 million to expand its self-driving electric truck deployments.

• Phaidra landed $50 million in Series B funding to optimize data center energy use.

• Aerska launched with $21 million in seed capital to develop RNA therapies for neurological diseases.

Investor Activity

The day’s financings drew participation from heavyweight backers including Fidelity, GIC, NVIDIA, Insight Partners, and Salesforce Ventures. Strategic investors such as CapitalG, Dell Technologies Capital, and the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority joined in, while Lightspeed, Index Ventures, and Accel anchored bets across AI, identity, and workflow platforms. From consumer tech to deep biotech, the breadth of capital underscores investors’ conviction in both transformative infrastructure and practical AI applications.

Together, these financings reflect the dual themes shaping this cycle: making AI infrastructure more efficient and sustainable, while embedding intelligence into everyday industries from healthcare to retail.

Here’s the full breakdown. Until tomorrow, have a good one.

Einride Raises $100M in Funding for Self-Driving Trucks

Swedish self-driving truck startup Einride has secured about $100 million in its latest funding round to accelerate autonomous freight and expand global operations. The round was led by investors including EQT Ventures and IonQ, and the capital will be used to scale deployment of Einride’s autonomous electric freight trucks, advance its technology, and expand its customer base.

Founded in 2016 in Gothenburg, Einride’s electric pods and software aim to revolutionize long-haul logistics by reducing emissions and improving efficiency. This infusion follows the company’s $110M round in 2021 and will accelerate its expansion into new markets.

Funding Details:

• Startup: Einride

• Investors: EQT Ventures (lead), IonQ, among others

• Amount Raised: $100 million

• Total Raised: ~$210 million (including prior rounds)

• Funding Stage: Late-stage (Series C)

• Funding Date: Oct 1, 2025

AudioShake Raises $14M in Series A Funding for AI Audio Platform

San Francisco startup AudioShake announced a $14 million Series A round on Oct. 1, 2025. The round was led by Shine Capital, with participation from Thomson Reuters Ventures, Origin Ventures, Background Capital, and existing backers Indicator Ventures and Precursor Ventures.

AudioShake’s AI-powered platform separates any audio file into its individual components (vocals, instruments, effects), effectively making sound as editable and programmable as text or images. Major media companies and studios use AudioShake’s technology, and the new funding will fuel product development and expansion of its audio-processing APIs.

Funding Details:

• Startup: AudioShake

• Investors: Shine Capital (lead), Thomson Reuters Ventures, Origin Ventures, Background Capital, Indicator Ventures, Precursor Ventures

• Amount Raised: $14 million

• Total Raised: $19 million (including seed)

• Funding Stage: Series A

• Funding Date: Oct 1, 2025

AAA C(H+A)RM Raises $4M in Seed Funding for Autonomous AI Agents

Palo Alto-based AAA C(H+A)RM (pronounced “A A A Charm”), an open-source AI agents platform, announced a $4 million seed round on Oct. 1, 2025. The funding was provided by YZi Labs, Nvidia, and Huobi Ventures. AAA C(H+A)RM’s Launchpad & Layer3 platform allows anyone to create and deploy autonomous AI “digital twins” or agents that act on a user’s behalf, combining AI with blockchain technologies.

The startup’s founders (engineers from DeepMind, Meta, and others) plan to use the funds to accelerate development of their agent-orchestration tools and grow their community of builders.

Funding Details:

• Startup: AAA C(H+A)RM

• Investors: YZi Labs, Nvidia, Huobi Ventures

• Amount Raised: $4 million

• Total Raised: $4 million

• Funding Stage: Seed

• Funding Date: Oct 1, 2025

Apiphani Raises $25M in Series A Funding for AI Application Management

Boston-based Apiphani announced a $25 million Series A round on Oct. 1, 2025, led by Insight Partners. The AI-native startup provides an automation and observability platform (Luumen) for mission-critical enterprise applications. Its software helps companies in regulated industries (energy, utilities, telecom) improve reliability and compliance of their IT operations.

