CoreWeave's $35B IPO, Taktile's $54M Round, and Zhipu's $137M Amid Blacklist - AI Funding Brief #3

Hi there, Welcome to this edition of the AI Funding Brief, where we delve into the latest funding and investment news in the world of AI businesses. This week, Taktile has successfully raised $54 million in a Series B funding round to bolster AI adoption in risk management for financial services. Meanwhile, Thinking Machines Lab, founded by former OpenAI CTO Mira Murati, is ambitiously seeking a $9 billion valuation as it aims to raise $1 billion, with a team of former OpenAI researchers working on innovative AI systems. In other news, Vermillio has secured $16 million in Series A funding, with significant backing from Sony Music and DNS Capital, to enhance its AI licensing platform. Additionally, Amsterdam-based startup Lemni has launched with €3.3M in pre-seed funding from Sequoia Capital, focusing on product development and team growth. Perplexity AI is also making waves by launching a $50 million venture fund to support early-stage AI startups in the U.S., while Zhipu AI has raised $137 million despite being on a U.S. trade blacklist, and Meta Platforms Inc. is exploring a $35 billion financing package for data center development.

Taktile Secures $54 Million for AI in Risk Management

Thinking Machines Lab Seeks $9 Billion Valuation

Anthropic Secures $3.5 Billion in Series E Funding

Sony Music Invests in Vermillio's AI Platform

Amsterdam AI Startup Lemni Secures €3.3M Pre-Seed Funding

Perplexity AI Launches $50 Million Fund for AI Startups

Zhipu AI Secures $137 Million Despite U.S. Blacklist

Meta Seeks $35 Billion for Data Center Financing

ServiceNow has acquired Quality 360 from Advania to enhance AI-powered manufacturing solutions. TransPerfect has acquired Technicolor Games to boost its video game production capabilities. HashiCorp has joined IBM to enhance multi-cloud solutions. Siyata Mobile has merged with Core Gaming, and Fastbreak AI has acquired Barcelogic to expand in European sports leagues.

CoreWeave, an AI cloud provider, is preparing for an IPO that could value the company at over $35 billion, aiming to raise more than $4 billion. The company is investing $1.2 billion in data center space and plans further expansion.

Open Meta City has secured $20 million from GEM Digital to enhance its virtual real estate platform, while Hema.to raised €3.6 million to advance AI diagnostics for blood cancer. EvidenceHunt received €1.2 million to improve its AI medical evidence platform, and VerAI Discoveries secured $24 million for AI-driven mineral exploration. Auditoria.AI raised $38 million to expand its AI solutions for finance teams, and Ligero obtained $4 million to launch its data privacy-focused virtual machine, Ligetron.