In a quarter when nearly two-thirds of global venture capital went to just four companies, it鈥檚 easy to lose track of the many other companies getting funding to tackle interesting problems. Nonetheless, we spotted five companies in just the past month working on issues from cleaner ferries and trains to foundational AI for plants. Let鈥檚 take a closer look.

$55M for a mineral rights-backed credit card

Natural resources can be incredibly valuable financial assets, but you can鈥檛 exactly buy your weekly groceries with oil or water rights.

That鈥檚 an issue that a Dallas-based fintech startup aims to solve. recently raised $50 million in a debt round from to provide a credit card to U.S. households holding mineral rights to natural resources such as oil, natural gas, solar, wind or water.

鈥淔or the millions of mineral rights owners in the United States, these rights are one of the most valuable assets the family owns. But these families are just like the rest of Americans and often are carrying revolving credit card balances at more than 25% [interest],鈥� Frontlands CEO said in a statement. 鈥淗istorically, owners have had few options to access the value trapped inside their mineral rights without selling.鈥�

Its AI system combines machine learning, production data, royalty payment histories, lease terms, commodity price forecasts, geologic data and traditional to automate the underwriting process, the company says. While it鈥檚 historically been difficult for traditional lenders to assess natural resources as collateral, Frontlands says its process typically delivers a same-day credit decision.

The company鈥檚 recent credit facility is in addition to a announced in December from venture investors including , , and .

Frontlands said its average credit line in early markets 鈥� Texas, Pennsylvania, New Mexico, North Dakota, Wyoming and Oklahoma 鈥� is more than $30,000. It plans to launch its credit card product this summer in partnership with Texas-based sponsor bank .

Frontlands said it also expects to raise a Series A round later this year.

鈥淥ur goal isn鈥檛 to pile on more debt,鈥� Cotter said in a statement. 鈥淏ut the opportunity to help our customers move away from high-interest credit card debt 鈥� and provide a path toward greater financial stability 鈥� is compelling.鈥�

Investment in fintech startups hit a multiyear high in 2025, 附近上门 data shows, though remains well below the peak. Many of the best-funded companies in recent quarters have brought AI to bear on traditionally more manual or cumbersome processes in the financial services industry.

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$32M for 鈥榝lying鈥� electric commuter ferries

As of this writing, oil prices are hovering around $100 a barrel 鈥� down from an even greater peak a few weeks earlier, but still among the highest levels seen in years, as the U.S.-Iran war disrupts global energy markets.

So Swedish electric vessel maker 鈥檚 recent funding of 鈧�30 million (about $32 million) seems timely. The Stockholm-based company makes electric 鈥渇lying鈥� boats that are used as commuter ferries. They differ from traditional vessels by using computer-controlled hydrofoils to lift the hull above the water, an approach the company says dramatically reduces drag and cuts energy use by up to 80% 鈥� enabling faster, smoother, zero-emission travel compared to conventional diesel ferries that push through the water.

鈥淔rom a physics perspective, ships have been essentially the same for hundreds of years,鈥� Candela founder and CEO said in a statement. 鈥淲e’re redefining waterborne transport by effectively creating a new category of vessel. This allows cities and municipalities to finally take full advantage of waterways 鈥� while escaping the fossil-fuel cost trap that has long prevented them from being used efficiently.鈥�

Its P-12 vessels have already been deployed as commuter ferries in Stockholm, Gothenburg, Oslo and Trondheim.

The new funding was led by 鈥檚 arm and included previous investors , , and .

The capital will primarily be used to fund a second factory in Poland. Candela says it has more than 65 vessels on order and planned deployments across markets including India 鈥� where a fleet of 10 of its P-12s will reportedly cut travel times from Navi Mumbai Airport to the city center from around two hours to 35 minutes 鈥斕齮he Middle East and Southeast Asia.

The startup鈥檚 funding defies an overall downturn in clean-tech funding. Funding for clean-tech related startups totaled $26.9 billion in 2025, down 23% year over year and the lowest annual amount since 2020, 附近上门 data shows.

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$30M to electrify trains with batteries and microgrids

Let鈥檚 now turn from waterways to train tracks, with another company that recently raised significant funding aimed at giving centuries-old transportation systems a green overhaul.

, a Philadelphia-based startup, said last month that it raised $30 million in seed funding led by Australian mining company and Israeli venture firm to develop a new way of powering freight rail that avoids the high costs of traditional electrification.

The startup positions its technology as a way to decarbonize one of the world鈥檚 most efficient but still fossil-fuel-dependent transport systems. It鈥檚 targeting a major pain point for the rail industry: its heavy reliance on diesel. In North America alone, the six largest freight rail operators spend roughly $11 billion annually on diesel fuel, while full electrification of rail networks could cost more than $1 trillion, according to Voltify.

Instead of relying on overhead wires, Voltify says it鈥檚 building a system that combines battery-equipped railcars with technology that allows trains to recharge while moving. The goal is to help rail operators cut emissions and fuel costs without requiring massive infrastructure overhauls.

Its approach 鈥� using mobile batteries and distributed charging via microgrids 鈥� aims to sidestep those costs by retrofitting existing trains and building localized energy systems rather than rebuilding entire rail networks.

CEO and co-founder that the company has signed a paid pilot agreement with a Class 1 railroad, though she declined to name the customer, citing a confidentiality agreement.

