← Back to Dashboard
Share:
QUANTLOGIX STARTUP DAILY
WEDNESDAY · 09/16/2026 SILICON VALLEY
Displayed Rounds
12
Past 7 days
Disclosed Capital
$1.4B
Past 7 days
Tracked Startups
2,424
QL private book
Mega-Round Board
8
$100M+ recent
Markdown Watch
100
names flagged

Temporal Series E ($550M) leads the startup tape

Tracked book shows 20 rounds (19 disclosed) totaling $2.55B over the last 7 days, down 45.3% from the prior week's $4.67B. AI dominates with 10 rounds / $1.55B (−33.6% WoW on capital despite round-count tripling). Displayed tape's 12 deals total $1.4B. Headliners: Temporal Series E $550M at $13B post (Lightspeed), up from $5B in Feb (+151%). Factory growth round $200M at $5B post, up from $1.5B in April (+233%). Profound Series D $180M at $1.8B (Sequoia/KP co-lead), up from $1B in Feb (+80%). Positron AI Series C $875M at $5B post (NEA et al. co-leads) dated 9/10 also appears in weekly trends. Instinct (AI) is IN TALKS, not closed — reported target $10B valuation per source headlines. Seed outlier: TypeSafe AI $40M at $200M post (DCVC) — a $40M seed is notable.

Daily Startup News

Morgan Stanley's $1.3B growth equity fund has invested in Databricks, Anduril, and Ramp (stocktitan, last 24h) — confirms deployment, not just fundraise. Goldman Sachs Alternatives raised $11.7B across new West Street PE vehicles (CryptoRank, marketsmedia). BlackRock plans to restructure corporate 401(k)s toward pension-style allocations (WSJ). McKinsey Technology Trends Outlook 2026 published (McKinsey). Kendall Square biotech incubator launched an international startup program (Harvard Crimson). Canadia Impact Fund backed Cambodian AI startup Newwave (TechNode). Egyptian recycling startup Bekia raised $765K (Launch Base Africa). Veridion raised $20M Series A / €17.5M for business-mapping d

Valuations & Secondary Transactions

Reported post-money marks: Temporal $13B (from $5B, +151% over 7 months). Factory $5B (from $1.5B, +233% over 5 months). Profound $1.8B (from $1B, +80% over 7 months). TypeSafe AI $200M seed (no prior). Pave Finance $100M Series A (no prior). Inspiren $550M Series C (no prior). Positron AI $5B Series C (no prior). OpenAI: multiple last-24h headlines report pre-IPO valuation talks at $1.2T, up 41% — these are talks, not closed rounds; mega-round board still shows $122B. Instinct reported targeting $10B in funding talks — not closed. Markdown Watch: Linktree (86/100, +441% vs public comps), Replit (86/100, +225%), Xendit (80/100, +1898%) — 100 on watch ledger. Recent mark cuts: Upgrade −30.8%,

Company / Round DateReported Post-MoneyPrior Post-Money / DateMark ChangeEvidence
Factory
2026-09-15
$5.0B$1.5B
2026-04-16
+233.3%Tracked roster; source link unavailable
Profound
2026-09-15
$1.8B$1.0B
2026-02-24
+80.0%Tracked roster; source link unavailable
TypeSafe AI
2026-09-15
$200MUnavailableNot comparableTracked roster; source link unavailable
Pave Finance
2026-09-14
$100MUnavailableNot comparableTracked roster; source link unavailable
Temporal
2026-09-14
$13B$5.0B
2026-02-17
+151.0%Tracked roster; source link unavailable
Inspiren
2026-09-10
$550MUnavailableNot comparableTracked roster; source link unavailable
Positron AI
2026-09-10
$5.0BUnavailableNot comparableTracked roster; source link unavailable

Historical round marks are not replaced with today's company valuation. Mark changes compare disclosed post-money levels, not investor returns; dilution and financing terms may differ. Secondary indications, fund marks and enterprise values in linked reporting are separate evidence, not interchangeable round valuations.

Capital by Sector

Software Development ApplicationsSoftware Development Applications · $550M disclosed in window$550MAIAI · $521M disclosed in window$521MDeveloper ToolsDeveloper Tools · $200M disclosed in window$200MFintechFintech · $68M disclosed in window$68MOther HardwareOther Hardware · $40M disclosed in window$40M

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

The Funding Tape — Past 7 days

Tracked book shows 20 rounds (19 disclosed) totaling $2.55B over the last 7 days, down 45.3% from the prior week's $4.67B. AI dominates with 10 rounds / $1.55B (−33.6% WoW on capital despite round-count tripling). Displayed tape's 12 deals total $1.4B. Headliners: Temporal Series E $550M at $13B post (Lightspeed), up from $5B in Feb (+151%). Factory growth round $200M at $5B post, up from $1.5B in April (+233%). Profound Series D $180M at $1.8B (Sequoia/KP co-lead), up from $1B in Feb (+80%). Positron AI Series C $875M at $5B post (NEA et al. co-leads) dated 9/10 also appears in weekly trends. Instinct (AI) is IN TALKS, not closed — reported target $10B valuation per source headlines. Seed outlier: TypeSafe AI $40M at $200M post (DCVC) — a $40M seed is notable.

