U.S. startups secured more than $3.1 billion in disclosed funding across the 10 largest venture rounds announced this week, with defense technology, artificial intelligence and semiconductor infrastructure emerging as the leading sectors.
Castelion, a Torrance, California-based defense technology startup developing hypersonic strike missiles, raised $800 million in Series C equity alongside $250 million in debt financing. The round, led by JPMorgan Chase, Andreessen Horowitz and Carlyle, values the company at $13 billion. The funding follows heightened government and private investment in hypersonic capabilities amid global security concerns.
AI infrastructure companies also featured prominently in the week’s financings. Etched, a San Jose-based developer of inference clusters for AI acceleration, secured $700 million in a round led by Jane Street, valuing the four-year-old startup at $21 billion. Groq, an operator of 13 global data centers, raised $350 million in a new round led by Disruptive, bringing its valuation to $3.5 billion. The company had previously closed a $650 million round in June.
Semiconductor-focused ventures continued to attract capital. Velaura AI, a Silicon Valley-based developer of ultra-low-power AI compute infrastructure, raised $110 million in Series A funding led by Seligman Ventures, achieving a valuation above $1 billion. The startup focuses on silicon and software technologies designed to reduce power consumption in AI workloads.
AI applications beyond infrastructure also drew significant investment. Higgsfield, a San Francisco-based platform for AI-generated video and image creation, closed a $400 million Series B round led by DST Global at a $5.4 billion valuation. Wispr Flow, a provider of AI-powered voice-to-text tools, raised $280 million in Series B funding at a $2 billion valuation, with Menlo Ventures leading the round.
Other notable financings included Muon Space, a Mountain View-based satellite constellation operator, which raised $250 million in Series C funding led by Eclipse. The company recently opened a manufacturing facility in San Jose capable of producing up to 500 satellites annually by 2027. Also, a Palo Alto-based micromobility startup spun out of Rivian, secured $150 million in Series D funding led by Prysm Capital to advance its autonomous vehicle platform. Rillet, a San Francisco-based developer of AI-powered enterprise resource planning tools, raised $100 million in Series C funding led by Iconiq Capital at a $1 billion valuation. Happy Health, an Austin-based developer of a sleep apnea diagnostic ring, raised $75 million from Arch Venture Partners and OpenLoop.
The funding rounds were tracked for the period of August 15-21 based on Crunchbase data, with valuations and investor details reflecting the most recent disclosures available.
