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QUANTLOGIX STARTUP DAILY
WEDNESDAY · 09/02/2026 SILICON VALLEY
Priced Rounds
3
Past 7 days
Disclosed Capital
$1.3B
Past 7 days
Tracked Startups
2,339
QL private book
Mega-Round Board
8
$100M+ recent
Markdown Watch
100
names flagged

Polymarket $1.0B at $21B dominates thin $1.3B tape; Unacademy sold at 94% markdown

Three tracked deals, $1.3B disclosed — Polymarket is 77% of every dollar. 1789 Capital led the $1.0B strategic round at $21B, placing the prediction-market platform among the largest private fintech names. Owner's $240M Series D at $2.3B (Growth Equity at Goldman Sachs Alternatives) signals continued appetite for vertical SaaS at scale. Token Security's $50M Series A from Notable Capital is the only early-stage tracked deal. No seed rounds crossed threshold. The tape is narrow and top-heavy: one mega-strategic plus two growth rounds. Markdown ledger: Enable (-44%), Shein (-48%), Fluidstack (-58.3%). Linktree, Replit, Xendit top the watch board at 86, 86, 80. 121 scored of 2,339 tracked.

Capital by Sector

FintechFintech · $1.0B disclosed in window$1.0BVertical SaaSVertical SaaS · $240M disclosed in window$240MCybersecurityCybersecurity · $50M disclosed in window$50M

Disclosed round capital in the window. Undisclosed amounts count as zero.

The Funding Tape — Past 7 days

Three tracked deals, $1.3B disclosed — Polymarket is 77% of every dollar. 1789 Capital led the $1.0B strategic round at $21B, placing the prediction-market platform among the largest private fintech names. Owner's $240M Series D at $2.3B (Growth Equity at Goldman Sachs Alternatives) signals continued appetite for vertical SaaS at scale. Token Security's $50M Series A from Notable Capital is the only early-stage tracked deal. No seed rounds crossed threshold. The tape is narrow and top-heavy: one mega-strategic plus two growth rounds. Markdown ledger: Enable (-44%), Shein (-48%), Fluidstack (-58.3%). Linktree, Replit, Xendit top the watch board at 86, 86, 80. 121 scored of 2,339 tracked.

DateCompanyRoundAmountValuationLeadSector
2026-09-01 Polymarket Strategic round $1.0B $21B 1789 Capital Fintech
2026-09-01 Token Security Series A $50M Notable Capital Cybersecurity
2026-08-28 Owner Series D $240M $2.3B Growth Equity at Goldman Sachs Alternatives Vertical SaaS

Stage Mix — Deals & Capital by Stage

Where the window's activity sits on the funding ladder: deal count (solid) against disclosed capital (faded) per stage, with the companies behind each cluster. Stages come from the reported round labels; undisclosed amounts count as zero capital.

Series A: 1Series C–D: 1Other: 1
Series A · 1 deal · $50MSeries C–D · 1 deal · $240MOther · 1 deal · $1.0B
Series ASeries A: 1 deal1 dealSeries A: $50M$50MSeries C–DSeries C–D: 1 deal1 dealSeries C–D: $240M$240MOtherOther: 1 deal1 dealOther: $1.0B$1.0B
Series A
1 deal · $50M disclosed · 4% of window capital
Series C–D
1 deal · $240M disclosed · 19% of window capital
Other
1 deal · $1.0B disclosed · 78% of window capital

VC Activity

LP capital concentrating fast. Andreessen Horowitz added $1.75B to its AI-and-defense fund target — largest single commitment this window. Team8 raised $365M for AI-native enterprise. Smaller funds: Cherubic Ventures closed Fund VI at $68.88M (AUM past $500M), Mamor Capital $18.5M first close for SA tech, Aligned Climate launched a $500M distributed solar fund. Ares extending a Japan logistics fund series. Pattern is clear: AI and defense absorb the bulk of new LP commitments; emerging managers and climate carve-outs continue at smaller scale.

Lead InvestorDealsDisclosed Capital
1789 Capital1$1.0B
Growth Equity at Goldman Sachs Alternatives1$240M
Notable Capital1$50M

M&A & Exits

UpGrad acquired Unacademy for $200M — a 94% cut from 2021 peak, the sharpest markdown-to-exit tracked this window. Dakar healthtech Tanel acquired by French insurance unicorn Alan, marking cross-border African-to-European consolidation. GoPro agreed to a $285M merger with Starman Optical. Hugging Face reportedly exploring a $13B sale after rejecting Nvidia capital — remains exploratory. Distressed sales and strategic tuck-ins outnumber transformative deals. Technical due diligence commentary surfaces as a recurring theme in deal-process coverage.

