Top Startup and Tech Funding News – May 12, 2025

It’s Tuesday, May 12, 2026, and we’re back with today’s top startup and tech funding news. Today’s funding rounds highlight where investors believe the next wave of technological leverage will emerge: AI drug discovery, autonomous defense systems, crypto compliance infrastructure, AI-native cybersecurity, and space-based energy networks. From billion-dollar bets on machine learning for pharmaceuticals to new capital flowing into orbital infrastructure and enterprise voice AI, investors are doubling down on platforms designed to power both digital and physical systems at scale.

Large late-stage financings continue to concentrate around AI infrastructure and automation, while early-stage investors are increasingly targeting companies building foundational layers for security, compliance, and autonomous operations. Defense tech and space infrastructure also remained active, reflecting rising demand for resilient systems capable of operating across air, land, sea, orbit, and cyberspace. Today’s deals span healthcare AI, cybersecurity, crypto infrastructure, enterprise automation, quantum energy, and satellite networks—offering another signal that capital is moving toward technologies tied to long-term strategic infrastructure rather than short-term consumer trends.

Tech Funding News

Funding Highlights

• Isomorphic Labs raises $2.1B Series B to accelerate AI drug discovery
• Exaforce raises $125M Series B for real-time AI cybersecurity operations
• Elliptic raises $120M Series D to expand crypto compliance infrastructure
• Havoc raises $100M Series A for autonomous multi-domain defense systems
• Star Catcher Industries raises $65M Series A to build space-based power grid
• Vapi raises $50M Series B for enterprise AI voice agents
• Judgment Labs raises $32M Seed and Series A for AI agent optimization
• Greenboard raises $20M Series A for AI-powered securities compliance
• Casimir raises $12M seed to commercialize quantum vacuum energy chips
• Knit Health raises $11.6M seed for clinical intelligence AI platform

Investor Activity

Today’s funding activity drew participation from a mix of elite venture firms, sovereign investors, defense contractors, and major financial institutions betting on infrastructure-heavy technology markets. Thrive Capital, GV, Temasek, HarbourVest, Peak XV, and Lightspeed backed companies across AI drug discovery, cybersecurity, and enterprise automation, while Lockheed Martin and SAIC expanded their exposure to autonomous defense technologies. Financial institutions, including Deutsche Bank and Nasdaq Ventures, continued pushing deeper into digital asset compliance infrastructure, reflecting growing institutional demand for regulated crypto tooling. Across sectors, investors showed a strong appetite for platforms building defensible infrastructure layers in AI, security, healthcare, energy, and space systems.

Casimir Raises $12M Seed Funding to Develop Quantum Vacuum Power Chips

A rendering of Casimir’s energy harvesting chips paired with an iPhone. Image: Courtesy of Casimir

Casimir, a Houston-based quantum energy startup, announced the close of a $12 million seed round led by Scout Ventures to commercialize its “quantum vacuum energy” chips. The company’s MicroSparc semiconductor is engineered to harvest energy from quantum vacuum fields, providing continuous electrical power without batteries, cords, or charging.

The oversubscribed round (originally targeted at $8M) included investors Lavrock Ventures, Cottonwood Technology, Capital Factory, American Deep Tech, and Draper Associates. Casimir will use the funds to finalize chip performance and target a 2028 commercial launch of its first-generation device, aiming to disrupt ultra-low-power electronics markets.

Funding Details:

• Startup: Casimir
• Investors: Scout Ventures (lead), Lavrock Ventures, Cottonwood Technology, Capital Factory, American Deep Tech, Draper Associates
• Amount Raised: $12M
• Total Raised: $12M
• Funding Stage: Seed
• Funding Date: May 12, 2026

Judgment Labs Closes $32M in Seed and Series A Funding for AI Agent Improvement

Judgment Labs cofounders (from left to right): Chief Scientist Andrew Li, CEO Alex Shan, and CTO Joseph Camyre. Photo courtesy of Judgment

Judgment Labs, a San Francisco startup building infrastructure to improve AI “agent” models, announced it has raised $32 million in combined seed and Series A funding. Lightspeed Venture Partners led both rounds (doubling down six months after its initial investment), joined by Nova Global, SV Angel, Valor Equity Partners, and Dynamic.

