Top Startup and Tech Funding News – March 16, 2025

It’s Monday, March 16, 2026, and we’re back with today’s top startup and tech funding news. Today’s rounds highlight surging investor conviction in core AI infrastructure, industrial robotics, biotech platforms, and tokenized financial systems. As competition in generative AI intensifies, top-tier VCs and strategics are doubling down on foundation model developers, chip co-design, and liquid cooling—betting on infrastructure plays with deep technical moats.

Significant Series A-D raises reveal momentum across “physical AI,” macrocyclic peptides, and geothermal drilling, while energy and fintech platforms are attracting capital to modernize compliance-heavy sectors. Today’s deals span AI, hardware, climate, life sciences, and blockchain—reflecting a broad realignment toward systems that bridge digital intelligence and the physical world.

Venture Funding News

Funding Highlights

• XPeng AeroHT raises nearly $200M for flying car production expansion
• D-Robotics secures $120M to advance embodied AI robotics platform
• Frore Systems raises $143M Series D to scale liquid cooling for AI chips
• RoboForce secures $52M to deploy “Physical AI” industrial robots
• Unnatural Products raises $45M Series B to advance macrocyclic peptide drugs
• GA Drilling secures $44.1M to make deep geothermal viable at scale
• Fuse lands $25M Series A to modernize credit union lending software
• Halcyon raises $21M Series A to bring AI insights to the energy sector
• Ironlight Group raises $21M Series A to build tokenized securities platform

Investor Activity

Today’s funding wave saw deep participation from global leaders backing AI-native infrastructure and frontier verticals. Lightspeed, Iconiq, and Sequoia anchored multibillion-dollar AI rounds, while strategic players like Nvidia and Merck supported hardware and biotech plays. Climate and fintech funds targeted foundational upgrades in grid intelligence and financial systems. Across categories, capital is converging on platforms engineered for scale, defensibility, and real-world deployment.

Tech Funding News

XPeng AeroHT raises nearly $200M in funding for flying car production expansion

XPeng AeroHT (branded internationally as Aridge), the flying car affiliate of EV maker XPeng, has secured nearly $200 million in new equity funding. The strategic investment will fuel the scale-up of its electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) vehicles, as the company prepares for commercial production. XPeng AeroHT has already built a 120,000-square-meter factory capable of rolling out one flying car every 30 minutes, and this funding positions it for a potential IPO and global expansion.

The Guangzhou-based venture aims to make personal aerial vehicles a reality, focusing on flying cars for urban transport and logistics. By bolstering manufacturing and securing key industry partnerships, XPeng AeroHT is poised to maintain its lead in the nascent flying car market, with an eye on upcoming regulatory approvals and early customer deployments later this year.

• Startup: XPeng AeroHT (Aridge) – XPeng’s flying car venture

• Investors: Hillhouse Ventures, Sequoia China (Hongshan), Gaorong Ventures, Fortune Capital, and others

• Amount Raised: Nearly $200 million

• Total Raised: Roughly $1 billion to date

• Funding Stage: Late-stage equity financing (pre-IPO)

• Funding Date: Mar 13, 2026

Frore Systems reaches unicorn status with $143M Series D for chip cooling tech

Frore Systems, a Silicon Valley deep-tech startup, has raised $143 million in a Series D round, valuing the company at $1.64 billion. Frore is developing solid-state cooling chips to replace traditional fans in electronics, using innovative ultrasonic technology to dissipate heat in laptops, data centers, and other devices. The eight-year-old company will use the funds to scale production of its AirJet cooling chips and secure design wins with major OEMs.

The Series D funding – which elevates Frore to unicorn status – underscores investor confidence in solutions tackling the thermal limits of advanced processors. As AI and high-performance computing drive up heat output, Frore’s solid-state micro-coolers promise quieter, thinner, and more reliable thermal management, positioning the company to tap a growing demand across consumer and enterprise hardware markets.

• Startup: Frore Systems – Developer of solid-state cooling chips for electronics

• Investors: Led by an undisclosed global tech investor group (participation from institutional venture funds)

• Amount Raised: $143 million

• Total Raised: Over $250 million (estimated)

• Funding Stage: Series D

• Funding Date: Mar 16, 2026

D-Robotics secures $120M in funding to advance its embodied AI robotics platform

D-Robotics, a Chinese AI robotics startup spun out from Horizon Robotics, has completed a $120 million Series B1 funding round. The fresh capital will accelerate R&D and deployment of D-Robotics’ full-stack “embodied intelligence” platform, which provides specialized chips, software, and development kits for next-generation robots. The company’s technology integrates edge AI computing with cloud services to power a range of autonomous machines – from humanoids and robotic dogs to factory and logistics robots.

D-Robotics plans to use the funding to expand its engineering teams and product offerings, enabling robotics developers to more easily build intelligent machines with real-world awareness and coordination. This investment, backed by strategic partners, reflects surging investor enthusiasm for physical AI systems that can operate in factories, warehouses, and other complex environments – an area increasingly seen as the next frontier in AI commercialization.