She noted in a that raising funding for a transportation company in the current market was difficult. 鈥淪ecuring capital in the hardware space and traditional industries is challenging,鈥� she wrote. 鈥淚t is not the 鈥榠n鈥� space; there is no FOMO at play, so we need to focus on metrics and execute quickly. With some of the top 5 largest rail companies globally and a large order pipeline, we are determined to keep moving at lightning speed.鈥�

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$7M for foundation AI for biology

Funding to foundational model AI startups surged last quarter, reaching $178 billion, per 附近上门 data. But the vast majority of that funding went to AI giants like and that are building general-purpose GenAI models.

Such models are fundamentally lacking for hard sciences, argues , a startup based in Paris and Berkeley, California, that last month raised $7 million in seed funding to develop foundation AI for biology trained on DNA, RNA and data from other 鈥溾�� fields, rather than human text.

The company鈥檚 first family of transformer models is called Botanic and is trained on data from 43 plant species. Living Models noted that it鈥檚 starting with the commercial crop industry, a massive global market that has abundant data, well-established research infrastructure, and fewer regulatory concerns and faster commercialization timelines than the pharmaceutical industry.

鈥淧lant biology combines three properties that make it an ideal first domain for biological foundation models: genomic data is abundant and largely unrestricted, the commercial need is acute and quantifiable, and the feedback loop between computational prediction and real-world validation is well established through existing breeding infrastructure,鈥� the company said in a statement.

The global seed industry is also dominated by a handful of incumbents, it noted: , , , and 鈥斕齝ompanies that already spend billions of dollars a year on breeding research.

鈥淏iology is an information problem at every scale, from a single cell to an entire ecosystem. The genomic data exists across many domains; what’s been missing is a model architecture capable of learning from it at scale,鈥� , Living Models鈥� CTO and co-founder, said in a statement. 鈥淲e start with plants because the data is rich and the breeding cycle is a clear bottleneck, but the same approach applies wherever sequence data meets slow, empirical discovery.鈥�

The company鈥檚 recent funding was led by , , and . Other included and

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$2.1M for a brain-stimulating consumer wearable

Billions of dollars a year are spent on therapy and other mental-health treatments, yet measuring progress can be elusive.

That鈥檚 one of the issues that San Francisco-based aims to take on with a neuromodulation wearable headset that it says can reduce stress, improve attention span and mood, and more quantitatively measure mental health scores.

Mave鈥檚 device uses transcranial direct current stimulation, or tDCS, a noninvasive technique that delivers a low electrical current to the brain through electrodes placed on the scalp, with the aim of modulating neural activity. The technology is when used by adults as directed in controlled settings.

The company last month raised $2.1 million in seed funding led by , with participation from individual investors including Autopilot AI lead .

Crucially, Mave says it does not plan to pursue medical-device approval for its product, which sells for $495. Instead, it is positioning the gadget as a wellness tool that consumers can use on a daily basis to improve their mental well-being and better measure the outcomes of talk therapy or other treatments.

鈥淚f you ask a psychologist how do you know if a person is making progress, their response to it is very standard, which is that it鈥檚 not about progress. It鈥檚 about process [鈥 But for somebody with depression who is spending a lot of time in therapy, progress is important. So how do you know whether they鈥檙e making progress or not? And even these basic questions were not being answered,鈥� co-founder .

Mave鈥檚 funding comes amid an overall downturn in investment for wellness and fitness-related companies, although select wearables makers including and have raised significant funding in recent years.

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U.S. and Canadian companies secured a staggering $252.6 billion in seed- through growth-stage funding rounds per 附近上门 data. That鈥檚 more than 3x the total raised in the prior quarter, and the largest quarterly total of all time.

Predictably, artificial intelligence was the driver. More than 87% of Q1 investment went to companies in 附近上门 AI-related categories.

To say these are record funding tallies is somewhat of an understatement. It鈥檚 more like Q1 smashed the prior quarterly record 鈥� $95.7 billion 鈥� set in Q3 2021.

Just a single financing for was bigger than the prior quarterly record for all startup funding rounds put together. And the four next-largest financings totaled almost as much as the prior quarter, which at the time we considered a very strong period for startup funding.

So, in summary, it was a lot of money. For a more detailed picture, we drill down more deeply into how that largesse was distributed across stages and sectors. We also take a look at exits for the quarter, including both IPOs and acquisitions.

Table of contents

• AI
• Later stage and technology growth
• Early stage
• Seed
• Exits
• Big picture: A paradigm shift
• Methodology
• Glossary of funding terms

AI

We鈥檒l start with AI, since that鈥檚 where the overwhelming majority of the money went.

A staggering $221 billion went to North American companies in 附近上门 AI-related categories in the first quarter. That鈥檚 about 6x the AI investment total from the prior quarter, which was itself no slacker on this front.

For perspective, we charted out AI-related funding over the past 13 quarters to compare.

A few megarounds for high-profile companies accounted for most of the quarter鈥檚 AI funding, led by OpenAI, , and .

Later stage and technology growth

These same names factor heavily in tallies for late-stage and technology-growth funding, which comprised the vast majority of total startup investment.

Per 附近上门 data, $222.4 billion 鈥� or 88% of all North America startup investment 鈥� went to rounds at these stages. That鈥檚 more than 5x the prior quarter鈥檚 tally, and more than triple year-ago levels.

The gains were driven by bigger deals, not more of them. Later- and growth-stage round counts were actually down a smidge sequentially in Q1. For perspective, below we chart round counts and investment totals at this stage for the past five quarters.

Enormous rounds for AI companies accounted for a majority of the late- and growth-stage totals. The biggest of these was OpenAI鈥檚 record-setting $110 billion February financing led by , and . The generative AI giant topped it off with a raise in March.

