Top Startup and Tech Funding News – December 9, 2025
Nickie Louise
Posted On December 9, 2025
It’s Tuesday, December 9, 2025, and we’re back with the day’s top startup and tech funding news across generative AI infrastructure, supersonic energy, neuromorphic chips, defense tech, fintech, and enterprise software. From pre-seed to Series D, today’s rounds reflect accelerating investor appetite for high-performance compute, financial inclusion in emerging markets, and full-stack automation tools reshaping the enterprise stack.
Unconventional AI led the day with a massive $475 million seed round to build brain-inspired neuromorphic chips, while Boom Supersonic secured $300 million in Series B funding to commercialize its AI data center turbine line. Fal raised $140 million to expand real-time AI model-serving infrastructure, and Duve raised $60 million to personalize global hotel operations with generative AI.
Meanwhile, Solve Intelligence closed $40 million to accelerate patent AI tools, and Zed raised $16.5 million to modernize credit for Asia-Pacific’s rising professional class. Parallel Learning added $20 million to expand special ed teletherapy services across U.S. schools, and Pryzm brought in $12.2 million to streamline public-sector procurement for emerging defense tech.
Early-stage activity spotlighted new platforms that turn prompts into deployable apps, unify pre-sales engineering workflows, and automate custom AI deployment for businesses. Empromptu, Opine, and others show that AI-native vertical software remains a fertile ground for seed investment heading into year-end.
Funding Highlights
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Unconventional AI raised $475 million in seed funding to build neuromorphic compute systems.
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Boom Supersonic secured $300 million Series B to launch turbine-based AI power units.
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Fal closed $140 million Series D to scale generative media infrastructure.
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Duve raised $60 million in Series B funding to enhance AI guest platforms for hotels.
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Solve Intelligence secured $40 million to automate global patent workflows.
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Parallel Learning added $20 million to grow remote special education services.
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Zed raised $16.5 million in Series A funding to expand digital credit for young professionals.
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Pryzm secured $12.2 million to modernize U.S. defense procurement with AI.
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Opine raised $5 million in seed funding for pre-sales engineering automation.
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Empromptu closed $2 million to simplify custom AI app creation via prompts.
Investor Activity
Today’s landscape saw robust participation from tier-1 venture firms, frontier-tech funds, and sector-focused vehicles backing AI-native infrastructure, sovereign-grade defense systems, and fintech modernization across global markets. As 2025 enters its final funding weeks, capital continues to flow into startups reimagining how industries build, power, and govern critical systems.
Here’s the full breakdown of December 9’s most significant startup and tech fundings.
Fal Raises $140M in Series D Funding for Real-Time Generative Media Platform
Fal, a real-time generative media infrastructure startup, today announced it has secured $140 million in a Series D round. The Turkish-developed company hosts AI models that generate images, video, and audio, and will use the new funds to expand its platform and R&D.
The financing was led by Sequoia Capital, with major participation from Kleiner Perkins, Nvidia’s VC arm NVentures, Alkeon Capital, and existing backers including Andreessen Horowitz, Kindred Ventures, Meritech, Bessemer, Notable Capital, Shopify Ventures, and Salesforce Ventures. This capital infusion will help Fal scale its compute infrastructure and development as demand for AI-driven media creation grows.
Funding Details:
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Startup: Fal
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Investors: Sequoia Capital (lead), Kleiner Perkins, NVentures (NVIDIA), Alkeon Capital, Andreessen Horowitz, Kindred Ventures, Meritech, Bessemer Venture Partners, Notable Capital, Shopify Ventures, Salesforce Ventures
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Amount Raised: $140 million
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Total Raised: Not disclosed
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Funding Stage: Series D
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Funding Date: December 9, 2025
Boom Supersonic Raises $300M in Funding to Launch Superpower Turbines
Boom Supersonic, the Denver-based supersonic aircraft startup, announced a $300 million funding round. The round (characterized as a Series B) was led by Darsana Capital Partners and included participation from Altimeter Capital, ARK Invest, Bessemer Venture Partners, Robinhood Ventures, and Y Combinator.
Boom will use the proceeds to commercialize “Superpower,” a 42 MW natural gas turbine derived from its jet engine technology, which it will sell as a stationary power unit for AI data centers. The first customer, data-center startup Crusoe, has ordered 29 turbines (1.21 GW), and profits from these sales will help fund Boom’s ongoing development of its Overture supersonic airliner.