The new funding will accelerate Apiphani’s growth and expand its services in these sectors, as the company continues to challenge legacy IT outsourcing models.

Funding Details:

• Startup: Apiphani

• Investors: Insight Partners (lead)

• Amount Raised: $25 million

• Total Raised: $25 million

• Funding Stage: Series A

• Funding Date: Oct 1, 2025

Apricot Secures Series A Funding Led by Insight Partners

Apricot, an AI-driven home health documentation platform based in Oklahoma City, secured a Series A round led by Insight Partners on Oct. 1, 2025. The terms were not disclosed. Apricot’s software automates the start-of-care documentation required by home health agencies, turning hours of paperwork into minutes.

The startup will use the funding to expand its team and further develop features for care providers. Apricot, co-founded by a former home health executive, has already deployed its platform across dozens of agencies and will broaden its offerings with this new capital.

Funding Details:

• Startup: Apricot

• Investors: Insight Partners (lead)

• Amount Raised: Not disclosed

• Total Raised: Not disclosed

• Funding Stage: Series A

• Funding Date: Oct 1, 2025

Notch.cx Raises $15M in Seed Funding for AI Customer Support

Notch.cx, a Tel Aviv-based startup offering autonomous AI for customer support, announced a $15 million seed round on Oct. 1, 2025. The round was led by Lightspeed Venture Partners, with participation from Jibe Ventures, LionTree, Phoenix, and Munich Re Ventures.

Notch.cx’s platform functions like a virtual support agent, autonomously resolving complex customer inquiries across multiple channels and languages. It has already processed millions of support tickets for clients in e-commerce, gaming, and SaaS. The new funding will enable Notch.cx to expand its AI capabilities and grow its international customer base.

Funding Details:

• Startup: Notch.cx

• Investors: Lightspeed Venture Partners (lead), Jibe Ventures, LionTree, Phoenix, Munich Re Ventures

• Amount Raised: $15 million

• Total Raised: $15 million

• Funding Stage: Seed

• Funding Date: Oct 1, 2025

Phaidra Raises $50M in Series B Funding for Data Center Efficiency

Seattle-based Phaidra announced a $50 million Series B on Oct. 1, 2025, bringing its total funding to about $120 million. The round was led by Collaborative Fund, with participation from Helena, Index Ventures, NVIDIA, and Sony Innovation Fund. Phaidra’s AI technology optimizes power, cooling, and workload management in data centers to improve energy efficiency and reduce costs.

With this new capital, Phaidra plans to accelerate product development and expand deployments with cloud and AI data center operators. Its goal is to make high-performance computing more sustainable and efficient.

Funding Details:

• Startup: Phaidra

• Investors: Collaborative Fund (lead), Helena, Index Ventures, NVIDIA, Sony Innovation Fund, others

• Amount Raised: $50 million

• Total Raised: $120 million

• Funding Stage: Series B

• Funding Date: Oct 1, 2025

Empower Semiconductor Raises $140M in Series D Funding for AI Power Efficiency

Empower Semiconductor, a San Jose startup developing power-management tech for AI processors, announced over $140 million in a Series D round on Oct. 1, 2025. The round was led by Fidelity Management and Research, with participation from Maverick Silicon, CapitalG (Google’s growth fund), Atreides Management, Socratic Partners, Walden Catalyst Ventures, Knollwood, and the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority.

Empower’s FinFast integrated voltage regulators improve the energy efficiency of data centers and AI hardware. The new funding will accelerate its operations and product development to meet growing demand for efficient AI compute infrastructure.