• Startup: D-Robotics – Provider of AI chips and software for robotics (spun out of Horizon Robotics)

• Investors: Synstellation Capital, Didi Global, Meituan Longzhu, Baillie Gifford, Hillhouse Capital, Vertex Growth (Temasek), Linear Capital, and others

• Amount Raised: $120 million

• Total Raised: $220 million (combined Series A and B rounds)

• Funding Stage: Series B1 (extension)

• Funding Date: Mar 16, 2026

Unnatural Products lands $45M in Series B funding to drug the “undruggable” with macrocyclic peptides

Unnatural Products, a biotech startup from California, has raised $45 million in Series B financing to advance its pipeline of macrocyclic peptide therapeutics. The company is developing an AI-enabled drug discovery platform that engineers synthetic macrocycles – complex ring-shaped molecules – capable of hitting disease targets once deemed “undruggable.” Unnatural Products’ approach combines machine learning, automated chemistry, and high-throughput screening to design oral peptide drugs that can penetrate cells and disrupt tough intracellular targets (for example, in cardiometabolic and immunological diseases).

This funding will support the startup’s lead programs moving toward the clinic and expand partnerships with pharma companies (it recently inked a deal with Novartis). The round’s strong backing signals confidence in macrocyclic peptides as a promising new therapeutic class bridging the best features of small molecules and antibodies to tackle challenging diseases.

• Startup: Unnatural Products – Developer of AI-driven macrocyclic peptide therapeutics

• Investors: The Venture Collective (lead), argenx, Droia Ventures, Merck’s Global Health Innovation Fund, Artis Ventures, First Spark Ventures (among others)

• Amount Raised: $45 million

• Total Raised: ~$65 million

• Funding Stage: Series B

• Funding Date: Mar 16, 2026

Synapx emerges with major seed funding to build “Physical AI” robots

Synapx, a new startup founded by former Horizon Robotics executives, has exited stealth mode with a seed round of hundreds of millions of yuan (estimated at $30–40 million). Backed by Horizon Robotics and several U.S. dollar venture funds, Synapx is on a mission to develop what it calls “Physical AGI” – artificial general intelligence embodied in robotic form. The Beijing-based company’s founding team brings deep expertise in AI chips, autonomous driving systems, and world-model learning. With this hefty seed financing, Synapx will accelerate R&D on its proprietary “Physical AI Turing Test,” a benchmark for versatile real-world robot intelligence.

The startup plans to build advanced humanoid and mobile robots capable of complex reasoning and learning in dynamic environments. Synapx’s ambitious vision and heavyweight backing underscore a broader trend: top AI talent and capital in China converging to push the boundaries of intelligent robotics capable of seamlessly integrating perception, decision-making, and action in the physical world.

• Startup: Synapx – “Physical AI” robotics startup (China)

• Investors: Horizon Robotics (strategic backer) and prominent global VC funds (undisclosed)

• Amount Raised: Undisclosed (seed round of several hundred million RMB, approx. $35–40 million)

• Total Raised: $35–40 million (seed)

• Funding Stage: Seed

• Funding Date: Mar 16, 2026

Avail raises $27M in funding to build a next-gen blockchain infrastructure network

Avail, a New York-based blockchain technology startup, has raised $27 million in early-stage funding led by Peter Thiel’s Founders Fund. Avail is developing a decentralized infrastructure platform for blockchain and Web3 applications, aiming to make it easier for developers to deploy and scale distributed apps. The startup’s network will provide high-throughput transaction-processing and data-availability layers that can plug into various blockchain ecosystems.

With backing from Founders Fund and other crypto-forward investors, Avail plans to grow its engineering team and launch its platform for developers later this year. The funding comes amid renewed investor interest in Web3 infrastructure, and Avail’s technology could help address bottlenecks in blockchain scalability and interoperability. By enabling more efficient use of multiple chains, Avail looks to support the next wave of decentralized finance, gaming, and enterprise blockchain use cases with a robust underlying network.

• Startup: Avail – Blockchain infrastructure start-up (decentralized data & scaling platform)

• Investors: Founders Fund (lead), with participation from crypto-focused funds and angels

• Amount Raised: $27 million

• Total Raised: $27 million (early-stage round)

• Funding Stage: Seed/Series A (early-stage)

• Funding Date: Mar 16, 2026

Fuse raises $25M in Series A funding to modernize credit union loan systems with AI

Fuse, a fintech startup building an AI-native loan origination system (LOS) for lenders, has raised $25 million in Series A funding. The round was co-led by Footwork and Primary Venture Partners, with NextView and Commerce Ventures also participating. Fuse is targeting the outdated software that U.S. credit unions and community banks use to originate loans, which often requires lengthy integrations and manual processes. By leveraging large language models and automation, Fuse’s platform can speed up underwriting, auto-fill applications, and reduce operational costs for lenders.

