The Week’s 10 Biggest Funding Rounds: AI Tools And Assistants Lead Sparser Lineup Of Megadeals

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This is a weekly feature that runs down the week’s top 10 announced funding rounds in the U.S. Check out last week’s biggest funding deal roundup here.

Most of this week’s largest funding recipients were AI-focused startups, with Instinct, a developer of AI assistants, pulling in the biggest round. Other sizable financings went to companies in areas including business software, physical AI, autonomous transport and even sea gliders. Overall, rounds skewed smaller than in recent past weeks.

1. Instinct, $250M, AI assistants: Instinct, a startup developing and beta testing an AI assistant, is raising $250 million in a Series B valuing the San Francisco company at $2.5 billion, according to a report from The Wall Street Journal citing founder Noah Shinn. Lead backers include Index Ventures and Benchmark.

2. Owner, $240M, small business AI tools: Owner, a provider of AI tools for local businesses to automate things like building websites, online and phone ordering, mobile apps, and customer support, picked up $240 million in new funding. Goldman Sachs Growth Equity led the financing, valuing the 8-year-old San Francisco company at $2.3 billion.

3. (tied) Generalist AI, $200M, physical AI: San Francisco-based Generalist AI, a startup developing an AI foundation model that can work with a variety of robots, secured $200 million in fresh financing. The investment, an extension of its $400 million Series B in June, is reportedly led by 8VC 1.

3. (tied) Gatik, $200M, autonomous trucking: Gatik, an operator of driverless trucks, closed on $200 million in Series D funding. Qatar Investment Authority and Koch Disruptive Technologies led the round for the 9-year-old, Santa Clara, California-based company.

5. Socure, $156M, predictive analytics: Socure, a provider of identity, risk and compliance tools, picked up $156 million in growth funding and acquired Fravity, an agentic platform for fraud and compliance operations. Summit Partners led the round, valuing the Incline Village, Nevada-based company at $5.2 billion.

6. Emerald AI, $150M, data center energy management: Emerald AI, a software platform that balances AI computational workloads and available energy resources, raised $150 million in Series A funding. The financing, led by Energize Capital and DCVC, set the Washington, D.C.-based company’s valuation at $1.05 billion.

7. (tied) Regent Craft, $120M, sea gliders: Rhode Island-based Regent Craft, a developer of high-speed winged sea vessels, closed on $120 million in Series B equity funding led by Mare Liberum and AE Industrial Partners. It also secured $120 million in debt funding from Erebor Bank.

7. (tied) AusperBio, $120M, biopharma: AusperBio, a San Francisco startup developing therapeutics for chronic hepatitis B and other diseases, picked up $120 million in Series C funding backed by new and existing investors. The funding will support clinical trials for its lead therapeutic.

9. Stability AI, $76M, AI for creatives: Los Angeles-based Stability AI, a developer of AI products for professional creatives across music, gaming and entertainment, announced a Series B fundraise of $76 million backed by a long list of venture and strategic investors.

10. Blank Street, $75M, coffee: Brooklyn-based coffee and matcha drink chain Blank Street has raised $75 million in fresh funding from investors including General Atlantic as it plans a West Coast expansion. The company also raised $30 million in secondary market transactions.

We tracked the largest announced rounds in the Crunchbase database that were raised by U.S.-based companies for the period of Aug. 22-28. Although most announced rounds are in the database, there may be a small time lag, as some rounds are reported late in the week.

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