Off-Book Wire

Funding headlines from outside the tracked book — sourced links, not QL data.

Mega-Round Board

The largest recent private rounds ($100M+) across the tracked book — 2023 ranked. Full board: quantlogix.ai/mega-rounds.

OpenAIOpenAI · $122B · Late-stage primary122000WaymoWaymo · $16B · 2026 mega-round16000Scale AIScale AI · $14B · Series F + Meta investment14300PrometheusPrometheus · $12B · Funding12000SwitchSwitch · $11B · Buyout/LBO11000Blue OriginBlue Origin · $10B · Private (Bezos-funded)10000

🎯 QL Score Movers

Biggest overnight changes in the graded company score — scores only move when disclosed data moves, and every repricing grades the score that was standing.

CompanyScoreΔ
Valor 58 → 62 +4
Labs 48 → 52 +4

Private Market Desk — Evening Edition · 09/01/2026

The Silicon Valley Private Market Daily — the 8pm PT desk close: qualified raises, roster re-rates and sector velocity from the QL private-market pipeline.

💰 Notable Raises

  • No newly closed rounds cleared verification in this window.

🔍 Reported, not yet verified

  • Light — reported $46M Series Unknown; details did not clear cross-source verification — held for manual review, excluded from the dataset.

📊 Valuation re-rates (roster marks that moved)

  • Instinct — $500M (2026-Q3) → $2.5B (+400%) on Series B led by Index Ventures / Benchmark (co-led).
  • Firmus Technologies — $5.5B (2026-Q1) → $10.5B (+91%) on Growth Equity led by Nvidia & Coatue.
  • Hadrian — $1.6B (2025-Q3) → $7.9B (+392%) on Series D led by JPMorgan Strategic Investment Group.
  • HappyRobot — $500M (2025-Q3) → $1.2B (+140%) on Series C led by Prysm Capital.
  • Owner — $1B (2025-Q2) → $2.3B (+130%) on Series D led by Growth Equity at Goldman Sachs Alternatives.
  • K2 Space — $3B (2025-Q4) → $6.8B (+127%) on Series D led by Kleiner Perkins / ICONIQ Capital.
  • Anthropic — $965B (2026-Q2) → $1000B (+4%) on Strategic Investment led by AMD.
  • Wonder — $7B (2025-Q2) → $9.7B (+38%) on Series D.
  • Baseten — $5B (2026-Q1) → $13B (+160%) on Series F led by Altimeter Capital, Conviction, Spark Capital.
  • Prometheus — $38B (2026-Q2) → $41B (+8%) on Funding led by Jeff Bezos.
  • Anduril Industries — $30.5B (2025-Q2) → $61B (+100%) on Series H led by Thrive Capital & Andreessen Horowitz.
  • Vapi — $130M (2024-Q4) → $500M (+285%) on Series B led by Peak XV Partners.

⚡ Mega-round momentum (sector velocity, closed rounds)

  • AI — $15B across 16 rounds / 16 companies (accelerating, 16 vs. 2 prior rounds). Top: Anthropic $5B (Strategic Investment).
  • Artificial Intelligence — $12.4B across 3 rounds / 3 companies (accelerating, 3 vs. 1 prior round). Top: Prometheus $12B (Funding).
  • Defense — $3.1B across 4 rounds / 4 companies (accelerating, 4 vs. 1 prior round). Top: Helsing $1.8B (Late Stage).
  • Energy — $2.6B across 4 rounds / 4 companies (accelerating, 4 vs. 1 prior round). Top: Valar Atomics $1B (Series B).
  • Defense / Industrials — $1.4B across 1 round / 1 company (new, new vs. a quiet prior window). Top: Hadrian $1.4B (Series D).
  • Technology — $1.2B across 5 rounds / 5 companies (new, new vs. a quiet prior window). Top: Battery Storage Startup Antora $550M (Series C).

🚀 New / Stealth Companies

  • SciFin Stealth-mode startup emerges with a significant $44M seed round backed by major venture firms.

🏦 Private-Market Fund Watch

  • No new fund registrations, launches, or portfolio changes cleared primary-source verification in this window.

📊 Robinhood Ventures Performance

  • RVI — $26.53 close (2026-09-01) · day -0.45% · since first available close (2026-03-06) +26.33% · NAV/premium-discount not published in today's qualified inputs.
  • RVII — $22 close (2026-09-01) · day -2.74% · since first available close (2026-08-13) -4.14% · NAV/premium-discount not published in today's qualified inputs.