Anthropic secured the quarter鈥檚 next-biggest late-stage financing 鈥� a $30 billion February Series G 鈥� followed by xAI, which announced a $20 billion Series E in January. landed another of the quarter鈥檚 very big deals, with a $16 billion February Series D.

Early stage

Early-stage investment was also running high in Q1, albeit not setting records.

Overall, investors put $25.1 billion into deals around Series A and Series B stage in the first quarter. That鈥檚 up 17% from the prior quarter and 56% from year-ago levels. It鈥檚 also the highest quarterly total in over three years, though still below peaks scaled in 2021.

Early-stage round counts, meanwhile, were down a bit, indicating investors鈥� increasingly concentrating their bets among perceived star performers.

As usual, a few jumbo-sized deals significantly boosted the early-stage totals. For Q1, this included four rounds of $500 million or more.

Of these, Austin-based humanoid robotics startup was the biggest fundraiser, pulling in $520 million in a February Series A. Three other companies secured $500 million financings: AI infrastructure developer , semiconductor startup , and industrial robotics-focused .

Seed

Seed-stage investment, meanwhile, did not show an upswing but remained at historically robust levels.

Per 附近上门 data, an estimated $5.1 billion went to seed and pre-seed investments in Q1. That鈥檚 roughly flat with the prior quarter and up a bit from year-ago levels.

Seed round counts declined in Q1, both sequentially and year over year. However, we expect these tallies to rise some over time, along with investment totals, as seed deals commonly get added to the data set weeks after they close.

Exits

Exit activity was fairly staid in comparison to the high-rolling startup fundraising environment.

That said, the IPO market did boast a few sizable startup debuts. Of these, the largest was the January IPO of construction equipment rental marketplace , followed by space tech company , and crypto platform .

Below, we aggregated a list of 12 private, venture-backed companies that carried out IPOs on U.S. exchanges.

Acquirers also announced several large deals to purchase venture-backed private companies.

The priciest planned M&A deal was 鈥檚 agreement to purchase business credit card provider for $5.15 billion. Biotech also delivered some large outcomes, including 鈥檚 planned acquisition of RNA therapeutics startup , and 鈥� purchase of allergy treatment startup .

Below, we put together a list of five of the quarter鈥檚 biggest M&A deals.1

Big picture: A paradigm shift

Having written many of these funding reports over the years, it鈥檚 common for one quarter to quietly blur into another. Not so for Q1 of 2026.

The just-ended quarter cemented a notion that startup insiders have been circling for some time: Private markets now have the capital stores and appetite for ultra-high valuations to rival public markets. For evidence, look no further than OpenAI鈥檚 $122 billion raise at a valuation higher than all but a handful of the largest large-cap technology companies.

IPO enthusiasts may pine for a future period when these most sought-after foundational AI names finally do make it to public markets. But for now, they鈥檝e demonstrated there are plenty of investors willing to shell out billions in private offerings as well.

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Methodology

The data contained in this report comes directly from 附近上门, and is based on reported data. Data is as of March 31, 2026.

Note that data lags are most pronounced at the earliest stages of venture activity, with seed funding amounts increasing significantly after the end of a quarter/year.

Please note that all funding values are given in U.S. dollars unless otherwise noted. 附近上门 converts foreign currencies to U.S. dollars at the prevailing spot rate from the date funding rounds, acquisitions, IPOs and other financial events are reported. Even if those events were added to 附近上门 long after the event was announced, foreign currency transactions are converted at the historic spot price.

Glossary of funding terms

Seed and angel consists of seed, pre-seed and angel rounds. 附近上门 also includes venture rounds of unknown series, equity crowdfunding and convertible notes at $3 million (USD or as-converted USD equivalent) or less.

Early-stage consists of Series A and Series B rounds, as well as other round types. 附近上门 includes venture rounds of unknown series, corporate venture and other rounds above $3 million, and those less than or equal to $15 million.

Late-stage consists of Series C, Series D, Series E and later-lettered venture rounds following the 鈥淪eries [Letter]鈥� naming convention. Also included are venture rounds of unknown series, corporate venture and other rounds above $15 million. Corporate rounds are only included if a company has raised an equity funding at seed through a venture series funding round.

Technology growth is a private-equity round raised by a company that has previously raised a 鈥渧enture鈥� round. (So basically, any round from the previously defined stages.)

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These in-between exits don鈥檛 generate a lot of buzz, but collectively they add up to a tidy sum. Last year, for instance, U.S. startup purchases under $300 million听1 brought in about $8.7 billion altogether, 附近上门 data shows.

These small and mid-sized deals are not a long-term growth area for M&A, by many measures. The total deal value of purchases between $100 million and $300 million last year was still below levels routinely reached nearly a decade ago, as charted below.

Moreover, the total value can add up to just a fraction of a single, larger exit. 鈥檚 $32 billion purchase of , for instance, is worth more than 4x all these sub-$300 million deals put together.

Even so, we鈥檙e up from prior lows. Startup purchases in this range hit a low point a couple years ago and have rebounded since, with this year off to a brisk start as well.

Smaller deals shrink more

Smaller disclosed-price acquisitions of under $100 million are also well below peak. The volume and value of these deals hit a low in 2024 and has made somewhat of a comeback since, as charted below.

These sub-$100 million purchases are a mixed bag for returns. Investors might recoup solid profits from companies that raised a few million in seed funding and sold for prices in the tens of millions.

In other cases, startups sold for considerably less than the sums they raised in venture investment. Using 附近上门 data, we aggregated a few examples of such deals from the past year. It includes companies with known struggles, such as , which filed for bankruptcy before selling to an acquirer this month.

