Issue #25 • August 12, 2025
Hey SeedRadar Squad! This week, Periodic Labs is raising a substantial round from Andreessen Horowitz for AI in scientific discovery, reflecting a huge investor premium on elite talent. Simultaneously, Ripple is acquiring a fintech startup in a move to expand its services, while Blue J Legal has secured a significant fundraise to accelerate its growth in the tax research space.
Additionally, United Airlines made a strategic investment in a loyalty and media revenue company, showing how established players are fueling tech innovation. A dynamic array of emerging ventures and innovative AI tools continues to redefine what’s possible in the market.
📈 Important News of the Week!
• Periodic Labs is raising $200 million in a deal led by Andreessen Horowitz (a16z). The funding values the months-old company at $1 billion before the investment, highlighting the immense premium investors place on elite AI talent to tackle complex scientific discovery. - Read More
• Ripple announced its intent to acquire Rail, a financial technology startup, for approximately $200 million. The acquisition signals continued consolidation in the fintech space and Ripple's strategy to expand its service offerings. - Read More
• Blue J Legal has raised $122 million in a new funding round. The round was co-led by U.S. venture capital firms Sapphire Ventures and Oak HC/FT and will be used to accelerate the company's growth and innovation in the tax research space. - Read More
• United Airlines has made a strategic investment in Dfinitiv, a technology company focused on loyalty and media revenue. The airline is exploring use cases for Dfinitiv's technology across its MileagePlus loyalty program and its Kinective Media commerce network. - Read More
💰 Hot Funding Rounds You Missed!
• Lyric ($43.5M) -A leading AI-powered platform transforming supply chain decision making. - Read More • August Health ($29M) -A San Francisco-based startup providing technology and software to empower and improve the quality of care within senior living communities. - Read More • Ketteq ($20M) -An AI-powered supply chain planning platform offering cloud-native solutions for complex and rapidly changing supply chains, deeply integrated with Salesforce. - Read More • OneSkin ($20M) -A San Francisco-based biotech-powered skin longevity brand that develops scientifically-backed products to improve skin health on a molecular level. - Read More
🌱 The Next Big Thing: Our Startup Pick!
🎯 This Week's Emerging Star: Slash
Slash is a startup making some serious noise in the FinTech space. Fresh off of securing $60 million in new funding, and with over $2 billion in yearly card spend and more than 4 million virtual cards issued, they are definitely one to watch.
So what's their big idea? Slash is building a banking platform that rejects the "one-size-fits-all" model of traditional banks. We aren't talking about just another business checking account. Their technology is designed with industry-specific features for sectors like marketing agencies, e-commerce, and Web3, offering everything from corporate cards with granular spend controls to seamless crypto on-and-off ramps, all in one place.
Everyone in business knows the pain of trying to fit their unique financial workflows into a generic banking system that wasn't built for them. That's exactly what Slash is trying to fix. They are betting that by creating a banking platform tailored to the real-world needs of different industries, they can do more than just manage money—they can actually help accelerate their customers' success.
🚀 Startup Radar: Movers, Shakers & Future Makers
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🛠️ Trending AI Tools to Supercharge Your Workflow!
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💼 Join the Revolution: Hot Startup Jobs!
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💼 Resource of the Week: Full Open Source LLMs!
🧠 TRG DataCenters' "Best Open Source LLMs in 2025" Report
A definitive guide to the top-performing open-source Large Language Models for 2025. This report provides a technical breakdown and ideal use cases for leading models like Meta's LLaMA 3.1, Mistral Large 2, and DeepSeek, enabling startups to make strategic decisions about their core model architecture.
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Disclosure: Seedradar Ventures and/or its general partner may hold investments in some of the companies mentioned in this newsletter. This content is provided for informational purposes only and should not be considered investment advice.