The company already has over 100 financial institutions as customers and is offering a “rescue fund” incentive to help credit unions switch from legacy LOS vendors. With the new capital, San Francisco-based Fuse plans to expand its engineering and go-to-market teams and roll out its AI-driven LOS more broadly. The goal is to provide smaller lenders with a modern, intelligent system of record that improves lending efficiency and member experience in an era of rising digital expectations.

• Startup: Fuse – Developer of AI-powered loan origination software for credit unions

• Investors: Footwork and Primary Venture Partners (co-leads), NextView Ventures, Commerce Ventures

• Amount Raised: $25 million

• Total Raised: $30 million (including seed funding)

• Funding Stage: Series A

• Funding Date: Mar 16, 2026

Halcyon raises $21M Series A funding to bring AI intelligence to the energy industry

Halcyon, a San Francisco-based startup building an AI platform for the energy sector, has raised $21 million in Series A funding led by Energize Capital. Halcyon offers an intelligence hub for energy professionals, aggregating and analyzing vast datasets – from regulatory filings to grid data – using specialized AI. Its platform allows utilities, grid operators, and energy investors to query thousands of energy documents in natural language and receive actionable insights, while its data subscription products track critical metrics like tariffs, power plant projects, and battery storage deployments.

With trillions of dollars flowing into power infrastructure and clean energy, Halcyon’s tools help stakeholders make faster, smarter decisions in a traditionally opaque and fragmented information landscape. The new funding will be used to expand Halcyon’s software capabilities, deepen its data coverage, and scale to meet growing demand among energy companies and investors. As part of the round, Energize Capital’s partner Tyler Lancaster will join Halcyon’s board, reflecting strong confidence in Halcyon’s mission to become the “AI brain” of the global energy industry.

• Startup: Halcyon – AI-powered data platform for energy industry decision-makers

• Investors: Energize Capital (lead), Zero Infinity Partners, Congruent Ventures, Obvious Ventures, Sabancı Climate Ventures, and others

• Amount Raised: $21 million

• Total Raised: $27 million

• Funding Stage: Series A

• Funding Date: Mar 16, 2026

Ironlight Group lands $21M in funding to expand its tokenized securities marketplace

Ironlight Group, an Austin-based fintech company developing infrastructure for tokenized securities, has closed a $21 million Series A round. The funding was backed by a roster of finance industry veterans and institutional investors, including Greg Braca (former CEO of TD Bank) and funds like Sei Development Foundation and Laidlaw Private Equity. Ironlight operates a regulated Alternative Trading System (ATS) for trading digital asset securities – essentially enabling private equity, bonds, real estate and other traditionally illiquid assets to be tokenized and traded under U.S. securities laws.

With this infusion, Ironlight will scale up its trading platform and settlement technology, which combine the safeguards of traditional markets with the efficiency of blockchain. The startup’s platform allows instantaneous “atomic” settlement of trades and integrates issuance, distribution, and secondary trading of tokenized assets. Ironlight’s goal is to modernize capital markets by bringing blockchain speed and transparency to institutional trading of securities, all within the compliance framework that big investors require. The fresh capital will accelerate Ironlight’s product build-out and support the onboarding of financial institutions as tokenized markets gain traction.

• Startup: Ironlight Group – Regulated fintech platform for tokenized securities trading

• Investors: Financial industry leaders, including Greg Braca (ex-TD Bank CEO), Sei Development Foundation, Laidlaw Private Equity (among others)

• Amount Raised: $21 million

• Total Raised: $21 million (Series A was the company’s first institutional round)

• Funding Stage: Series A

• Funding Date: Mar 16, 2026

Chorus Intelligence secures £15M in funding to boost AI-powered crime investigation software

Chorus Intelligence, a UK-based digital investigations software company, has received a £15 million (approximately $18 million) investment from Maven Capital Partners. Chorus provides an AI-driven platform used by law enforcement and security agencies to manage the deluge of data in modern criminal investigations. Its software helps analysts organize and analyze information from disparate sources – such as phone records, financial transactions, and open-source intelligence – to uncover leads and evidence faster. The new growth funding, led by Maven’s UK regional buyout fund, will enable Chorus to enhance its analytics with more artificial intelligence capabilities, expand internationally (especially in the US), and explore strategic acquisitions.

Founded in 2011, Chorus recently launched the Chorus Intelligence Suite, which uses machine learning to automate analysis of large datasets and identify patterns in complex cases. With digital crimes and data volumes soaring, agencies worldwide are investing in tools like Chorus to improve case efficiency. Maven’s backing will help Chorus scale its team and technology to meet rising demand from police and corporate security clients facing cybercrime, fraud, and other data-heavy investigations.

• Startup: Chorus Intelligence – Provider of digital investigation and data analytics software for law enforcement

• Investors: Maven Capital Partners (via its UK Regional Buyout Fund II)

• Amount Raised: £15 million (≈ $18 million)

• Total Raised: ~£20 million (including prior rounds)

• Funding Stage: Growth investment (minority stake)

• Funding Date: Mar 16, 2026

Tech Funding Summary Table