DateCompanyRoundAmountReported Post-MoneyLeadSector
2026-09-15 Factory Growth round (series undisclosed) $200M $5.0B Developer Tools
2026-09-15 Instinct New round — IN TALKS, not closed AI
2026-09-15 Profound Series D $180M $1.8B Sequoia Capital / Kleiner Perkins (co-led) AI
2026-09-15 TypeSafe AI Seed $40M $200M DCVC AI
2026-09-14 Aron Seed $6M Storm Ventures AI
2026-09-14 Cornelis Networks Series C $205M IAG Capital Partners AI
2026-09-14 Flam Series B $40M QED Investors AI
2026-09-14 Kaiko Series B extension $53M S&P Global Fintech
2026-09-14 Nuance Labs Series A $50M Lightspeed Venture Partners AI
2026-09-14 Pave Finance Series A $15M $100M Fintech
2026-09-14 Temporal Series E $550M $13B Lightspeed Software Development Applications
2026-09-11 Impossible Objects Series B $40M Inflection Equity Other Hardware

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.

Seed: 2Series A: 2Series B: 3Series C–D: 2Late / Growth: 2Other: 1
Seed · 2 deals · $46MSeries A · 2 deals · $65MSeries B · 3 deals · $133MSeries C–D · 2 deals · $385MLate / Growth · 2 deals · $750MOther · 1 deal
SeedSeed: 2 deals2 dealsSeed: $46M$46MSeries ASeries A: 2 deals2 dealsSeries A: $65M$65MSeries BSeries B: 3 deals3 dealsSeries B: $133M$133MSeries C–DSeries C–D: 2 deals2 dealsSeries C–D: $385M$385MLate / GrowthLate / Growth: 2 deals2 dealsLate / Growth: $750M$750MOtherOther: 1 deal1 dealOther: no disclosed capital
Seed
2 deals · $46M disclosed · 3% of window capital
Series A
2 deals · $65M disclosed · 5% of window capital
Series B
3 deals · $133M disclosed · 10% of window capital
Series C–D
2 deals · $385M disclosed · 28% of window capital
Late / Growth
2 deals · $750M disclosed · 54% of window capital
Other
1 deal · disclosed

VC Activity & Lead Investors

Lightspeed appears twice on displayed tape: Temporal ($550M) and Nuance Labs ($50M) — separate entities (Lightspeed vs Lightspeed Venture Partners). Sequoia/Kleiner Perkins co-lead Profound's $180M D. Portage closed $600M Ventures IV for global fintech (last 24h, citybiz). Radical Ventures announced first close of a multi-billion-dollar Breakouts Fund (CryptoRank). Finvolve hit $9.4M first close toward a $26M India venture fund (Tech in Asia/Dealroom). Two retail veterans raised a debut fund targeting the female economy (Inc.com). LP interest in alternatives reportedly at a 5-year high per a Business Wire survey — supportive of fundraise cadence but not direct capital deployment.

Lead InvestorDisplayed DealsAssociated Round Sizes
Lightspeed1$550M
IAG Capital Partners1$205M
Sequoia Capital / Kleiner Perkins (co-led)1$180M
S&P Global1$53M
Lightspeed Venture Partners1$50M
DCVC1$40M
QED Investors1$40M
Inflection Equity1$40M

Total sizes of associated rounds, not the lead investor's check sizes. Investor types are not inferred from their names.

Private Equity & Growth Buyouts

Morgan Stanley's $1.3B growth equity fund has deployed into Databricks, Anduril, and Ramp (stocktitan, last 24h) — confirms that fund is active, not just announced. Goldman Sachs Alternatives closed $11.7B across new West Street PE vehicles (CryptoRank, marketsmedia). LP alternatives interest at 5-year high (Business Wire survey). Private market allocations in defaults could jump fivefold by 2035 (Corporate Adviser) — structurally bullish but long-horizon. Syria's sovereign fund discussed investment opportunities with US firms (Arab News) — early-stage diplomatic/commercial context only.

