Theseus Raises $4.3 Million Seed Round Led By First Round Capital With Participation From Y Combinator And Lux Capital

After a viral hackathon project where three engineers under 25 built a sub-$500 drone that calculated GPS coordinates using just a camera and Google Maps, Ian Laffey, Sacha Lévy, and Carl Schoeller turned their weekend build into a startup. One tweet later, they were accepted into Y Combinator’s Spring 2024 batch—and now, they’ve raised a $4.3 million seed round led by First Round Capital, with participation from Y Combinator and Lux Capital. Theseus, now based in San Francisco, isn’t building drones—it’s building the core software and hardware components that enable unmanned drones to navigate without GPS. In war zones like Ukraine, where GPS jamming is rampant, that’s more than a feature—it’s critical infrastructure. While the company hasn’t deployed in combat yet, it has entered a testing agreement with U.S. Special Forces and is using the new capital to expand its engineering team and continue tech development. Theseus joins a growing wave of defense-tech startups reimagining battlefield autonomy. Its focus: getting drones from point A to point B—regardless of weather, fog, or jamming. AMOUNT: $4,300,000 FOUNDERS: Ian Laffey, Sacha Lévy, Carl Schoeller SECTOR: Defense Tech / Navigation / Autonomous Drones INVESTORS: First Round Capital, Y Combinator, Lux Capital #TradedVC #Theseus #DefenseTech #FirstRoundCapital #YCombinator #LuxCapital #DroneTech #AutonomousSystems #GPSFree #SeedFunding #StartupNews

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Tempus AI Acquires Personalis In $1.5 Billion All-Stock TransactionTempus AI announced a definitive agreement to acquire Personalis in an all-stock transaction valued at approximately $1.5 billion in enterprise value, bringing together two longtime partners in cancer monitoring and precision oncology. The acquisition builds on a collaboration that began in 2023 and expanded through Tempus’ strategic investment and exclusive commercialization partnership for Personalis’ NeXT Personal MRD test, which detects molecular residual disease and helps monitor cancer recurrence. Under the agreement, Personalis shareholders will receive $16.25 per share, representing a 6% premium to the company’s recent closing price. Personalis CEO Chris Hall said the deal offers the greatest value to shareholders and accelerates access to the company’s cancer testing technologies. The transaction is expected to close in late 2026 or early 2027, subject to shareholder and regulatory approvals. SALE PRICE: $1,500,000,000 HQ: Chicago, Illinois #VentureCapital #TempusAI #Personalis #TradedVC

Neo Secures $100 Million Funding Led By Andreessen Horowitz And Bessemer Venture PartnersNeo, a Boston-based cybersecurity startup focused on securing AI agents and agentic software, has emerged from stealth with $100 million in total funding, including a $75 million Series A led by Andreessen Horowitz and Bessemer Venture Partners, alongside participation from Craft Ventures and Merlin Ventures, following a previously undisclosed $25 million seed round. Founded by Nick Warner, Shlomi Salem, and Eran Shirazi, Neo provides SecOps teams with real-time inventory, risk intelligence, attribution, and policy controls to govern AI agents operating across enterprise environments. The company plans to use the funding to expand its engineering and go-to-market teams as demand grows for tools that help organizations manage the security risks posed by increasingly autonomous AI systems. FOUNDERS: Nick Warner, Shlomi Salem & Eran Shirazi INVESTORS: Andreessen Horowitz, Bessemer Venture Partners, Craft Ventures & Merlin Ventures ROUND: Seed + Series A AMOUNT: $100,000,000 HQ: Boston, Massachusetts #VentureCapital #Neo #TradedPartner #AndreessenHorowitz #TradedVC

Brookfield Asset Management And CPP Investments Acquire LXP Industrial Trust For $5.2 BillionBrookfield Asset Management and Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPP Investments) have agreed to acquire LXP Industrial Trust in an all-cash transaction valued at approximately $5.2 billion, including net debt and preferred equity, taking the industrial REIT private upon closing. Under the deal, LXP shareholders will receive $61.20 per share in cash, representing significant premiums to the company’s recent trading averages. LXP owns a portfolio of roughly 53 million square feet of warehouse and logistics properties across key U.S. Sunbelt and Midwest markets. LXP Chairman and CEO Thomas W. Eglin, Jr. described the transaction as the culmination of the company’s transformation into a pure-play industrial REIT, while Brookfield Real Estate CEO Lowell Baron said the acquisition aligns with Brookfield’s strategy of investing in high-quality real estate with durable cash flows and value-creation opportunities through active asset management. The transaction is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2026, subject to shareholder approval and customary conditions. SALE PRICE: $5,200,000,000 #VentureCapital #BrookfieldAssetManagement #CanadaPensionPlanInvestmentBoard #LXPIndustrialTrust #TradedVC

The Portal Raises $5 Million Seed Round Led By Investors Tim Ferriss And Matt MullenwegThe Portal, a membership club focused on human flourishing, has raised $5 million in a seed round to fund the launch of its second location in downtown Austin. Founded by Anwen Baumeister (CEO & Co-Founder) and Tim Chang (CFO & Co-Founder), the company will use the capital to open a 15,000-square-foot flagship space at 601 Rio Grande, expanding its wellness-, creativity-, and community-driven concept beyond its original Marin/San Francisco location. The round drew participation from a broad group of investors and cultural figures, including Tim Ferriss, Matt Mullenweg, and others. FOUNDERS: Anwen Baumeister & Tim Chang INVESTORS: Tim Ferriss, Emmet Peppers, Jacqui Bishop, Mimi Aye, Ankush Gera, Kwiri Yang, Shaunda Brown, Ben Arnberg, Spencer Kaye, Manish Chandra, Ravi Bhojwani, Zander Rafael, Michael Solomon, Joshua Douglas, Matt Movalson, Matt Eggers, Michael Fishman, Elaine Glass, Melissa Taunton, Scott Faber, Matt Mullenweg, Vishal Gurbuxani, Linea Avey, Aneil Mallavarapu, Michael Heinrich, Andrew Boggs & JP Newman ROUND: Seed AMOUNT: $5,000,000 VALUATION: $24,000,000 HQ: Austin, Texas #VentureCapital #ThePortal #TradedPartner #AnwenBaumeister #TimChang #TradedVC