EverythingStartups Weekly

Welcome to all the new visionaries here who signed up last week! Last week was time off, but we’re back.

In case you missed it, I’ve updated the EverythingStartups website with a new look, take a peek 🙂 

I’ve also created an Instagram account with more great startup & VC content (still working on the consistency there though).

And finally, I have a special announcement soon about a new launch & partnership, for investors specifically, so stay tuned 😉 

Let’s get into this week’s edition on what’s happening in startup & VC world & the main highlights.

But first, check out these resources:

• 120+ Active Pre-Seed - Series A investors

• 48 pre-seed accelerators

• Latest VC funds announced

• 350+ SaaS investors

• LPs investing in VC funds

• Understanding founder vs VC investment memos

Partnership & collaboration opportunities. 

Cheers,
Ivelina

PS: Liking this? Share this newsletter with your inner circle.

 
Important News 🟣

What people are talking about…

• OpenAI announced GPT-5, its latest and most advanced large-scale artificial intelligence model.

• While VC fundraising is down this year, the gap between emerging and experienced managers is narrowing.

• Women now hold 18.6% of top investment roles at US venture firms, doubling since 2018, according to All Raise. This, despite headwinds from a tougher fundraising climate and reduced DEI initiatives.

• IPO hopeful Brex scored major win to sell in the EU, plans UK expansion.

• A look at Uzbekistan’s first unicorn, Uzum, which raised $65.5 million from Tencent, VR Capital, and FinSight Ventures at a $1.5 billion valuation. Its e-commerce, fintech, and banking businesses hit 17 million monthly users and $150 million in 2024 net income.

• OpenAI is in early talks for a secondary share sale at a $500 billion valuation, up from $300 billion in March. ChatGPT nears 700 million weekly users and the company rolls out its first open-weight models since 2019.

Interesting Links 🟣

These caught my eye this week…

• Repeat success is rare in venture capital. Ilya Strebulaev shares data showing only 35% of senior VCs have two or more successful deals, and just 5% hit ten or more. Tim Draper, Peter Thiel, and John Doerr are some of the names in this selected group.

• Defense tech is having a record year. PitchBook reports $19.1 billion raised in Q2 2025 alone. The figure more than doubles the prior quarter, with YTD totals hitting $28.4 billion as investors chase autonomous systems, counter-drone tech, and dual-use platforms.

• Should VCs bet on the horse or the jockey? Crunchbase revisits the debate, arguing that founder-first investing often falls into superficial pattern-matching and that the best investors evaluate people and businesses as an inseparable package.

• Reddit SEO is emerging as a powerful visibility tool. An NP Digital guide outlines how brands can tap into Google’s “Discussions and forums” features, AI Overviews, and subreddit engagement to build trust, surface in SERPs, and uncover high-intent keyword opportunities.

• USV is hiring an AI Lead. The role focuses on building in-house tools to rethink how the firm sources founders, analyzes markets, and supports its portfolio, with hands-on coding, rapid prototyping, and language model innovation from its NYC office.

• Thiel Fellowship outperforms on unicorn creation. With 11 billion-dollar companies from 185 funded founders, its 5.9% hit rate triples Y Combinator’s 1.9%, according to CB Insights.

• Project Europe launches its biggest hackathon yet. Dubbed Project Lovable, the event will bring 20 teams together in Stockholm for 20 hours to compete for a €20,000 prize and showcase European startup talent.

🎙️ 19 Emerging Fund Manager Programs

As you know, getting a new fund off the ground is tough, really tough.

But, there are programs designed specifically to help emerging managers secure funding, gain support, and connect with institutional capital.

In this post you can check out 19 𝐄𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐌𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐫 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐦𝐬 offered by pensions, endowments, and major sponsors, each designed to give early-stage fund managers the edge they need.

 
New VC Fund Highlight: Forward Deployed Venture Capital 🟣

And the best part - highlighting my favorite fund of the week!

Silicon Valley-based Forward Deployed Venture Capital closed its $45M defense and security fund targeting startups in defense, industrials, and critical infrastructure.

Founded by former Palantir forward deployed engineer Mark Scianna, the fund uniquely leveraged personal networks - securing backing from 150 current and former employees of defense tech giants like Palantir, SpaceX, and Anduril, plus institutional support from Bain Capital Ventures.

Why it's notable: Scianna's decade-plus experience building software for the US Army and Marines in Iraq and Africa gives him unmatched sector credibility and founder trust. His creative fundraising approach of "hobbit happy hours" with Palantir alumni across Palo Alto, NYC, and DC shows deep network effects paying off.

Market context: Successfully closed despite a brutal 2024 fundraising environment where emerging managers faced "existential pressures" and raised less capital than any time in the last decade. However, defense tech VC funding has been surging as more investors chase drone and national security startups, making this fund well-positioned for the current cycle.

PS: Track new VC funds raised here.

Top Pre-Seed to Series A Funding Rounds This Week 🟣

Watch out for these…

• Neurogram, a startup that automates EEG workflow by ingesting exam data, running AI-powered analyses, and generating certified medical reports, raised a $3 million seed round. Headline and Romero Rodrigues were part of the investors.

• Cafeteria, a startup that collects real-time feedback from consumers through short-form video surveys and delivers insights to brands, raised a $3 million round. Marquee Ventures, Listen Ventures, and Thayer Investment Partners participated in the deal.

• OLarry, a startup that uses AI to enable high-net-worth individuals and business owners to implement personalized tax strategies, raised a $10 million Series A round. TTV Capital, Walkabout Ventures, and Marin Sonoma Impact Ventures were part of the investors.

• Streamline AI, a startup whose software helps legal teams at large companies manage and automate intake and tracking of legal requests, raised an $8.6 million Series A round. Blumberg Capital, Tribeca Venture Partners, and others joined the round.

• Raise Robotics, a startup that builds rugged, mobile robots to automate hazardous and repetitive tasks on vertical construction sites, raised a $7.8 million seed round. MaC Ventures, Undivided Ventures, and others invested.