Judgment’s platform turns production data from AI applications into actionable fixes, creating a continuous feedback loop that makes AI agents smarter over time. The new capital will fund hiring AI researchers and engineers to expand the product already in production at early-stage “agent-native” companies, underscoring investor confidence in Judgment’s technology.

Funding Details:

• Startup: Judgment Labs
• Investors: Lightspeed Venture Partners (lead), Nova Global, SV Angel, Valor Equity, Dynamic
• Amount Raised: $32M
• Total Raised: $32M
• Funding Stage: Seed & Series A
• Funding Date: May 12, 2026

Elliptic Raises $120M Series D Funding for Crypto Compliance

Elliptic, a London-headquartered blockchain analytics firm, closed a $120 million Series D led by One Peak. The round, which included strategic investors Nasdaq Ventures, Deutsche Bank, and the UK’s British Business Bank, values Elliptic at about $670 million. Elliptic’s platform provides crypto transaction screening and risk analytics for financial institutions.

The new funding will accelerate product expansion and global growth as regulators and banks increasingly rely on blockchain analytics to combat illicit cryptocurrency use. One Peak noted that global finance leaders backing this round have “placed their confidence in Elliptic” as a market leader.

Funding Details:

• Startup: Elliptic
• Investors: One Peak (lead), Nasdaq Ventures, Deutsche Bank, British Business Bank
• Amount Raised: $120M
• Total Raised: $120M
• Funding Stage: Series D
• Funding Date: May 12, 2026

Exaforce Raises $125M Series B Funding for Real-Time AI Security

Exaforce, a three-year-old cybersecurity startup, announced a $125 million Series B financing round. The round (which values Exaforce at ~$725 million) saw participation from investors including HarbourVest, Peak XV Partners, Mayfield, Khosla Ventures, and Seligman Ventures.

Exaforce has developed an AI-driven security operations platform using autonomous “Exabots” to triage and stop threats in real time. The fresh funding follows a $75M Series A raised last year, bringing total capital to about $200M, and will be used to scale the product as demand spikes in an era of increasingly automated cyberattacks.

Funding Details:

• Startup: Exaforce
• Investors: HarbourVest (lead), Peak XV Partners, Mayfield, Khosla Ventures, Seligman Ventures
• Amount Raised: $125M
• Total Raised: $200M
• Funding Stage: Series B
• Funding Date: May 12, 2026

Greenboard Raises $20M Series A Funding for AI Compliance Automation

Greenboard, an AI-powered securities compliance platform, announced that it has raised $20 million in funding. The fresh capital includes a $15.5 million Series A round led by Base10 Partners, with participation from Y Combinator, General Catalyst, and others. Greenboard’s service helps banks and brokerages use AI to meet regulatory requirements (for example, by detecting suspicious patterns in trading and communications).

The company, which serves over 500 financial institutions, said the funding will accelerate development of its compliance products, including a new training tool called GreenBCO.

Funding Details:

• Startup: Greenboard
• Investors: Base10 Partners (lead), Y Combinator, General Catalyst, Wayfinder Ventures (and others)
• Amount Raised: $20M
• Total Raised: $20M
• Funding Stage: Series A
• Funding Date: May 12, 2026

Isomorphic Labs Raises $2.1B Series B Funding to Accelerate AI Drug Discovery

Isomorphic Labs, a UK AI drug-discovery spinout from DeepMind, closed a $2.1 billion Series B funding round led by Thrive Capital. The round also saw new investment from the UK’s Sovereign AI Fund, Abu Dhabi’s MGX, Alphabet’s GV, and Temasek. This follows a $600 million raise in mid-2025.

Isomorphic Labs is building an AI platform (leveraging DeepMind’s AlphaFold protein-folding tech) to design novel drug candidates. The huge new investment underscores investor confidence in the venture — co-founded by DeepMind’s Demis Hassabis — as it prepares to advance potential drug targets toward clinical development.

Founded in 2021 as a spinout from Google DeepMind, the company was created by DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis after the success of AlphaFold, the AI system that stunned the scientific community by predicting protein structures with high accuracy. The breakthrough opened the door to a new idea inside biotech: using AI to predict how molecules behave before drugs ever reach a lab bench.