🏛️ Institutional Ownership (13F)

  • RVI: no holders currently indexed in the curated top-manager 13F universe. The quarter-over-quarter read is BEARISH: 0 new, 0 increased, 0 decreased, and 1 exited (2026-03-31 → 2026-06-30). Coverage is filing-based and can lag quarter-end by up to 45 days.
  • RVII: no holders currently indexed in the curated top-manager 13F universe. Coverage is filing-based and can lag quarter-end by up to 45 days.

🧭 Macro read

The private market shows signs of intense competition for AI infrastructure and energy-related startups, evidenced by major funding rounds for companies like Light and SciFin. Meanwhile, market concentration remains high as large incumbents and established venture firms like Andreessen Horowitz continue to aggregate capital. Uncertainty persists regarding the durability of AI-driven compute demand, highlighted by reports of potential 'illusory' power demand, while the SEC continues to police private fund activity.

🗂️ Dataset updated: no new closed rounds to add; list holds at 2,341.

🔗 Sources

  • [TechStartups](https://techstartups.com/)
  • [SF Business Times](https://www.bizjournals.com/sanfrancisco/news/2026/09/01/sfbt-digest-tuesday-seiu-security-guard-amazon-sf.html)
  • [RVI market performance](https://polygon.io/)
  • [SEC Form 13F methodology](https://www.sec.gov/divisions/investment/13ffaq.htm)

Markdown Watch

100 tracked names flagged for markdown risk — 121 scored nightly, 2220 left unscored (no comp bridge). Down rounds are recorded in the open ledger — receipts only work in public. Live boards: markdown-watch · down-round-ledger.

Click a column to sort · third click restores rank order
#CompanySectorRisk ScoreBandVs CompsLast MarkLast Round
1 Linktree SaaS 86 High +436% $1.3B 53 mo ago
2 Replit Data / Infra 86 High +234% $9.0B 40 mo ago
3 Xendit Financial Services 80 High +1898% $2.7B 52 mo ago
4 Forter Fintech 80 High +979% $3.0B 64 mo ago
5 Greenlight Fintech 80 High +623% $2.3B 65 mo ago
6 Betterment Fintech 80 High +441% $1.1B 41 mo ago
7 BetterUp SaaS 80 High +237% $4.7B 59 mo ago
8 Cross River Bank fintech 80 High +220% $3.0B 53 mo ago

Nightly score: comp-bridge premium (45%) · round staleness (30%) · IPO-readiness drag (15%) · funding deceleration (10%). Companies without a computable public-comp bridge stay unscored — never guessed.

29 markdowns detected all-time · 7 flagged beforehand · 22 missed · hit rate 24.1%

CompanyDetectedEventMarkCalled?
Enable 2026-08-31 Mark cut −44.0% $2.0B → $1.1B ✗ Missed
Shein 2026-08-31 Mark cut −48.0% $50B → $26B ✓ Flagged #89 · Moderate
Fluidstack 2026-08-31 Mark cut −58.3% $18B → $7.5B ✓ Flagged #20 · Elevated
Together AI 2026-08-31 Mark cut −60.2% $8.3B → $3.3B ✓ Flagged #51 · Elevated
Nscale 2026-08-31 Mark cut −79.5% $15B → $3.0B ✗ Missed
Owner 2026-08-31 Mark cut −88.5% $20B → $2.3B ✗ Missed
Splashtop 2026-08-24 Mark cut −9.1% $1.1B → $1.0B ✗ Missed
Amperity 2026-08-24 Mark cut −9.1% $1.1B → $1.0B ✗ Missed

Down-round & valuation headlines scraped at publication from Google News, Hacker News, CNBC, Yahoo Finance and the wider tech press.

IPO Runway — Latest Deep Dives

Founder & Investor Take

One deal was 77% of the tape

If you're not in prediction markets, cybersecurity, or vertical SaaS at growth stage, the tracked window was effectively closed. Don't read broad signals from a $1.3B week — it's one strategic round plus two outliers.

Markdown-to-exit is now a real path

Unacademy went from peak to 94% off选手 in five years. If your last round was priced on 2021-22 comps, assume acquirers see the same markdown board your investors do. Price to clear, not to defend.

AI-defense is crowding the LP table

a16z adding $1.75B to an AI-defense vehicle while emerging managers close sub-$70M funds tells you where LP dollars are heading. If your thesis isn't AI, defense, or climate-adjacent, the GP fundraising path is narrowing.

Outlook

September opens thin. Tracked tape is $1.3B but $1.0B is a single strategic. With a16z concentrating capital in AI/defense and 100 names on the markdown ledger, pricing pressure persists through Q4. Founders with runway should wait; those without should price to clear.

QuantLogix briefings are educational market commentary generated from live data, not investment advice. Private-market figures come from public reporting and the QuantLogix private-company dataset; amounts and valuations are as-reported, not audited. Markets carry risk of loss.