#venture-capital

Playground Global Joins NUS Initiative Supporting Singapore’s Quantum Ecosystem

Playground Global and Matter Venture Partners have joined NUS Enterprise's US$117 million NUS VC Programme, gaining access to Singapore's deep tech startup pipeline spanning quantum technologies, AI, biotech, and advanced materials. In return, Singapore-based startups gain connections to Silicon Valley venture networks, technical expertise, and commercialization support. NUS Enterprise will also open its first Silicon Valley outpost at Playground Global's incubation facility, giving founders access to labs, prototyping tools, and direct exposure to US customers and investors.

VC fund VGames launches new $10m Indie Fund

VGames, a VC firm founded in 2020, is launching a $10 million Indie Fund targeting premium PC and console game studios. Unlike traditional equity deals, the fund offers project financing in exchange for revenue share, preserving studio independence and IP rights. VGames plans to back 10–20 studios with investments of $500K–$1M each, focusing on commercially ambitious titles that avoid free-to-play monetisation. The shift in strategy reflects a more challenging exit environment for PC/console compared to mobile.

Why new investment house Denmu has $50m to give to "auteur" developers

Denmu is a new investment firm founded in 2025 by Ryan You and Michael Fan with $50 million to invest in 'auteur' game developers. The firm positions itself as an alternative to traditional publisher advances and equity funding, focusing on creative-driven projects with average investments of $1–5 million. Denmu differentiates itself through an East-West bridge strategy, leveraging the founders' backgrounds in China, France, and the US to connect developers with both Asian and Western markets. The firm has already backed projects including The Hundred Line: Last Defense Academy and Blue Protocol: Star Resonance, and has seen limited partners double down on their commitments. Long-term, Denmu aims to become a one-stop capital shop for game developers at any stage.

Hadrian $7.5bn valuation: physical-AI bet, denied

Hadrian Automation, an AI-powered defense factory startup, is reportedly in talks to raise $1bn at a $7.5bn valuation — up from $1.6bn just five months ago — though the company calls the reported figure inaccurate. The story illustrates the investor frenzy around 'physical AI' and US reindustrialisation. Hadrian builds AI-driven factories making aerospace and defense components, backed by a $2.4bn US Navy submarine contract. Its Opus software automates manufacturing and inspection, and its factories run at 65–80% utilisation versus an industry baseline of ~10%. Backers include Founders Fund, a16z, and Altimeter. The piece also notes caution: valuations are running far ahead of revenues, and factory-building is capital-intensive, slow work ill-suited to software-style multiples.

Menlo Ventures $3bn fund: the Anthropic payoff

Menlo Ventures has raised a $3bn fund, its largest in 50 years, largely on the back of its Anthropic stake now worth ~$14bn. The firm first backed Anthropic in 2023 with no product or revenue, eventually leading a $750m Series D through a special-purpose vehicle in a self-described 'bet-the-firm moment'. The $3bn is split between an early-stage fund (seed to Series A) and a growth fund (Series B+), reflecting a broader VC trend of stretching across stages as AI companies stay private longer. Menlo also co-launched the $100m Anthology Fund with Anthropic to back startups building on its technology, which has since deployed $250m across 60+ companies. The raise comes amid a crowded field — a16z raised $15bn+ and Sequoia ~$7bn — so Menlo is competing on network position and technical depth rather than fund size. The key open question is whether the firm can find another Anthropic-scale outlier or compound its existing stake.

SoftBank’s Son says calling AI a bubble is ‘an insult’

Masayoshi Son, CEO SoftBank, bác bỏ quan điểm cho rằng AI là bong bóng, coi đó là "sự xúc phạm" và khẳng định AI sẽ cách mạng lớn gấp 50 lần dot-com. Ông cam kết đầu tư thêm 10–15 năm vào siêu trí tuệ nhân tạo, dự đoán ngành này có thể kéo dài 50–100 năm và đóng góp ít nhất 10% GDP toàn cầu. SoftBank đã rót 64,6 tỷ USD vào OpenAI (13% sở hữu) và mở rộng mục đích kinh doanh sang AI, robotics, bán dẫn cùng data center.

Nếu bạn quan tâm đến tương lai của công nghệ và chiến lược đầu tư lớn của các công ty hàng đầu thế giới, bài viết này sẽ giúp bạn hiểu rõ hơn về tầm nhìn của SoftBank trong cuộc cách mạng AI và cách nó định hình lại thị trường trong tương lai.