Funding Details:

• Startup: Isomorphic Labs
• Investors: Thrive Capital (lead), UK’s Sovereign AI Fund, Abu Dhabi MGX, GV, Temasek
• Amount Raised: $2.1B
• Total Raised: ~$2.7B (incl. prior $600M)
• Funding Stage: Series B
• Funding Date: May 12, 2026

Havoc Raises $100M Series A Funding for All-Domain Autonomous Systems

Havoc, a Rhode Island startup developing multi-domain autonomy software, announced a $100 million Series A round. Including previous funding, Havoc has now raised about $200M since its 2024 founding. The company’s software enables a single operator to coordinate fleets of unmanned vehicles across sea, air, and land, and has been deployed on over 100 autonomous surface vessels to date.

The new funding drew both new and returning investors (among them defense-focused firms like Boardman Bay Capital, Lockheed Martin, and SAIC) and will accelerate product development and geographic expansion into new markets.

• Startup: Havoc
• Investors: Boardman Bay Capital (lead), Lockheed Martin, SAIC, Taiwania Capital, Scout VC (and others)
• Amount Raised: $100M
• Total Raised: ~$200M
• Funding Stage: Series A
• Funding Date: May 12, 2026

Star Catcher Raises $65M Series A Funding to Build Space Power Grid

Star Catcher Industries, a space-tech startup building in-orbit power-beaming satellites, announced a $65 million Series A. The oversubscribed round was led by B Capital and co-led by Shield Capital and Cerberus Ventures. Star Catcher plans to use the funds to deploy its constellation of satellites that act as a shared electrical grid in space, sending energy on demand via optical beams to other spacecraft.

Founder Andrew Rush (formerly of Redwire) notes that a space-based power grid is a “fundamental infrastructure need” for the next era of space activity. Star Catcher says it has demonstrated its power-beaming tech on Earth and expects a space demonstration by year-end.

• Startup: Star Catcher Industries
• Investors: B Capital (lead), Shield Capital, Cerberus Ventures, (others)
• Amount Raised: $65M
• Total Raised: $88M (incl. prior $12.25M seed)
• Funding Stage: Series A
• Funding Date: May 12, 2026

Vapi Raises $50M Series B Funding After Amazon Rings AI Calling

Vapi, a San Francisco-based startup that provides an AI voice agent platform for enterprises, closed a $50 million Series B round led by Peak XV Partners. The round, which follows Vapi’s deployment in Amazon’s Ring business, values Vapi at roughly $500 million. Amazon’s Ring now routes 100% of its inbound customer calls through Vapi’s system, which helps automate natural-language phone support.

Other backers in the Series B include Microsoft’s venture fund M12, Kleiner Perkins, and Bessemer Venture Partners. To date, Vapi has processed over one billion calls on its platform. The company will use the new capital to expand its engineering and go-to-market teams as it broadens enterprise adoption.

Funding Details:

• Startup: Vapi
• Investors: Peak XV Partners (lead), Microsoft M12, Kleiner Perkins, Bessemer Venture Partners
• Amount Raised: $50M
• Total Raised: $72M
• Funding Stage: Series B
• Funding Date: May 12, 2026

Knit Health Raises $11.6M Seed Funding for Clinical Intelligence AI

Knit Health, a UC Berkeley spinout developing AI for healthcare operations, announced an $11.6 million seed round co-led by Uncork Capital and Frist Cressey Ventures. Other participants include Moxxie Ventures and Coalition Operators. Knit is building a “Large Clinical Behavior Model” to aggregate de-identified patient data from diverse medical centers, with the goal of helping hospitals and clinics learn from one another to improve care. The new funding will accelerate the development of Knit’s model and initial deployments in the healthcare sector.

• Startup: Knit Health
• Investors: Uncork Capital (co-lead), Frist Cressey (co-lead), Moxxie Ventures, Coalition Operators
• Amount Raised: $11.6M
• Total Raised: $11.6M
• Funding Stage: Seed
• Funding Date: May 12, 2026

Tech Funding Summary Table