Investment Funds & Capital Formation

Portage closed $600M Ventures IV for global fintech (citybiz). Goldman Sachs Alternatives raised $11.7B for PE (CryptoRank, marketsmedia). Morgan Stanley's $1.3B growth equity fund is already deployed in Databricks/Anduril/Ramp (stocktitan). Radical Ventures first close of multi-billion-dollar Breakouts Fund (CryptoRank). Finvolve $9.4M first close toward $26M India fund (Tech in Asia). Novastar Partners made maiden India bet via AJVC investment (bwdisrupt). Two retail veterans raised a debut fund targeting the female economy (Inc.com). BlackRock exploring pension-style 401(k) structures (WSJ) — retail private-market access angle. Fund sizes/AUM are not equivalent to startup investment; clos

M&A & Exits

Last-24h M&A headlines: Nvidia-Groq AI deal scrutinized as merger-like structure (Lexology). OpenAI reportedly acquired AI optical imaging company Glass Imaging for ~$300M (36Kr, Pulse 2.0). Archer Aviation acquiring Boeing's drone and air-taxi units (MiGFlug). Startups Beep and Freebee merging (Hypepotamus). Bohemia Interactive took a minority stake in Enjoy Studio / Everwind (WN Hub). Recent context: Bending Spoons reportedly acquired Miro at a 90% discount (Forbes, 9/10) — a stark data point on SaaS valuation compression.

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 — 2072 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
AlphaSense 63 → 76 +13
Grow One 56 → 46 -10
Factory 61 → 68 +7
Fluidstack 71 → 76 +5
Positron AI 62 → 66 +4
Oura 72 → 75 +3
ClickHouse 68 → 71 +3

Private Markets Weekday Digest · 09/16/2026

Display-only private-markets tape from the tracked roster — formations, priced fundraises, valuation marks, and U.S. VC lead activity. No inferred amounts; empty sections stay empty.

Window: 2026-09-16 · sources: private-companies.json, investors.json

New company formations

No rows in the report window.

Fund raises

No rows in the report window.

Valuation marks

No rows in the report window.

Top U.S. VC activity

No rows in the report window.

No in-tree private-market events matched the report window; amounts and valuations were not inferred.

Private Market Desk — Evening Edition · 09/15/2026

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

  • Thatch$108M Series Unknown at a $1B valuation (+ The General Partnership, Index Ventures, General Catalyst, Andreessen Horowitz). Platform that lowers healthcare costs for employers while expanding plan choices for workers Reached unicorn status amid surging healthcare costs for employers.
  • Exein$270M Series Unknown at a $1.7B valuation led by Headline. Cybersecurity layer for physical AI and IoT New Italian unicorn providing security infrastructure for physical AI systems. (Italy)
  • Profound$180M Series D at a $1.8B valuation led by Sequoia, Kleiner Perkins (+ Sequoia, Kleiner Perkins, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Khosla Ventures, South Park Commons). Generative engine optimization and marketing software Reached unicorn status less than seven months after a Series C round.
  • Clipto$15M Seed at a $250M valuation led by First Round Capital (+ HSG, GL Ventures, EnvisionX Capital, Palm Drive Capital, Hans Tung, Lu Zhang, 522 Ventures, Box Group, Vermilion Cliffs, Asylum Ventures). Video search startup Significant seed round for specialized AI video search. (San Francisco)

🔍 Reported, not yet verified

  • AEO startup Profound hits unicorn valuation — reported $180M Series D7; details did not clear cross-source verification — held for manual review, excluded from the dataset.

📊 Valuation re-rates (roster marks that moved)

  • Factory — $1.5B (2026-Q2) → $5B (+233%) on Growth round (series undisclosed).
  • Temporal — $5B (2026-Q1) → $12.6B (+151%) on Series E led by Lightspeed.
  • Harvey — $11B (2026-Q1) → $15.5B (+41%) on Later Stage VC led by Diffusion / Lightspeed Venture Partners (co-led).
  • Cognition — $26B (2026-Q2) → $48B (+85%) on Later Stage VC led by Andreessen Horowitz / Accel / Founders Fund / General Catalyst / Avenir (co-led).
  • Upwind — $1.5B (2026-Q1) → $3.8B (+153%) on Series C led by Bessemer Venture Partners, TCV.
  • AfterQuery — $300M (2026-Q2) → $3.2B (+967%) on Growth round (reported).
  • Fluidstack — $7.5B (2026-Q1) → $18B (+140%) on Growth round (series undisclosed) led by Jane Street.
  • 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.
  • Ramp — $32B (2025-Q3) → $44B (+38%) on Series F led by ICONIQ / GIC / Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan.

