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- $350M Defense Tech Funding, AI Drug Trials Begin, & More! 🚀
$350M Defense Tech Funding, AI Drug Trials Begin, & More! 🚀
Seed Radar
July 08, 2025
Issue #15 • July 8, 2025
Hey SeedRadar Squad! This week, the latest ventures capturing significant attention span a wide spectrum of innovation. Defense and spacetech are surging forward with substantial investments, while groundbreaking AI advancements are pushing the boundaries of drug discovery into human clinical trials.
Simultaneously, significant capital is flowing into sustainable building solutions, marking a commitment to a greener future. Beyond these headline-making developments, we're tracking compelling startups from AI companion apps to forest carbon measurement and quantum computing solutions.
Image Courtesy of BlueYard Capital
📈 Important News of the Week!
The latest ventures capturing significant attention range from defense and space tech advancements, including new hypersonic missile systems, to innovative peer-to-peer communication apps. This week also sees breakthroughs in AI-driven drug discovery entering human trials and substantial investments flowing into sustainable building solutions..
🔥Who is dominating the buzz?
• Castelion a defense and spacetech startup headquartered in El Segundo, California, secured $350 million in a new funding round to scale up the production of its hypersonic missile systems. The investment highlights surging venture interest in dual-use technologies that address critical national security needs. - Read More
• Jack Dorsey, co-founder of Twitter and Block, is developing a new peer-to-peer messaging app called Bitchat that operates over Bluetooth, allowing for communication without an internet connection. The project, which is still in its early stages, aims to create a censorship-resistant communication channel and is being developed openly on GitHub. - Read More
• Isomorphic Labs, Alphabet's AI-driven drug discovery company, revealed it is preparing to begin the first human clinical trials for its AI-designed drug candidates. This marks a critical milestone in using AI to potentially shorten timelines and lower the costs of developing new medicines, with initial trials focused on oncology. - Read More
• Terra CO2, raised a $124.5 million Series B round. The round was co-led by Breakthrough Energy Ventures, Eagle Materials, GenZero, and Just Climate, signaling strong investor backing for sustainable building solutions. - Read More
💰 Hot Series A Funding Rounds You Missed!
🌟 SEED OF THE WEEK: Tolan ($20M)
→Who They Are: Tolan was co-founded by CEO Jon Schlossberg, who previously co-founded and led the financial wellness startup Even, which was acquired by Walmart and is now part of the financial services app ONE.
→What They Do: Tolan is building a new kind of AI companion app for iOS. The app features a personalized, animated alien creature that acts as a virtual friend, designed to learn, grow, and develop its own personality and memories alongside the user.
→Why it matters (our take): In a market increasingly crowded with functional or entertainment-focused AI chatbots, Tolan is making a bet on deep, long-term emotional connection and personal growth.
🔥 More Startups Catching Fire!
• Chloris Geospatial ($8.5M) -The company provides satellite-based measurement of forest carbon and ecosystem change, empowering businesses and governments with verifiable data for nature-based climate solutions. - Read More • QEDMA ($26M) -Provides efective solutions for correcting errors in quantum computers and improve the stability and performance of quantum processors. - Read More • AllSpice.io ($15M) - Is a hardware development platform designed to bring best practices from software development into electronics design. - Read More
🚀 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: AWS credits!
☁️ AWS Activate for Startups
Provides startups with up to $100,000 in AWS credits, along with technical support and training. For AI-focused companies, the AWS Generative AI Accelerator offers up to $1M in credits, mentorship, and industry expertise to help build and scale AI applications.
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Until next week!
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