How to invest when everything is moving too fast

Two prominent AI-focused venture capitalists — Carter Reum of M13 and Chang Xu of Basis Set Ventures — discuss how to navigate investing in the current AI boom. Key themes include how to price deals when growth curves are unprecedented, how to find startups that won't be crushed by hyperscalers (favoring regulated industries and 'depth markets' over 'velocity markets'), and why second and third ripple bets in a tech cycle often yield better returns. They also discuss the potential impact of the SpaceX IPO on the LA tech ecosystem and why LA's cultural 'taste' may matter more as AI automates technical work.

After betting the firm on Anthropic, Menlo Ventures raises victorious $3B fund

Menlo Ventures has announced a $3 billion fundraise — its largest in 50 years — largely fueled by its early and aggressive bet on Anthropic. In 2024, Menlo led Anthropic's Series D with a $750 million investment, $500 million of which was structured as a special purpose vehicle (SPV). That stake is now worth approximately $14 billion. Menlo also co-launched a $100 million startup fund with Anthropic called Anthology, which has since deployed ~$250 million across 60+ companies and already produced exits including Graphite (acquired by Cursor) and Astrix Security (acquired by Cisco). The firm has since built a broader AI investing reputation with portfolio companies like OpenRouter, Lovable, and Legora.

HaloBraid raises $7M to build the first robotic braiding assistant for hair salons

HaloBraid, a robotics startup building an automated braiding assistant for hair salons, has raised $7M in a seed round led by Alexis Ohanian's Seven Seven Six. The device works alongside professional stylists — a braider starts each braid by hand, then HaloBraid finishes it in seconds, roughly five times faster than a human. Founder Yinka Ogunbiyi, an engineer with Harvard credentials, was inspired by a four-day DIY braiding attempt during COVID-19. The market opportunity is substantial: an estimated 8 billion hours are spent braiding hair annually, sessions can last 6–12 hours, and professional braiders face serious repetitive strain injuries. The technology borrows from material science and inkjet printing to handle hair as a mechanical substrate. HaloBraid plans to launch in salons later this year, with a team of 15 using the funding for product development, manufacturing, and salon partnerships. The company is also exploring a device to undo braids.

Cargo Culture

A sharp critique of Silicon Valley's AI boom as a 'cargo cult' — where tech giants, VCs, and AI labs mimic past success patterns without genuine innovation. The piece argues that the industry has run out of ideas, with companies like OpenAI and Anthropic burning tens of billions while lacking viable paths to profitability. It covers the collapse of VC returns, the 'SaaSpocalypse,' the hollow hiring of AI luminaries, the push for token-burning 'loops,' and how executives cargo-cult management philosophies like 'founder mode' — all symptoms of an industry doing impressions of success rather than creating real value.

MGX AI fund hits $50bn as Abu Dhabi courts outsiders

Abu Dhabi's MGX investment firm has raised nearly $50bn for an AI-focused fund, marking a strategic shift from the emirate's traditional role as a capital exporter to actively attracting outside investors including sovereign wealth funds, pension funds, and institutional investors. The fund is already deployed across the full AI stack — with stakes in OpenAI, Anthropic, and xAI, plus infrastructure investments alongside BlackRock, Microsoft, and Nvidia. MGX is targeting over $100bn in assets under management, planning to spend up to $10bn annually. A potential multi-billion-dollar acquisition of Singapore-based data centre operator DayOne is also being explored. The scale reflects the soaring costs of frontier AI development, with compute bills continuing to climb.

Google taps its alumni network for a new AI startup incubator

Google is reportedly building an AI startup incubator targeting its alumni network of former employees, known as 'Xooglers'. The initiative would complement existing programs like the AI Futures Fund and Google for Startups accelerators, giving Google early-stage access to ventures founded by ex-staff who already understand its systems and models. The move is a strategic response to a significant talent exodus — former Google and DeepMind researchers have raised hundreds of millions for new AI ventures, with $18.8bn flowing into AI startups founded since early 2025. Notable departures include AlphaGo architect David Silver, who founded Ineffable Intelligence at a $5.1bn valuation, and Nobel laureate John Jumper, who joined Anthropic. The incubator would let Google convert talent losses into early-stage stakes, keeping alumni within its orbit while offering model access and capital. Details on fund size, check sizes, and launch timing remain undisclosed.