Top Startup and Tech Funding News Roundup – Week Ending October 25, 2025

It’s Saturday, October 25, 2025, and we’re back with the top startup and tech funding news stories spanning the U.S. and around the world. From billion-dollar AI infrastructure bets to fintech, enterprise SaaS, and Web3 innovations, investors showed no signs of slowing down. This week’s coverage spans Monday, October 20, through Saturday, October 25, spotlighting both late-stage powerhouses and early-stage disruptors shaping the next generation of technology.

Crusoe Energy Systems led the headlines with a massive $1.38 billion Series E at a $10 billion valuation, fueling the AI data-center race with cleaner energy solutions. Fal.ai and Sesame each raised $250 million to expand their multimodal and wearable AI platforms, underscoring investor appetite for frontier AI experiences. Anrok continued fintech’s momentum with a $55 million Series C to automate global tax compliance, while Findem secured $51 million to push the boundaries of talent-AI search.

At the early-stage end, Nexos AI emerged as Europe’s newest AI-security contender with €30 million in Series A funding, Letterhead raised $34 million to redefine the newsletter economy, and Clerq secured $21 million to reinvent high-ticket B2B payments. Pieverse and Silkline rounded out the week with $7 million and $4 million seed rounds, respectively—proof that innovation continues to thrive from blockchain compliance to AI-driven supply chains.

Funding Highlights

• Crusoe Energy Systems topped the week with a $1.38 billion Series E to power AI data centers with cleaner energy.

• Fal.ai raised $250 million at a $4 billion valuation to expand its multimodal AI platform.

• Sesame secured $250 million to bring always-on AI smart glasses to market.

• Anrok pulled in $55 million to scale its tax-automation fintech platform globally.

• Findem landed $51 million to supercharge its AI-based talent-matching engine.

• Nexos AI raised €30 million to secure enterprise AI adoption across Europe.

• Letterhead secured $34 million to transform newsletter monetization for media brands.

• Clerq raised $21 million to modernize high-value payments.

• Pieverse and Silkline attracted early-stage backing for blockchain and supply-chain AI innovations.

Investor Activity

Top investors this week included Sequoia Capital, Kleiner Perkins, Index Ventures, Spark Capital, Valor Equity Partners, and Animoca Brands, alongside institutional giants such as Fidelity and Mubadala Capital. Corporate and strategic players like Nvidia also deepened their stakes in AI infrastructure, while early-stage funds continued to support fintech, SaaS, and industrial AI startups.

Together, these financings reflect a venture market that remains bullish on transformative technologies—especially those powering AI, automation, and data-driven enterprise growth.

Here’s the full breakdown. Until next week, have a great weekend.

Nexos AI Raises €30 Million in Series A Funding for Enterprise AI Security

Nexos AI, founded by the co-founders of Nord Security, closed a €30 million Series A round to help enterprises adopt AI safely by maintaining data control and privacy. The Lithuania-based startup is positioning itself as a neutral intermediary between employees and large language models, providing a “Switzerland” for enterprise AI. This funding will accelerate its product development, hiring, and go-to-market efforts.

“Nexos.ai will use the funding to scale its platform’s abilities to remove blockers to enterprise AI adoption like security, observability, governance, and cost control, allowing companies to more quickly benefit from the use of AI models in their business,” Nexos AI said in a blog post.

Funding Details:

• Startup: Nexos AI

• Investors: Index Ventures (lead), Evantic Capital, Creandum, Dig Ventures, angel investors including tech executives

• Amount Raised: €30 million

• Total Raised: Not disclosed

• Funding Stage: Series A

• Funding Date: October 20, 2025

Sesame Raises $250 Million Series B for AI Smart Glasses

Sesame, led by former Oculus executives, secured a $250 million Series B to build AI-powered smart glasses with an always-on personal assistant capability. The company will use the funds to launch its early beta eyewear, expand its engineering team, and scale its manufacturing and distribution. The strong backing underscores investor confidence in its vision of wearable AI tech.

Funding Details:

• Startup: Sesame

• Investors: Sequoia Capital (lead), Spark Capital, other undisclosed VCs

• Amount Raised: $250 million

• Total Raised: $250 million

• Funding Stage: Series B

• Funding Date: October 21, 2025

Fal.ai Raises $250 Million Series D at $4 Billion Valuation for Multimodal AI

Fal.ai has secured about $250 million in a late-stage round (Series D) at a valuation of over $4 billion. The startup offers cloud infrastructure for multimodal AI models (image, audio, video) and is witnessing rapid growth as demand for non-text AI surges. The new capital will help build out its GPU cloud, global development, and enterprise services.

Co-founded in 2021 by former Coinbase and Amazon engineers, Fal.ai positions itself as the “render network” for generative media, providing a cloud platform with thousands of high-end GPUs to serve AI developers’ needs for fast, scalable content generation.

The new investment comes just three months after Fal.ai’s $125 million Series C, and brings its total funding to nearly $450 million so far. With demand for multimedia AI applications exploding, Fal.ai plans to use the capital to expand its infrastructure and meet surging interest from enterprise clients. The company’s platform already hosts hundreds of AI models and counts customers like Adobe, Canva, and Shopify, highlighting Fal.ai’s emergence as a key enabler of the next generation of creative AI tools.