Funding Details:

• Startup: Empower Semiconductor

• Investors: Fidelity Management & Research (lead), Maverick Silicon, CapitalG, Atreides Management, Socratic Partners, Walden Catalyst Ventures, Knollwood, ADIA subsidiary

• Amount Raised: $140 million

• Total Raised: $140 million

• Funding Stage: Series D

• Funding Date: Oct 1, 2025

Ankored Raises $4M in Seed Funding for Youth Sports Compliance

Ankored, a Boston-based startup providing safety and compliance software for youth sports organizations, announced a $4 million seed round on Oct. 1, 2025. The round was led by Rally Ventures. Ankored’s platform centralizes requirements like background checks, certifications, and training for coaches, players, and staff, giving organizations real-time visibility into compliance status.

The startup says it will use the funding to expand product development and partnerships, aiming to become the standard compliance platform for youth sports leagues nationwide.

Funding Details:

• Startup: Ankored

• Investors: Rally Ventures (lead)

• Amount Raised: $4 million

• Total Raised: $4 million

• Funding Stage: Seed

• Funding Date: Oct 1, 2025

Price.com Raises $12M in Funding to Expand AI Savings Platform

Los Angeles-based Price.com announced a $12 million funding round on Oct. 1, 2025. The round was led by Waterbridge Capital and included participation from TRAC VC, Other World Computing founder Larry O’Connor, Caplin Ventures chair Ricky Caplin, NFL player turned investor Tim Tebow, and tech entrepreneur Luis Neto.

Price.com’s AI-driven platform combines coupons, cash-back offers, price history and real-time price comparisons to help cost-conscious consumers save money. The company plans to use the new funds to scale its AI product innovation and expand globally to meet demand for intelligent shopping tools.

Funding Details:

• Startup: Price.com

• Investors: Waterbridge Capital (lead), TRAC VC, Larry O’Connor, Ricky Caplin, Tim Tebow, Luis Neto

• Amount Raised: $12 million

• Total Raised: $12 million

• Funding Stage: Series A

• Funding Date: Oct 1, 2025

Returnalyze Raises $6M in Series A1 Funding for Retail AI Returns

Boston-based Returnalyze announced a $6 million Series A1 on Oct. 1, 2025. The round was led by Fintop Capital, with participation from Blu Ventures, Osage Venture Partners, and Data Point Capital. Returnalyze offers an AI-powered returns prevention platform for the retail industry, using machine learning to analyze customer behavior and product data to reduce unnecessary returns.

The startup will use the funds to hire additional engineers and data scientists, enhance its AI features, and scale integrations with e-commerce and logistics platforms like Shopify and Salesforce Commerce Cloud.

Funding Details:

• Startup: Returnalyze

• Investors: Fintop Capital (lead), Blu Ventures, Osage Venture Partners, Data Point Capital

• Amount Raised: $6 million

• Total Raised: $6 million

• Funding Stage: Series A1

• Funding Date: Oct 1, 2025

SolidCore.ai Raises $4M in Seed Funding for AI Security Platform

SolidCore.ai, a Menlo Park startup focused on AI security and compliance, raised $4 million in seed funding on Oct. 1, 2025. The round was led by Runtime Ventures, with participation from Epic Ventures and cybersecurity industry angel investors.

SolidCore.ai’s platform provides continuous monitoring and governance for enterprise generative AI applications, detecting misconfigurations, policy violations, and anomalous usage. The new capital will be used to expand the startup’s engineering team and accelerate development of its risk identification and compliance tools for AI environments.

Funding Details:

• Startup: SolidCore.ai

• Investors: Runtime Ventures (lead), Epic Ventures, cybersecurity angel investors

• Amount Raised: $4 million

• Total Raised: $4 million

• Funding Stage: Seed

• Funding Date: Oct 1, 2025

Prosper AI Raises $5M in Seed Funding for Healthcare Voice Agents

Prosper AI, a New York City startup building AI voice assistants for healthcare, announced a $5 million seed round on Oct. 1, 2025. The funding was led by Emergence Capital, with participation from Y Combinator, CRV, and Company Ventures.