Funding Details:
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Startup: Boom Supersonic
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Investors: Darsana Capital Partners (lead), Altimeter Capital, ARK Invest, Bessemer Venture Partners, Robinhood Ventures, Y Combinator
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Amount Raised: $300 million
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Total Raised: ~$1 billion (cumulative)
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Funding Stage: Series B
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Funding Date: December 9, 2025
Unconventional AI Raises $475M in Seed Funding to Build Neuromorphic Chips
Unconventional AI, a neuromorphic computing startup, raised $475 million in a seed round on Dec 9, 2025. The two-month-old Massachusetts company, founded by former Databricks AI chief Naveen Rao, received funding at a $4.5 billion valuation. The round was co-led by Andreessen Horowitz and Lightspeed Venture Partners, with additional investment from Lux Capital, DCVC (Data Collective), and Jeff Bezos (who invested through an entity), and the CEO personally contributed $10 million.
Unconventional AI aims to develop energy-efficient, brain-inspired chips using analog physics, and this capital will support extensive prototyping of multiple computing architectures to enable large-scale AI computing beyond traditional GPUs.
Funding Details:
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Startup: Unconventional AI
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Investors: Andreessen Horowitz (lead), Lightspeed Venture Partners (lead), Lux Capital, DCVC, Jeff Bezos
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Amount Raised: $475 million
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Total Raised: $475 million
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Funding Stage: Seed
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Funding Date: December 9, 2025
Empromptu Raises $2M in Pre-Seed Funding to Simplify AI App Development
Empromptu, a San Francisco startup that builds AI applications from simple prompts, announced $2 million in pre-seed funding to simplify AI application development. Founded by former CodeSee CEO Shanea Leven and AI researcher Sean Robinson, Empromptu’s platform lets non-technical users describe desired AI features (for example, a classification or recommendation app) and automatically generates production-ready code.
The round was led by Precursor Ventures, with participation from Zeal Capital, Alumni Ventures, FoundersEdge, and South Loop. Empromptu will use the funding to hire engineers and enhance its AI model capabilities, enabling businesses to deploy custom AI solutions with built-in evaluation, governance, and continuous improvement.
Funding Details:
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Startup: Empromptu
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Investors: Precursor Ventures (lead), Zeal Capital, Alumni Ventures, FoundersEdge, South Loop
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Amount Raised: $2 million
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Total Raised: $2 million
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Funding Stage: Pre-Seed
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Funding Date: December 9, 2025
Zed Raises $16.5M in Series A Funding to Finance Young Professionals
Zed, a Philippines-based fintech startup offering credit products to young professionals, today announced a $16.5 million Series A funding. The round, led by Accel, brings Zed’s total funding to $22.5 million. Co-founded by Steve and Danielle Abraham, Zed issues modern credit cards for markets across the Asia-Pacific region, targeting users with limited traditional credit history.
The new capital will help the startup expand beyond its Philippines launch, leveraging recent regulatory licensing to scale its digital credit platform across the region.
Funding Details:
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Startup: Zed
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Investors: Accel (lead)
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Amount Raised: $16.5 million
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Total Raised: $22.5 million
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Funding Stage: Series A
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Funding Date: December 9, 2025
Opine Raises $5M in Seed Funding to Build AI Workspace for Sales Engineers
Opine, a Durham, North Carolina startup, announced a $5 million seed round to build a workspace for sales engineers. The funding, led by S3 Ventures, will support the development of Opine’s AI-powered workspace for pre-sales engineering teams. Founded by former JupiterOne executives, Opine provides a unified platform that integrates data, communications, and tools for sales engineers and customer success teams.
CEO Akash Ganapathi said the company aims to be “the first unified AI workspace for complex B2B sales,” and the seed capital will be used to hire engineers and refine the product as Opine scales its customer base.
Funding Details:
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Startup: Opine
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Investors: S3 Ventures (lead)
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Amount Raised: $5 million
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Total Raised: $7 million (including prior pre-seed)
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Funding Stage: Seed
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Funding Date: December 9, 2025
Duve Raises $60M in Series B Funding to Advance AI Hotel Guest Platform
Duve, an Israeli startup building an AI-driven guest management platform for hotels, announced a $60 million Series B funding to advance its AI hotel guest platform. The round was led by Susquehanna Growth Equity, with participation from XT Venture Capital and others, bringing Duve’s total funding to $85 million.
Duve’s unified platform replaces fragmented hotel systems with a single AI-powered layer that personalizes every step of the guest experience. The new funds will fuel Duve’s global expansion and AI infrastructure build-out, helping it serve more hotel chains and enhance guest service features (for example, automating responses and upsells) across its deployed properties.
Funding Details:
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Startup: Duve
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Investors: Susquehanna Growth Equity (lead), XT Venture Capital
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Amount Raised: $60 million
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Total Raised: $85 million
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Funding Stage: Series B
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Funding Date: December 9, 2025
Solve Intelligence Raises $40M in Series B Funding to Build AI Patent Copilot
Solve Intelligence, a legal-tech startup creating AI tools for patent professionals, today announced a $40 million Series B. The round was co-led by Visionaries and 20VC and brings the company’s total funding to $55 million. Solve’s specialized AI platform automates patent drafting, analysis, and claim charting; its new “Charts” feature will accelerate litigation and patent search tasks.