No power buyers

Notably, there is no 鈥減ower acquirer鈥� for small and mid-sized startup purchases. Out of 181 sub-$300 million startup acquisitions since 2024 there was no buyer with more than two such deals, per 附近上门 data.

That said, there are companies with a larger number of funded startup purchases, just without reported prices for all or most. Examples include , , , , , and , among others.

When price isn鈥檛 disclosed, it鈥檚 hard to gauge how founders and investors fared on the deal. That said, most of the more active buyers can certainly afford to pay well. Whether they choose to do so is another matter.

*This is only disclosed-price purchases. Most startup acquisitions do not have a disclosed price.

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February was the biggest month on record for venture funding. And while the vast majority of that capital went to just three companies 鈥� , and 鈥� a whole host of under-the-radar startups also drew investor checks.

Among those that most piqued our interest: A phlebotomy robot, a company that aims to revive precision manufacturing in the U.S. and Europe with a small-business franchise model, and a health beverage made from seaweed. Let鈥檚 dive in.

$70M for robotic blood draws

If you鈥檙e squeamish about needles or blood, you might want to stop reading now.

This week, Dutch startup raised $70 million in Series B funding for its phlebotomy robots, which are designed to autonomously perform diagnostic blood draws.

Vitestro was founded in 2017 and has raised more than $104 million to date, . Its Series B investors include , and , among others.

The new funding will be used to advance its Autonomous Robotic Phlebotomy Device, to seek regulatory approvals in the U.S. and to scale commercialization.

Blood draws are one of the most routine and important processes in healthcare, investors noted, but have undergone little to no technical innovation, despite chronic industry staffing shortages.

Vitestro鈥檚 device is designed to be installed in phlebotomy departments and combines imaging technology, AI and advanced robotics to identify suitable veins for a blood draw, guide needle insertion and collect blood samples, according to the company.

鈥淰itestro is redefining one of the largest and most under innovated clinical workflows with a first-of-its-kind autonomous robotic platform for diagnostic blood collection addressing an enormous unmet global market need,鈥� Dr. , co-founder and partner at Sonder Capital and former co-founder and CEO of and , said in a statement. “I believe this technology has the potential to establish a new standard of care, much as robotic surgery did in its early days.”

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$50M for a franchise model for precision manufacturing

Two of the hottest startup industries right now are defense and space tech. At the same time, domestic manufacturing in the U.S. and Europe, particularly for military and defense applications, has come under renewed focus amid global trade tensions and intensifying wars.

Against that backdrop, manufacturing startup said earlier this week that it raised a $50 million Series A, less than a year after its seed round. The London-based company says it plans to open 25 factories by the end of 2026 and launch into Germany, France and Ukraine.

Isembard makes technology to manufacture precision components that are used in the defense, aerospace, energy and robotics sectors. Interestingly, it operates as a franchise model that lets existing machine shops and new businesses use its proprietary software and AI system.

It noted that component manufacturing is a $1.8 trillion a year industry. Yet, 95% of production is done by small businesses. The typical owner of one of those small machine shops is more than 65 years old and 40% plan to retire within five years, according to the company.

led Isembard鈥檚 Series A investment, which included participation from听, , , , and individual investors , and .

鈥淚sembard is redefining the process of owning and running a factory,鈥� , managing partner at Union Square, said in a statement. 鈥淏y embedding deep operational expertise into an agentic OS, MasonOS lowers the barrier to operating high-performance manufacturing businesses and enables a networked, capital-efficient path to scale. At a moment when demand for advanced manufacturing is accelerating and interest in SMB ownership is rising, Isembard brings both forces together.鈥�

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$13M for seaweed beverages

While overall funding to food and beverage startups has plummeted since their pandemic-era heights, products that offer unique health benefits do still attract investor attention.

One recently funded company in that space is , a Torrance, California-based startup that makes wellness-oriented drinks from seaweed. The company secured $13 million in seed funding led by with participation from and .

Founded in 2019 by , Aqua Theon鈥檚 first product is OoMee, a seaweed-based beverage marketed as supporting gut health and satiety. Its star ingredient, agar-agar, has reportedly seen a surge in social media interest.

Beverages marketed as healthful or beneficial are to be a more than $192 billion market by the end of this year.听 Among funded startups, that has included a heavy emphasis on products that orient themselves around offering protein, fiber or an energy boost, a review of 附近上门 data shows.

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$6M for an email provider for AI agents

They grow up so fast, don鈥檛 they? Less than four years into the AI boom, AI agents are already asking for their own email addresses.

That鈥檚 the premise behind , a San Francisco-based startup that this week said it has raised $6 million in seed funding from a long list of investors to build the tech stack for software agents, starting with their inboxes.

鈥淎I agents are already starting to function as virtual employees across industries,鈥� , partner at , said in a statement. 鈥淭hese agents need their own identity and email is the heart of identity on the internet. Traditional identity services were not built with agentic use cases in mind, and AgentMail is building that part of the stack, starting with email.鈥�

To that end, AgentMail said it鈥檚 launching its onboarding API to let AI agents get email addresses without human assistance.

“The next billion users of the internet will be AI agents,” AgentMail co-founder said in a statement. “We’re building infrastructure that treats agents as first-class citizens, starting with email. The demand is so intense that the agents themselves are finding us and signing up.鈥�

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$1.3M for AI for wastewater treatment

, an AI software company that helps the wastewater industry manage complex systems and make critical decisions, raised $1.3 million in pre-seed funding. The deal exemplifies a common theme among funded AI startups: Many operate in very niche industries and promise to automate process-heavy workflows.

Nyad said its tool is designed to help plant operators in the wastewater industry, which faces a looming labor shortage as nearly half of the sector鈥檚 U.S. workforce is expected in the next decade.

