Profluent just raised $106M led by Jeff Bezos to make biology programmable.
Founder Ali Madani started at Salesforce's moonshot ProGen project in 2020, left in 2022, and partnered with UW researcher Alexander Meeske.
• $106M Series B (Bezos Expeditions, Altimeter)
• Approaching $1B valuation
• 115B protein database (largest globally)
• Partners: Revvity ($11B), Corteva, Ensoma
• AI models design custom proteins from human language
How it happened:
• Identified AI-biology convergence pre-ChatGPT boom
• Published Nature Biotechnology paper establishing credibility
• Left corporate to focus full-time with academic co-founder
• Built massive proprietary dataset (115B proteins)
• Proved scaling laws work for protein design
• Secured commercial partnerships before major funding
https://www.forbes.com/sites/amyfeldman/2025/11/19/jeff-bezos-is-backing-an-ai-startup-aiming-to-make-proteins-programmable/
Takeaway: Academic research + commercial partnerships + proprietary data = billion-dollar biotech validation.
Source: Forbes
Brewed by Startup Beaker.
Founder Ali Madani started at Salesforce's moonshot ProGen project in 2020, left in 2022, and partnered with UW researcher Alexander Meeske.
• $106M Series B (Bezos Expeditions, Altimeter)
• Approaching $1B valuation
• 115B protein database (largest globally)
• Partners: Revvity ($11B), Corteva, Ensoma
• AI models design custom proteins from human language
How it happened:
• Identified AI-biology convergence pre-ChatGPT boom
• Published Nature Biotechnology paper establishing credibility
• Left corporate to focus full-time with academic co-founder
• Built massive proprietary dataset (115B proteins)
• Proved scaling laws work for protein design
• Secured commercial partnerships before major funding
https://www.forbes.com/sites/amyfeldman/2025/11/19/jeff-bezos-is-backing-an-ai-startup-aiming-to-make-proteins-programmable/
Takeaway: Academic research + commercial partnerships + proprietary data = billion-dollar biotech validation.
Source: Forbes
Brewed by Startup Beaker.
Forbes
Jeff Bezos Is Backing An AI Startup Aiming To Make Proteins Programmable
Profluent has raised $106 million to scale up use of its AI models for biology in drug development and agriculture.
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Startapga oid kanallarni izlab charchadingizmi?
Endi kerak emas — biz butun MDH (CНГ) bo‘yicha eng yaxshi startap va biznes kanallarni bir joyga jamladik.
Ekotizim yangiliklari, imkoniyatlar, fikrlar — hech narsani o‘tkazib yubormaysiz.
Tadbirkor bo‘lasizmi yoki shunchaki qiziqasizmi, farqi yo‘q — hammasi shu yerda.
👇 Bitta bosishda qo‘shib oling
————
Tired of searching for startup-related channels?
Not anymore — we’ve gathered the best startup and business channels across the entire CIS in one place.
Ecosystem news, opportunities, insights — you won’t miss a thing now.
Whether you’re a founder or just someone curious about startups, it’s all right here.
👇 Add everything with one click
Endi kerak emas — biz butun MDH (CНГ) bo‘yicha eng yaxshi startap va biznes kanallarni bir joyga jamladik.
Ekotizim yangiliklari, imkoniyatlar, fikrlar — hech narsani o‘tkazib yubormaysiz.
Tadbirkor bo‘lasizmi yoki shunchaki qiziqasizmi, farqi yo‘q — hammasi shu yerda.
👇 Bitta bosishda qo‘shib oling
————
Tired of searching for startup-related channels?
Not anymore — we’ve gathered the best startup and business channels across the entire CIS in one place.
Ecosystem news, opportunities, insights — you won’t miss a thing now.
Whether you’re a founder or just someone curious about startups, it’s all right here.
👇 Add everything with one click
Telegram
Startups
Sirojiddin Azimov invites you to add the folder “Startups”, which includes 48 chats.
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Welcome to Startup Beaker - great to have you with us!
Why We Exist
We bridge the gap between having a startup idea and building a successful business by giving young founders mentorship, tools, and a supportive community.
What You’ll Get Daily
We post updates on breakthrough startup investments and share patterns that help founders raise successfully.
Introduce yourself
You’ll find a growing resource library, plus a community you can learn from and network with.
By understanding this law, you can avoid bankruptcy, divorce, or almost any kind of failure, because this method is applicable to every aspect of life - not just business.
Unfortunately, the human brain is wired to ignore worst-case scenarios to maintain psychological safety. The pre-mortem method works in the opposite way of a post-mortem medical examination, which identifies the causes of death after the fact. In a pre-mortem, you analyze the “death” before it happens. This helps you identify upcoming threats and weaknesses early.
This decision-making technique, developed by scientist Gary Klein, encourages teams to imagine that a project has already failed and then analyze why. It has been proven to save millions of dollars, time, and energy.