Prosper AI’s platform creates specialized voice agents that can handle tasks like patient scheduling, billing, and insurance verification by integrating with healthcare systems. The new funding will accelerate development of its healthcare voice AI platform, which is already processing hundreds of thousands of patient calls for hospitals and clinics.

Funding Details:

• Startup: Prosper AI

• Investors: Emergence Capital (lead), Y Combinator, CRV, Company Ventures

• Amount Raised: $5 million

• Total Raised: $5 million

• Funding Stage: Seed

• Funding Date: Oct 1, 2025

Tokinvest Raises $3.2M in Pre-Seed Funding for Asset Tokenization

Dubai-based Tokinvest, a regulated platform for tokenizing real-world assets, closed a $3.2 million pre-seed round on Oct. 1, 2025. Investors included Triliv Holdings and Exponential Science. Tokinvest’s marketplace lets property owners, funds, and commodity issuers create tokenized shares that investors worldwide can buy and trade on a compliant platform.

The startup will use the funding to grow its platform, obtain additional regulatory approvals, and onboard new asset classes (from real estate to funds and commodities) for global investors.

Funding Details:

• Startup: Tokinvest

• Investors: Triliv Holdings, Exponential Science

• Amount Raised: $3.2 million

• Total Raised: $3.2 million

• Funding Stage: Pre-Seed

• Funding Date: Oct 1, 2025

Dashmote Raises $6M in Series A1 Funding for Generative AI Agent for Field Sales

Amsterdam-based Dashmote secured $6 million in a Series A1 funding round to fuel US Expansion for Dashmote’s generative AI agent for field sales. The round was led by Blossom Street Ventures and Rabobank. Dashmote offers an AI-powered analytics platform (DashSalesAI) that converts unstructured online data (from food delivery apps, maps, etc.) into actionable sales insights for brands.

Its customers (including Coca-Cola, Nestlé, and AB InBev) use Dashmote to discover market opportunities and optimize field sales. Dashmote will use the funding to launch new AI agent products, expand its team, and grow its U.S. presence.

Founded in 2015 by Dennis Tan, Matthaeus Schreder, and Stefan Tan, Dashmote has already built a reputation for transforming raw, unstructured data into actionable sales and marketing intelligence. Its platform taps into millions of venue profiles across food delivery, e-commerce, social media, and mapping services. Now the company is moving beyond insights into automation, positioning DashSalesAI as a virtual colleague who can surface nearby leads, prepare daily briefings, draft messages, and log visits automatically.

Funding Details:

• Startup: Dashmote

• Investors: Blossom Street Ventures, Rabobank

• Amount Raised: $6 million

• Total Raised: $6 million

• Funding Stage: Series A1

• Funding Date: Oct 1, 2025

Composite Raises $5.6M in Seed Funding to Automate Browser Workflows

Composite, a San Francisco startup building an AI “autopilot” for web browsers, announced a $5.6 million seed round on Oct. 1, 2025. The funding was led by Nat Friedman and Daniel Gross (of NFDG), with participation from Menlo Ventures and Anthropic’s Anthology Fund. Composite’s technology integrates AI into existing browsers (Chrome, Edge, etc.) to predict and automate repetitive work tasks—like web research, data entry, and email drafting—directly within the user’s usual workflows.

The new capital will support the development of personalization features and the expansion of Composite’s team as it scales its AI-driven browser assistant for professionals.

Funding Details:

• Startup: Composite

• Investors: Nat Friedman (lead), Daniel Gross (lead), Menlo Ventures, Anthropic Anthology Fund

• Amount Raised: $5.6 million

• Total Raised: $5.6 million

• Funding Stage: Seed

• Funding Date: Oct 1, 2025

Descope Raises $35M Seed Extension for Identity Platform

Descope, a Los Altos-based identity and access management startup, raised a $35 million seed round extension on Oct. 1, 2025. The extension was backed by existing investors Cerca Partners, Dell Technologies Capital, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Notable Capital, Triventures, and Unusual Ventures.