Funding Details:

• Startup: Fal.ai

• Investors: Kleiner Perkins (lead), Sequoia Capital, Meritech Capital

• Amount Raised: $250 million

• Total Raised: $375 million (estimated)

• Funding Stage: Series D

• Funding Date: October 21, 2025

Findem Raises $51 Million Series C and Growth Loan to Scale Talent-AI Platform

Findem, an AI talent acquisition and management startup based in San Francisco, raised $51 million in funding, including a $36 million Series C and $15 million growth loan. The company uses “3D talent data” and labeled datasets to surface and engage top candidates, differentiating itself from traditional recruiting tools. The funds will support data expansion, AI development, and global go-to-market efforts.

Funding Details:

• Startup: Findem

• Investors: SLW (Silver Lake Waterman) (lead), Wing Ventures, Harmony Capital, Four Rivers Group, J.P. Morgan (growth debt)

• Amount Raised: $51 million

• Total Raised: $105 million

• Funding Stage: Series C + growth financing

• Funding Date: October 21, 2025

Pieverse Secures $7 Million Strategic Seed for Web3 Payment Infrastructure

Pieverse, a Web3 startup building blockchain-native payment and compliance infrastructure, closed a $7 million strategic seed round co-led by Animoca Brands and UOB Ventures. The company aims to make on-chain transactions audit-ready and compliant by embedding invoice and receipt timestamping directly into blockchain rails. The funding will support team growth and multi-chain integrations.

Funding Details:

• Startup: Pieverse

• Investors: Animoca Brands (lead), UOB Ventures (lead), 10K Ventures, Signum Capital, Morningstar Ventures, Undefined Labs, Sonic Foundation

• Amount Raised: $7 million

• Total Raised: Not disclosed

• Funding Stage: Strategic Seed

• Funding Date: October 24, 2025

Crusoe Energy Systems Raises $1.38 Billion Series E at $10 Billion Valuation for AI Data Centers

Crusoe Energy Systems, a US-based startup providing energy-efficient infrastructure for AI data centers, raised $1.38 billion in a Series E round that values the company at about $10 billion. Crusoe uses flared gas and renewable energy to power modular data centers that reduce carbon footprints and support the AI compute boom. The funding will accelerate the deployment of cleaner AI infrastructure worldwide.

Founded by Chase Lochmiller and Cully Cavness, Crusoe builds massive data centers that run on clean energy sources, aiming to make the next generation of AI computation more scalable and environmentally responsible. Lochmiller, a former hedge-fund quant turned entrepreneur, now leads a company sitting at the intersection of AI and energy—an intersection that’s becoming more critical as the global demand for GPUs pushes power grids to their limits.

Funding Details:

• Startup: Crusoe Energy Systems

• Investors: Valor Equity Partners (lead), Mubadala Capital, Nvidia, Fidelity Management, Founders Fund

• Amount Raised: $1.38 billion

• Total Raised: Not publicly disclosed

• Funding Stage: Series E

• Funding Date: October 24, 2025

Anrok Raises $55 Million Series C for Global Sales-Tax Automation

Anrok, a fintech startup automating global sales and indirect tax compliance for enterprises, secured $55 million in a Series C led by Spark Capital with participation from Sapphire Ventures, Khosla Ventures, Sequoia Capital, and Index Ventures. The funds will help Anrok scale its tax automation platform, expand into new markets, and strengthen engineering operations.

Funding Details:

• Startup: Anrok

• Investors: Spark Capital (lead), Sapphire Ventures, Khosla Ventures, Sequoia Capital, Index Ventures

• Amount Raised: $55 million

• Total Raised: More than $100 million

• Funding Stage: Series C

• Funding Date: October 21, 2025

Letterhead Raises $34 Million Series A for Newsletter Platform

Letterhead, a Miami-based startup building a “newsletter operating system,” raised $34 million in Series A funding to expand its platform that helps companies launch and monetize email newsletters. The new funding will support engineering, marketing, and partnership expansion as Letterhead grows among publishers and media brands.

Funding Details:

• Startup: Letterhead

• Investors: PeakSpan Capital (lead)

• Amount Raised: $34 million

• Total Raised: Approximately $39 million (including prior seed)

• Funding Stage: Series A

• Funding Date: October 22, 2025

Silkline Raises $4 Million Seed for AI Supply Chain Platform

Silkline, a Seattle-based startup applying AI to advanced manufacturing supply chains, announced a $4 million seed round to expand its AI-powered sourcing and order-management tools. The company serves aerospace, defense, and robotics clients, and has seen five-fold revenue growth year-over-year. The new capital will help build new features and scale its customer network.

Funding Details:

• Startup: Silkline

• Investors: Origin Ventures (lead)

• Amount Raised: $4 million

• Total Raised: $4 million

• Funding Stage: Seed

• Funding Date: October 22, 2025

Clerq Secures $21 Million Funding to Power High-Ticket Payments

Clerq, a New York-based payments startup focused on “high-ticket” transactions across industries, has raised $21 million in funding, including a $12 million Series A led by 645 Ventures. The company enables account-to-account payments, replacing checks and wires for large-value transactions in underserved verticals. The funding will support product development and growth in B2B payments.

Funding Details:

• Startup: Clerq

• Investors: 645 Ventures (lead), FirstMark Capital, Fika Ventures, Commerce Ventures, Dash Fund

• Amount Raised: $21 million

• Total Raised: Not disclosed

• Funding Stage: Series A

• Funding Date: October 23, 2025

Tech Funding Summary Table