The round for the Birmingham, Alabama-based startup was led by and included participation from , , , , and angel investor .

Nyad was founded in 2024 by British entrepreneurs (CEO) and after the two reportedly experienced poor water quality during triathlon training in the U.K. They later moved the company to the U.S. after seeing early customer demand through pilot programs in the Birmingham area.

Nyad鈥檚 technology helps plant operators maintain compliance and troubleshoot issues. 鈥淥perators are the final line of defense for public health and the environment,鈥� Szepietowski said in a statement. 鈥淎s experience retires out of the industry, we need tools that support operators in the moment when decisions matter most.鈥�

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Seed-stage investors have a different view. Over the past few months, two startups focused on the intersection of AI and biosecurity have raised good-sized initial rounds with among their investors.

, a developer of AI systems that identify biological threats and design countermeasures, last fall in its first known funding round. The New York-headquartered company counts and as backers, along with OpenAI.

Weeks later, , a self-described AI biosecurity company, secured $15 million in a seed round led by OpenAI and joined by investors including , and . The company鈥檚 operating thesis is that as AI capabilities advance, biological risks grow exponentially, so defenses must scale at the same rate.

On the nonprofit front, meanwhile, Cambridge, Massachusetts-based secured grant funding from multiple sources last year, $1.4 million from in December. The organization鈥檚 stated mission is to secure the future from catastrophic pandemics.

A drop in the AI bucket

Given all the capital that has poured into artificial intelligence of late, these are not comparatively large sums going to biosecurity. To put it in perspective, the two biggest seed rounds are less than one-tenth of a percent of the record-setting $110 billion financing OpenAI secured last week.

What鈥檚 more noteworthy than sums invested is these are relatively new areas for startups to scale.

Per 附近上门 data, the term 鈥渂iosecurity鈥� and similar terminology has cropped up in funded startup descriptions but not so much in the context of AI. Funded startups around this theme have also commonly focused on livestock.

The Australian startup , for instance, raised a few million two years ago, , with a focus on tracking biosecurity risks for cattle, pigs, eggs and poultry. And Nebraska-based last year for a business focused on swine disease surveillance.

Running in place

In addition to their AI focus, the latest crop of biosecurity seed-funded startups stand out for the dire scenarios they鈥檙e hoping to contain.

, it’s now faster to weaponize biology than to advance new cures, an ominous development that AI leaders have identified as one of the largest threats of our time. The company envisions a future where any threat to human health can be immediately identified and neutralized.

Red Queen Bio evokes a similarly alarming specter of threats, reflected in its nomenclature. The , a notion that evolution requires constant adaptation to ever-evolving threats, stems from a 鈥淭hrough the Looking Glass鈥� passage. In it, the tyrannical Red Queen explains that in her kingdom, 鈥渋t takes all the running you can do, to keep in the same place.鈥�

Running to keep in the same place seems a more broadly apt metaphor for the modern era in myriad domains, not just biosecurity. However, this is one of the spaces where not keeping up carries the potentially deadliest penalties.

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Those, in obnoxiously overgeneralized terms, are the basic tenets of launching and scaling a beverage startup targeting the modern consumer. Per an analysis of 附近上门 data, recently funded companies in the drinks space typically check one if not all of those boxes.

These are not especially shocking findings. Consumers willing to pay handsomely for a container of liquid are commonly looking for health and wellness benefits, as well as an energy boost, if not a buzz.

That鈥檚 reflected in our sample list of . Standouts include such potable offerings as protein soda, botanical tonics and sugar-free energy drinks.

We take a closer look at where the money is going by focusing on a few top investment themes.

Protein everywhere

First off, it seems safe to say protein is officially the macronutrient of the year. This is evident in the beverage space, where startups and established brands alike are competing to stuff more protein into everything from sodas to lattes to flavored waters.

Below, we assembled a list of four startups along these lines funded this year.

Dutch startup , which produces dairy proteins through precision fermentation, picked up the biggest recent round, landing . The company makes a whey protein that鈥檚 been used for clear drinks, powder mixes and snack bars.

, which makes high-protein milk shakes and iced coffees, is also poised to scale, having secured a . More than three-fourths of the calories in its drinks come from protein.

For those seeking something fizzier, is another option. The Los Angeles-based company sells canned sodas that feature 15 grams of whey protein.

Energy

Of course, what use is all that protein if one isn鈥檛 awake or alert enough to appreciate it? Enter our next favored funding category: energy-boosting drinks.

Using 附近上门 data, we assembled a sample list of five such startups funded this year.

One continuing trend is the incorporation of caffeine into drinks that traditionally don鈥檛 contain the stuff. , for instance, markets a sparkling pink lemonade with more caffeine than many cups of coffee. , meanwhile, sells a lineup of even more caffeinated fruity-flavored drinks.

We鈥檙e also seeing startups straddling multiple hot beverage niches. Concentrated coffee purveyor , for instance, sells a . And makes products with added ingredients offering nutritional and health benefits.

Wellness

Drinks for health and fitness buffs are also attracting investors. To illustrate, we assembled a list of five startups funded this year that meet this criteria.

, a maker of fizzy tonics crafted with potentially mood-boosting , scored one of the more high-profile rounds, selling a minority stake to the venture arm of spirits maker early this year. The Southern California startup promotes itself as a festive alternative to alcoholic beverages.

Venice, California-based also picked up a venture round, per a securities filing, as it scales up its offerings of drinkable shots crafted to augment mental performance.