Descope’s no-code/low-code IAM platform helps companies manage user and AI agent identities across applications with seamless workflows. The startup plans to use the funds to invest in research on “agentic identity” (securing AI identities), hire more engineering talent, and expand into new global markets.
Funding Details:

• Startup: Descope

• Investors: Cerca Partners, Dell Technologies Capital, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Notable Capital, Triventures, Unusual Ventures

• Amount Raised: $35 million

• Total Raised: $88 million

• Funding Stage: Seed (extension)

• Funding Date: Oct 1, 2025

Aerska Emerges From Stealth with $21M in Seed Funding for Brain RNA Therapeutics

Dublin-based biotechnology startup Aerska launched with a $21 million seed round. The funding was co-led by Age1, Backed VC and Speedinvest, with participation from BlueYard Capital, Norrsken VC, and Ada Ventures. Aerska’s proprietary technology is designed to deliver RNA interference drugs across the blood-brain barrier to silence genes driving neurological diseases.

The new capital will fund continued development of its antibody-oligonucleotide conjugates and data science platform as the company focuses on gene silencing therapies for Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, and other CNS disorders.
Funding Details:

• Startup: Aerska

• Investors: Age1, Backed VC, Speedinvest (co-leads); BlueYard Capital, Norrsken VC, Ada Ventures

• Amount Raised: $21 million

• Total Raised: $21 million

• Funding Stage: Seed

• Funding Date: Oct 1, 2025

Rocket.new Raises $15M in Seed Funding for AI App-Development Platform

Surat, India-based Rocket.new announced a $15 million seed round on Oct. 1, 2025. The round was led by Salesforce Ventures, with participation from Accel and Together Fund. Rocket.new’s AI-driven platform enables users to build full-stack web and mobile applications from simple natural-language prompts.

Launched in June 2025, Rocket.new has already attracted 400,000+ users worldwide (including enterprise customers like Meta and PayPal) and generated $4.5M ARR. The new funding will accelerate development of proprietary models, expand the company’s Palo Alto office, and double its engineering team in India.

Funding Details:

• Startup: Rocket.new

• Investors: Salesforce Ventures (lead), Accel, Together Fund

• Amount Raised: $15 million

• Total Raised: $15 million

• Funding Stage: Seed

• Funding Date: Oct 1, 2025

PredictAP Secures $5M in Funding to Accelerate AI Invoicing for Real Estate

Miami-based PredictAP, an AI-driven accounts payable automation startup for real estate, closed an additional $5 million funding round on Oct. 1, 2025. The round was led by RET Ventures, with participation from Wise Ventures. PredictAP’s AI platform automatically codes and processes invoices, cutting approval times from days to hours and saving property management companies time and money.

The new capital will support product enhancements (including deeper integrations with ERP systems), go-to-market expansion, and continued growth of its customer base, which now processes over 4 million invoices annually.

Funding Details:

• Startup: PredictAP

• Investors: RET Ventures (lead), Wise Ventures

• Amount Raised: $5 million

• Total Raised: $5 million

• Funding Stage: Venture (pre-Series A)

• Funding Date: Oct 1, 2025

Temporal Closes $105M Secondary Round at $2.5B Valuation

Seattle-based Temporal, developer of an open-source workflow orchestration platform, raised $105 million in a secondary share sale on Oct. 1, 2025. The round was led by GIC (Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund) and included Tiger Global and Index Ventures. This secondary financing values the company at $2.5 billion, up from $1.72B earlier this year.

Temporal’s founders will use the proceeds to reward long-time employees and fund continued product development, even though no new primary funding was issued. The company, known for helping developers reduce complexity in distributed systems, has now raised $350M in total capital.

Funding Details:

• Startup: Temporal

• Investors: GIC (lead), Tiger Global, Index Ventures

• Amount Raised: $105 million (secondary)

• Total Raised: $350 million (including prior rounds)

• Funding Stage: Secondary round

• Funding Date: Oct 1, 2025