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

  • AI — $20B across 22 rounds / 22 companies (accelerating, 22 vs. 5 prior rounds). Top: Anthropic $5B (Strategic Investment).
  • Defense — $3.4B across 5 rounds / 5 companies (accelerating, 5 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).
  • Space / Defense — $1.5B across 2 rounds / 2 companies (new, new vs. a quiet prior window). Top: Stoke Space $1B (Series E).
  • Defense / Industrials — $1.4B across 1 round / 1 company (new, new vs. a quiet prior window). Top: Hadrian $1.4B (Series D).
  • Technology — $1.3B across 5 rounds / 5 companies (accelerating, 5 vs. 1 prior round). Top: Battery Storage Startup Antora $550M (Series C).

🚀 New / Stealth Companies

  • No fresh stealth intake surfaced this window.

🏦 Private-Market Fund Watch

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

📊 Robinhood Ventures Performance

  • RVI — $26.96 close (2026-09-15) · day -1.53% · since first available close (2026-03-06) +28.38% · NAV/premium-discount not published in today's qualified inputs.
  • RVII — $23.25 close (2026-09-15) · day +0.43% · since first available close (2026-08-13) +1.31% · 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 market shows intense concentration in AI infrastructure, characterized by rapid valuation escalations (e.g., Profound hitting unicorn status in 7 months) and massive compute-related deal activity. Significant uncertainty persists regarding AI safety and data governance, as evidenced by major firms (Nvidia, Palantir) restricting model usage and high-profile companies seeking multi-billion dollar funding to address compute bottlenecks.

🗂️ Dataset updated: added 2 companies to the QuantLogix private-companies list — Thatch, Exein — 2,424 → 2,426. Append-only.

🔗 Sources

  • [TechCrunch](https://techcrunch.com/2026/09/15/aeo-startup-profound-hits-unicorn-valuation-raises-180m-series-d-7-months-after-last-round/)
  • [TechCrunch](https://techcrunch.com/2026/09/15/health-benefits-platform-thatch-reaches-1b-valuation-as-healthcare-costs-surge/)
  • [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 — 123 scored nightly, 2300 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 +441% $1.3B 54 mo ago
2 Replit Data / Infra 86 High +225% $9.0B 41 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 66 mo ago
6 Betterment Fintech 80 High +441% $1.1B 42 mo ago
7 Cross River Bank fintech 80 High +220% $3.0B 54 mo ago
8 Pump SaaS 75 High +1437% $1.5B 28 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.

56 markdowns detected all-time · 11 flagged beforehand · 45 missed · hit rate 19.6%

CompanyDetectedEventMarkCalled?
Upgrade 2026-09-14 Mark cut −30.8% $7.3B → $5.0B ✓ Flagged #64 · Moderate
Applied Intuition 2026-09-14 Mark cut −60.0% $15B → $6.0B ✗ Missed
Axonius 2026-09-14 Mark cut −61.5% $2.6B → $1.0B ✗ Missed
Digital Currency Group 2026-09-14 Mark cut −80.0% $10B → $2.0B ✗ Missed
ChargeBee 2026-09-07 Mark cut −6.7% $3.8B → $3.5B ✗ Missed
Increase 2026-09-07 Mark cut −7.4% $5.4B → $5.0B ✗ Missed
Aurora Solar 2026-09-07 Mark cut −9.1% $4.4B → $4.0B ✗ Missed
Razorpay 2026-09-07 Mark cut −25.3% $7.5B → $5.6B ✗ 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

Late-stage re-rating is real but concentrated

Temporal (+151%), Factory (+233%), Profound (+80%) all show sharp step-ups from earlier-2026 marks. But these are category leaders with revenue traction. The broader book is flat-to-down: weekly capital fell 45% WoW and markdowns (Applied Intuition −60%, Axonius −61.5%) are accelerating. If you're raising late, expect bifurcation — premium for momentum, hair

AI seed inflation persists

TypeSafe AI's $40M seed at $200M post (DCVC) shows seed-stage AI checks remain outsized. But average AI round size this week shrank vs prior week (more rounds, less capital). Capital is spreading thinner across more bets. Founders raising AI seeds should move fast — the window is open but unit economics scrutiny is rising per markdown data.

M&A is picking up as an exit path

OpenAI's ~$300M Glass Imaging acquisition, Archer/Boeing drone consolidation, Nvidia-Groq's merger-like structure, and Bending Spoons' discounted Miro acquisition signal acquirers are stepping in. For founders whose valuations outran fundamentals, strategic exits at discounts to last mark may beat down rounds. Track acquirer appetite by sector closely.

Outlook

Late-stage AI and dev-tools are re-rating sharply at the top (Temporal, Factory, Positron AI), but the broader tracked book is contracting — weekly capital down 45%, markdown watch at 100 names with aggressive cuts logged. OpenAI's reported $1.2T pre-IPO talks and Instinct's $10B target (both unclosed) frame the ceiling; Bending Spoons' 90%-discount Miro acquisition frames the floor. Bifurcation i

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.