The funding will be used to double down on product development (including the Charts product) and expand Solve’s global footprint (with new offices and support in NYC and Munich) as it seeks to become the AI-native workflow for every part of the patent process.
Funding Details:
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Startup: Solve Intelligence
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Investors: Visionaries (lead), 20VC (lead), Thomson Reuters Ventures, Y Combinator
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Amount Raised: $40 million
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Total Raised: $55 million
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Funding Stage: Series B
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Funding Date: December 9, 2025
Parallel Learning Raises $20M Series B for Special Ed Teletherapy
Parallel Learning, a New York teletherapy platform for special education, has closed a $20 million Series B funding. The round was led by Valspring Capital and brings Parallel Learning’s total raised to $48.9 million. Founded in 2020, the company provides live online therapy sessions (speech, OT, etc.) to K-12 students with special needs.
The new funding will enable Parallel Learning to hire more clinicians and expand its service infrastructure, scaling up access for school districts nationwide that need remote special-education support.
Funding Details:
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Startup: Parallel Learning
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Investors: Valspring Capital (lead)
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Amount Raised: $20 million
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Total Raised: $48.9 million
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Funding Stage: Series B
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Funding Date: December 9, 2025
Pryzm Raises $12.2M in Seed Funding to Modernize Government Procurement
Pryzm, a defense-tech startup building an AI procurement platform for government contracts, announced $12.2 million in seed funding. The round was led by Andreessen Horowitz’s American Dynamism fund and included participation from XYZ Venture Capital and Amplify.LA and Forum Ventures. Pryzm’s AI-powered operating system helps federal agencies more efficiently discover and acquire emerging technologies, connecting defense innovators and government buyers on a unified platform.
“The future of national defense depends on how fast we can get the right technology into the right hands,” said Nick LaRovere, Co-Founder and CEO of Pryzm. “Procurement shouldn’t be a barrier to innovation. It should be the spark that drives it. With this round led by a16z, we’re accelerating a new era of speed, adaptability, and technological advantage for national security.”
The funding will advance Pryzm’s mission to accelerate procurement workflows for national security, giving both agencies and tech suppliers better tools to collaborate and move projects from concept to contract.
Funding Details:
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Startup: Pryzm
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Investors: Andreessen Horowitz (American Dynamism) (lead), XYZ Venture Capital, Amplify.LA, Forum Ventures
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Amount Raised: $12.2 million
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Total Raised: $12.2 million
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Funding Stage: Seed
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Funding Date: December 9, 2025
Tech Funding Summary Table
| Startup | Investors (Lead and notable) | Amount Raised | Total Raised | Funding Stage | Funding Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fal | Sequoia Capital (lead), Kleiner Perkins, NVentures (NVIDIA), Alkeon Capital, Andreessen Horowitz, Kindred Ventures, Meritech, Bessemer Venture Partners, Notable Capital, Shopify Ventures, Salesforce Ventures | $140M | Not disclosed | Series D | December 9, 2025 |
| Boom Supersonic | Darsana Capital Partners (lead), Altimeter Capital, ARK Invest, Bessemer, Robinhood Ventures, Y Combinator | $300M | ~$1B | Series B | December 9, 2025 |
| Unconventional AI | Andreessen Horowitz (lead), Lightspeed Venture Partners (lead), Lux Capital, DCVC, Jeff Bezos | $475M | $475M | Seed | December 9, 2025 |
| Empromptu | Precursor Ventures (lead), Zeal Capital, Alumni Ventures, FoundersEdge, South Loop | $2M | $2M | Pre-Seed | December 9, 2025 |
| Zed | Accel (lead) | $16.5M | $22.5M | Series A | December 9, 2025 |
| Opine | S3 Ventures (lead) | $5M | $7M | Seed | December 9, 2025 |
| Duve | Susquehanna Growth Equity (lead), XT Venture Capital | $60M | $85M | Series B | December 9, 2025 |
| Solve Intelligence | Visionaries (lead), 20VC (lead), Thomson Reuters Ventures, Y Combinator | $40M | $55M | Series B | December 9, 2025 |
| Parallel Learning | Valspring Capital (lead) | $20M | $48.9M | Series B | December 9, 2025 |
| Pryzm | Andreessen Horowitz (American Dynamism) (lead), XYZ Venture Capital, Amplify.LA, Forum Ventures | $12.2M | $12.2M | Seed | December 9, 2025 |
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