Anything but tap water

It鈥檚 a good thing for startups that consumers are accustomed to paying up to quench our thirst with basically anything other than tap water. But given the plethora of options already out there, newcomers are playing in a crowded field.

鈥淭he big question starting to emerge is: How big can the shelf get and how many options can consumers truly absorb?鈥� research and accounting firm posited in a recent on beverage industry trends. The firm sees certain categories as better poised to cut through the clutter, with wellness drinks having a particular edge.

Sugar-free or low-sugar drinks also appear to be on the rise, at least looking at funded startups, with a sizable chunk of this year鈥檚 investment recipient boasting this attribute. It鈥檚 not just zero-calorie drinks either. In fact, both startups and established brands are increasingly pushing the envelope on the notion that a drink can be both sweet and protein-rich enough to sub for a steak.

Now that brands have made such strides in the nutritional profile of drinks, the next step will be to see which ones consumers believe actually taste good.

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Sure, it鈥檇 be wonderful to have autonomous machines adept at cleaning the house, harvesting and preparing food, running warehouses and performing a host of generally thankless and burdensome jobs. But must they look like us too?

For many startups, the answer to this question is 鈥渘o.鈥�

While humanoid robots startups like and have drawn headlines in recent months for big and flashy , an array of companies working on less-anthropomorphic designs have also secured considerable investment. These include four-legged models, AI-enabled appendages and skilled swimmers.

The non-humanoid bot startups getting funded

To illustrate, we used 附近上门 data to assemble a sample list of 26 companies in the non-humanoid robot startup sector that have raised rounds in the past few quarters. It鈥檚 a varied lot, with focus areas ranging from farming to pool cleaning to massaging.

Bots around town

The list also features a mix of consumer-facing and industrial use cases, and we figured we鈥檇 start by highlighting the first category. It鈥檚 not that these bots are necessarily more useful, but rather that being out in public does make it a bit more fun to contemplate.

If recently funded startups have their way, some of the bots we see in action could be taking on more of the everyday drudgery currently shouldered by humans.

Cleaning is one of the big areas. China-based , which closed a $100 million Series E in April, makes robot vacuums and mops and touts its 鈥�,鈥� LiDAR navigation and embedded dirt sensor. San Francisco-based , meanwhile, has raised $300 million since last year to iterate its vision of robots for household chores but has not yet released a prototype.

Pool-cleaning, an area already long-dominated by autonomous machines, is also set for an AI era upgrade, with two China-based companies pulling in rounds of $140 million each this year. , which closed its round in September, markets its $3,000 model as the 鈥渨orld’s first AI-powered 5-in-1 robotic pool cleaner.鈥� Rival charges $1,700 for its Scuba Max Pro, which features smart pool mapping and a dedicated app.

And for those who need some pampering after a long day of not cleaning the pool, massage bot startup offers another spending option. The New York-based company secured $83 million in March to its customizable, 鈥渇ully autonomous, AI-driven massage鈥� offering.

Bots behind the scenes

While we may enjoy gawking at the still-unusual sight of a bot in public making a latte or delivering a restaurant meal, the bulk of funded companies in the non-humanoid bot space are working on models that will do their work behind the scenes.

Surgical robots have long been one of the more heavily funded areas, and this holds true for recent investment as well. The largest fundraiser on our list, U.K.-based , developer of a soft tissue surgical robot, has secured $1.1 billion in known funding to date, including a $200 million April . Israel-based , developer of a robotic platform for ophthalmic surgery, is also scaling up, closing a $125 million Series B in June.

On the industrial front, Swiss startup has raised more than $150 million to develop a four-legged bot optimized for inspections, capable of climbing stairs and avoiding obstacles.

And , which closed a $100 million Series C this summer, is working on appendage-like, AI-enabled robots that can be adapted for multiple industries.

Agtech also emerged as a favored area for investment. , based in Switzerland, has raised a couple hundred million for precision crop spraying, while Seattle-based is working on technology to kill weeds with lasers.

Won鈥檛 mistake it for a human

Of all the above-mentioned startups, none appear to be working on anything that could be remotely confused for a human, even from a distance. This seems logical, considering that so many jobs people have historically done don鈥檛 seem ideally suited to our particular form.

If all goes well with these non-humanoid robot startups, perhaps it would leave us humans free to spend more time doing the activities that do seem optimally suited to our form. Sitting on the couch would be high on this author鈥檚 list, though I鈥檓 sure others could find many more productive pursuits.

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While AI startups continue to get the lion鈥檚 share of venture funding, this month most of the startups that caught our attention weren鈥檛 centered around artificial intelligence. Rather, they include a startup making a more environmentally friendly fertilizer, a mental health platform for new and expecting mothers, and a medical device company aiming to make a better insulin patch for people living with diabetes. Let鈥檚 take a look.

$85M for a cooler insulin patch

One of the companies that caught our eye this month is , a Dutch startup with an insulin patch pump designed to look and feel more like a trendy tech gadget than a medical device. The Netherlands-based company raised $85 million in Series D funding in early September.

Its round comes as diabetes is becoming more prevalent worldwide, with the insulin pump market projected to . Of that, patch pumps 鈥� small, tubeless devices that adhere directly to the skin and deliver insulin continuously without the need for external tubing 鈥� represent the fastest-growing market segment.

ViCentra makes , a small, sleek, waterproof insulin patch pump that comes in an array of bright, sparkly colors similar to iPhone hues. The device also integrates with a cloud platform where users can track their glucose levels, sleep, and diet and exercise insights that they can then choose to share with doctors or family members.