It is usually done in teams so,
# It is strongly recommended to do this with your team — the people whose actions directly influence the success of your startup.
Here are the steps:
1. Imagine you failed.
2. Fast-forward to the failure and list all the reasons why your current idea or relationship might fail.
3. Share your findings with your team and begin a discussion.
4. Develop a contingency plan — work together to remove or minimize the risks behind each potential cause of failure.
Unfortunately, the human brain is wired to ignore worst-case scenarios to maintain psychological safety. The pre-mortem method works in the opposite way of a post-mortem medical examination, which identifies the causes of death after the fact. In a pre-mortem, you analyze the “death” before it happens. This helps you identify upcoming threats and weaknesses early.
This decision-making technique, developed by scientist Gary Klein, encourages teams to imagine that a project has already failed and then analyze why. It has been proven to save millions of dollars, time, and energy.
It is usually done in teams so,
# It is strongly recommended to do this with your team — the people whose actions directly influence the success of your startup.
Here are the steps:
1. Imagine you failed.
2. Fast-forward to the failure and list all the reasons why your current idea or relationship might fail.
3. Share your findings with your team and begin a discussion.
4. Develop a contingency plan — work together to remove or minimize the risks behind each potential cause of failure.
Being overly optimistic carries the same risk of failure as being overly pessimistic. It is always easier to prevent a disease than to cure it.
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AI testing startup just solved the QA bottleneck killing dev velocity.
Momentic raised $15M Series A (Standard Capital led) to automate software testing with natural language commands.
• $15M Series A, $19.2M total raised
• 200M+ test steps executed last month
• 390K+ bugs prevented from production
• Customers: Notion, Xero, Runway AI, Quora
How it happened:
• Started with $3.7M seed 8 months ago (YC)
• Built AI that generates tests from plain English
• Solved fragile UI test problem with auto-healing
• Expanded from web-only to mobile + desktop
• Added integrations with AI coding tools
Why it matters: 67% of devs spend more time debugging AI-generated code. Teams only cover 60-70% of scenarios manually.
Source: SiliconANGLE
Brewed by Startup Beaker.
Momentic raised $15M Series A (Standard Capital led) to automate software testing with natural language commands.
• $15M Series A, $19.2M total raised
• 200M+ test steps executed last month
• 390K+ bugs prevented from production
• Customers: Notion, Xero, Runway AI, Quora
How it happened:
• Started with $3.7M seed 8 months ago (YC)
• Built AI that generates tests from plain English
• Solved fragile UI test problem with auto-healing
• Expanded from web-only to mobile + desktop
• Added integrations with AI coding tools
Why it matters: 67% of devs spend more time debugging AI-generated code. Teams only cover 60-70% of scenarios manually.
Source: SiliconANGLE
Brewed by Startup Beaker.
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AI security startup Runlayer raised $11M seed from Khosla's Keith Rabois + Felicis in just 4 months, signing 8 unicorns including Gusto and Instacart.
Runlayer secures AI agents using Model Context Protocol (MCP) — the new standard letting AI access business data without human oversight.
Founder playbook:
• Andrew Berman sold Vowel to Zapier in 2024
• Became Zapier's AI director, built early MCP servers
• Spotted security gaps as MCP adoption exploded
• Recruited MCP creator David Soria Parra as advisor
• Left with 2 co-founders, launched in stealth
• Signed 8 unicorns in 4 months
The gap: MCP has no built-in security. GitHub and Asana already had major breaches.
Takeaway: As AI agents get enterprise access, security becomes make-or-break.
#startups #aisecurity
Brewed by Startup Beaker.
Runlayer secures AI agents using Model Context Protocol (MCP) — the new standard letting AI access business data without human oversight.
Founder playbook:
• Andrew Berman sold Vowel to Zapier in 2024
• Became Zapier's AI director, built early MCP servers
• Spotted security gaps as MCP adoption exploded
• Recruited MCP creator David Soria Parra as advisor
• Left with 2 co-founders, launched in stealth
• Signed 8 unicorns in 4 months
The gap: MCP has no built-in security. GitHub and Asana already had major breaches.
Takeaway: As AI agents get enterprise access, security becomes make-or-break.
#startups #aisecurity
Brewed by Startup Beaker.
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49 US AI startups raised $100M+ in 2025 — matching 2024's record.
Key patterns for founders:
• Infrastructure plays dominate: 60% of mega-rounds went to AI infra vs applications
• Speed matters: Anysphere (Cursor) went from $900M to $2.3B in 5 months
• Multiple rounds common: 12 companies raised 2+ mega-rounds this year
• Vertical AI wins: Healthcare (8 companies), legal (4), and coding (6) led sectors
• Enterprise focus: B2B AI averaged 3x higher valuations than consumer
• Timing advantage: Companies that raised early (Q1-Q2) secured better terms
The playbook: Pick a vertical, build for enterprise, move fast on funding.