鈥淜aleido is a true disruptor 鈥� small, discreet, featherlight, and beautifully designed,鈥� ViCentra CEO said in the funding announcement. 鈥淚t empowers people with diabetes by offering a more personal and distinctive choice in both function and style. Built with empathy and precision, it honors those who live with diabetes every day. With this funding, we can now meet surging European demand and fast-track our entry into the U.S. market.鈥�

The company鈥檚 Series D was led by new investor , with matching participation from existing investors and . Previous investors and also joined.

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Environmentally friendly fertilizer gets a $50M boost

We typically think of things like power plants, vehicles and industrial factories when we consider the top contributors to greenhouse gas emissions. A less commonly known culprit: agricultural fertilizers.

But fertilizers to grow crops 鈥斕齮raditionally done through what鈥檚 known as the 鈥斅烬谤别 to generate more than 2% of greenhouse gas emissions. The Haber process produces ammonia by reacting nitrogen from the air with hydrogen (usually from natural gas) under high temperature and pressure, using an iron catalyst.

Ammonia is the key ingredient in most nitrogen-based fertilizers, making the process critical for large-scale crop production worldwide.

But while traditional fertilizers have enabled mass food production, they also create a lot of negative externalities. Among them are high energy use and emissions, resource dependency on natural gas for hydrogen, environmental degradation and biodiversity loss.

A San Francisco-based startup, , has a different approach. The company this month announced $50 million in Series B funding and broke ground on its new organic fertilizer plant in California鈥檚 Central Valley. There, it will use renewable power to produce its organic, nitrogen fertilizer liquid, called Ash Tea, made from recycled organic almond shells, air and water.

The company says Ash Tea is cost-competitive with other commercially available organic fertilizers, but is more environmentally friendly and free from pathogens and animal products. Field trials of the product have reportedly shown up to 30% increases in yield.

Nitricity鈥檚 pilot factory in Fremont, California, currently produces 80 tons of fertilizer per year, which treats around 80 acres of crops. The company says all of its current production is spoken for and it has $150 million in its sales pipeline. The new factory is expected to begin operation next year and will mark a 100x production increase, according to the company.

鈥淭his is an inflection point for Nitricity. We’re scaling across the U.S. and we’re very excited to expand into Europe in a serious and assertive way. The European market for our organic fertilizer is even larger than in the U.S., and demand is only growing against a backdrop of European governments looking to boost resilience and create circular agriculture economies,鈥� Nitricity co-founder and CEO said in a statement.

Its Series B was co-led by new investor and returning investor . Other participants included ‘s Cultivate Next venture fund, , , and .

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$10.8M for a toothbrush that does the work for you

Toothbrushes haven鈥檛 changed much since the first electric one came on the market in the 1950s.

But is one of a handful of funded startups working on changing how we clean our teeth with oral cleaning devices designed to be customized, more efficient and more effective. The Palo Alto, California-based company this month announced $10.8 million in funding to launch what it calls 鈥渢he world鈥檚 first full-mouth oral cleaning device.鈥�

The brush is fully automated, 鈥渃leaning all 192 tooth surfaces simultaneously with custom-fit, 3D-printed mouthpieces and sonic-powered bristles.鈥� The company claims that early testing shows its device removes nearly twice as much plaque in half the time of manual brushing.

ZeroBrush was founded by cosmetic dentist Dr. and product innovator . Its investors include and an unnamed 鈥渓arge CPG strategic,鈥� angel investors and a senior executive, the company said.

鈥淶ERObrush is not just an incremental improvement 鈥� it鈥檚 a completely new category of oral hygiene that brings professional-level cleaning to everyday routines,鈥� Dr. Pai said in a funding announcement.

The company is one of several funded startups working on custom oral hygiene devices. Another is , which makes a full-mouth flossing device and has raised $15 million in funding.

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$8M for better maternal mental health care

While bringing a new baby into the world is for most people a joyous occasion, it鈥檚 also often one of the most difficult and challenging experiences of a mother鈥檚 life. It鈥檚 not just the physical recovery that follows childbirth, either: In fact, perinatal mood and anxiety disorders affect an estimated , making them the most common complication of childbirth.

And yet, of women diagnosed with postpartum mood or anxiety disorders never receive treatment, whether that鈥檚 due to perceived stigma, provider shortages, insurance limitations or other access issues. That lack of treatment can have devastating consequences: Suicide and overdose of maternal death in the U.S. in the first year postpartum.

This month, , a New York-based startup, said it has raised $8 million in new funding to expand its maternal mental health platform, focusing on treating women during fertility challenges, pregnancy, postpartum and early parenthood.

led the round. , , , , , , , and also participated.

The company, which has now raised $22.4 million, , said it already operates in 18 U.S. states and has partnerships with over 1,500 OB-GYNs. With the new funding, it plans to expand to more than 30 states by the end of 2026.

The company says it maintains in-network coverage with health insurers , , and , and has expanded coverage options including programs in a growing number of markets.

鈥淲e saw an opportunity to build something different by working directly within the healthcare system rather than working around it,” CEO and co-founder said in a statement. 鈥淥ur provider-integrated approach ensures women get specialized care at the moment they need it most.鈥�

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$1.5M for a robot that doesn鈥檛 try to be human

Robotics funding recently hit a multiyear high, boosted by a billion-dollar round for humanoid robotics startup .

But smaller startups working on robots 鈥� humanoid or not 鈥� are raising cash, too, many of them with industrial or workplace applications.

One of the latest is , which makes a tabletop robot designed to do repetitive manual work such as electronics assembly. The San Francisco-based company earlier this month announced $1.5 million in pre-seed funding from investors including co-founder and early and investor .

MicroFactory鈥檚 robots are priced around $5,000. Unlike the humanoid robots being developed by many funded startups, the company鈥檚 general-purpose bots are small enough to fit on a desktop, and in a compact-box-shaped frame.

Their robotic arms are precision soldering and screwing, cable routing, peeling adhesive films or plastic layers, and light-duty food processing and packaging.

鈥淵ou don鈥檛 need a humanoid robot to automate tabletop work,鈥� co-founder and CEO said in a statement. 鈥淥ur robot design allows us to automate tasks with the current state of robotic AI models and hardware.鈥�

Since they don鈥檛 need legs, complex human-like fingers, or batteries, MicroFactory鈥檚 machines are also much simpler 鈥� and cheaper 鈥斕齮o manufacture than their humanoid counterparts, according to the company.

MicroFactory says it has secured paid reservations from more than 100 customers in industries ranging from electronics assembly and textiles to food processing and laboratory automation. The first units are expected to ship in early 2026.

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Five companies in total kicked off their roadshows: , , , and . Their plans come as the IPO market shows signs of warming up in the second half of 2025.

• Swedish fintech giant Klarna has that it is targeting a valuation of up to $14 billion in a U.S. IPO, a move that was rumored to be happening last week. The company鈥檚 offering will consist of around 34.3 million shares priced between $35 and $37 each.
• Blockchain lender Figure is looking for in a U.S. IPO. The San Francisco startup has raised $1.5 billion in venture and debt financing, per 附近上门 .
• Crypto exchange Gemini announced its to raise up to $316.7 million at a market value of just over $2.2 billion. Based in New York, Gemini听 has raised nearly $500 million in venture and debt funding, according to .
• Engineering and maintenance services provider San Jose, California-based Legence said it is in its U.S. initial public offering.
• And, Beaverton, Oregon-based cafe chain Black Rock Coffee Bar announced it is by offering 14.7 million shares priced between $16 and $18 apiece.

Perhaps the most eagerly anticipated of the bunch is Klarna, which started out offering buy now, pay later services and has since expanded its business model. The company, founded in 2005, has in funding from investors such as , and , with adding $1.63 billion to that total in a debt financing in August.

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• The IPO Market Is Opening Up. These 14 Companies Could Be Next.
• IPO Market Outlook: Window Reopens, But Expect A Convoy, Not A Stampede
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, the company behind them, , just secured $40 million to ramp up production from 16 robots to 100 by next year. Their machines are already working in Canada, the United States, Ireland, the Netherlands and Australia. What sounds like a quirky Canadian tech story is, in fact, a preview of a much bigger reality.

Buckle up, America. This isn鈥檛 just the friendly 鈥渢echnology makes everything faster, cheaper, and more efficient鈥� kind of story. This is the other kind 鈥� the one where technology steps in not because it鈥檚 better than humans, but because the humans simply aren鈥檛 there anymore.

In Canada, as in the United States, agriculture depends heavily on seasonal and migrant labor. The says thousands of farm jobs go unfilled every year, and the shortage is only getting worse. Farmers are desperate for workers, and when they can鈥檛 find them, they start looking at automation not as a nice-to-have, but as the only option.

In the U.S., the equation is even more acute. 鈥檚 aggressive immigration crackdowns, combined with the expanded enforcement powers of and Homeland Security, have dramatically reduced the number of foreign workers able to take the low-wage, physically demanding jobs Americans have historically avoided.

You can debate whether that鈥檚 good politics, but it鈥檚 bad farm economics. When you remove the labor supply without replacing it, something has to fill the gap.

And in agriculture, that 鈥渟omething鈥� is increasingly robots.

The migration from human hands to machine arms isn鈥檛 limited to mushrooms. AI-guided strawberry pickers, robotic lettuce thinners and self-driving orchard sprayers are already in the field. Automation is moving into agriculture faster than most people realize, largely because labor shortages are forcing the pace. Ten years ago, these technologies were experiments. Today, they鈥檙e line items in farm budgets.

One-way street

Here鈥檚 the uncomfortable truth: The debate over immigrant labor in agriculture is no longer about whether Americans 鈥渟hould鈥� do these jobs. It鈥檚 about whether those jobs will exist for people at all. The more we constrict the labor pipeline, the more we incentivize capital investment in automation 鈥� and once a robot is doing the work, that job isn鈥檛 coming back, no matter what immigration policy looks like down the road.

This is not to say automation is the villain. In some cases, robots can make farm work safer, less physically punishing and more precise. But when technology is adopted out of necessity rather than design, the transition can be abrupt, messy and economically disruptive. Small farms may struggle to afford the investment. Rural communities that rely on seasonal labor could see their local economies hollowed out.

The mushroom robots in Salmon Arm are just one case study, but they illustrate the future we鈥檙e hurtling toward. In the short term, they鈥檒l fill labor gaps. In the long term, they鈥檒l reshape how we think about the agricultural workforce 鈥� and by extension, the immigration policies that have sustained it for decades.

So, America, take a good look north. The robots are coming. Not with malice, not with malfunctions straight out of a sci-fi thriller 鈥� just with a steady, unblinking AI gaze and a suction cup hand, ready to harvest your dinner. If we want to decide how, when and where they鈥檙e deployed, now is the time to have that conversation.

Because if we wait until the mushrooms are picked, packed and shipped without a single human hand involved, the debate won鈥檛 be about immigration or labor shortages anymore. It will be about what happened to the jobs we thought we could get back.

is the chief strategy officer for. He holds a law degree and has taught entrepreneurship at and the, and was elected to Fastcase 50, recognizing the top 50 legal innovators in the world. His writing has been featured in,,,,,,, and many other publications. He was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize .

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