Brewed by Startup Beaker.
Key patterns for founders:
• Infrastructure plays dominate: 60% of mega-rounds went to AI infra vs applications
• Speed matters: Anysphere (Cursor) went from $900M to $2.3B in 5 months
• Multiple rounds common: 12 companies raised 2+ mega-rounds this year
• Vertical AI wins: Healthcare (8 companies), legal (4), and coding (6) led sectors
• Enterprise focus: B2B AI averaged 3x higher valuations than consumer
• Timing advantage: Companies that raised early (Q1-Q2) secured better terms
The playbook: Pick a vertical, build for enterprise, move fast on funding.
Brewed by Startup Beaker.
Cybersecurity Alert for Uzbekistan’s Tech, Startup, and Business Community
A new thehackernews.com investigation reveals a targeted cyberattack campaign using fake government PDFs to install remote-access malware on devices inside Uzbekistan.
This attack specifically targets our region — and the details are alarming.
👉 Read the full article
A new thehackernews.com investigation reveals a targeted cyberattack campaign using fake government PDFs to install remote-access malware on devices inside Uzbekistan.
This attack specifically targets our region — and the details are alarming.
👉 Read the full article
Liquid AI just raised $250M Series A at $2.35B valuation from AMD Ventures.
What it is: MIT spinoff building "liquid" neural networks inspired by C. elegans worm brains (302 neurons). Their models use 90% fewer parameters than traditional AI while matching performance.
How it happened:
• 2021: Ramin Hasani published breakthrough liquid neural network research at MIT CSAIL
• 2023: Spun out with co-founders Daniela Rus, Mathias Lechner, Alexander Amini
• 2024: Released text models, announced multimodal capabilities
• Dec 2024: Closed $250M led by AMD for enterprise deployment
Key metric: 100 billion connections in their largest model vs traditional networks requiring 10x more compute.
Takeaway: Academic breakthroughs can become billion-dollar companies when founders focus on real-world efficiency gains over pure performance.
Brewed by Startup Beaker.
What it is: MIT spinoff building "liquid" neural networks inspired by C. elegans worm brains (302 neurons). Their models use 90% fewer parameters than traditional AI while matching performance.
How it happened:
• 2021: Ramin Hasani published breakthrough liquid neural network research at MIT CSAIL
• 2023: Spun out with co-founders Daniela Rus, Mathias Lechner, Alexander Amini
• 2024: Released text models, announced multimodal capabilities
• Dec 2024: Closed $250M led by AMD for enterprise deployment
Key metric: 100 billion connections in their largest model vs traditional networks requiring 10x more compute.
Takeaway: Academic breakthroughs can become billion-dollar companies when founders focus on real-world efficiency gains over pure performance.
Brewed by Startup Beaker.
Ex-Google/Stripe leaders raised $56M seed for AI agent OS
/dev/agents is building the "Android for AI agents" — a cloud OS for trusted AI agents across any device.
• $56M seed led by Index Ventures, co-led by CapitalG
• Angels: Scale AI CEO, OpenAI co-founder Andrej Karpathy
• Zero revenue, 4 ex-Big Tech co-founders
How it happened:
• David Singleton (ex-Stripe CTO) identified agent fragmentation in 2022
• Recruited Hugo Barra (ex-Meta VR VP) as co-founder
• Added Android founding team members Ficus Kirkpatrick, Nicholas Jitkoff
• Leveraged OS experience to pitch platform solution
• Closed oversubscribed round through Index partner's 9-year relationship
https://siliconangle.com/2024/11/26/new-startup-named-dev-agents-led-ex-google-meta-tech-leaders-raises-56m-ai-agents/
Takeaway: Proven OS teams can command massive seeds for platform-level problems.
#startups #funding
/dev/agents is building the "Android for AI agents" — a cloud OS for trusted AI agents across any device.
• $56M seed led by Index Ventures, co-led by CapitalG
• Angels: Scale AI CEO, OpenAI co-founder Andrej Karpathy
• Zero revenue, 4 ex-Big Tech co-founders
How it happened:
• David Singleton (ex-Stripe CTO) identified agent fragmentation in 2022
• Recruited Hugo Barra (ex-Meta VR VP) as co-founder
• Added Android founding team members Ficus Kirkpatrick, Nicholas Jitkoff
• Leveraged OS experience to pitch platform solution
• Closed oversubscribed round through Index partner's 9-year relationship
https://siliconangle.com/2024/11/26/new-startup-named-dev-agents-led-ex-google-meta-tech-leaders-raises-56m-ai-agents/
Takeaway: Proven OS teams can command massive seeds for platform-level problems.
#startups #funding
SiliconANGLE
New startup named /dev/agents led by Ex-Google, Meta tech leaders raises $56M for AI agents
A new artificial intelligence startup co-founded by former Google LLC, Stripe Inc. and Meta Platforms Inc. executives named /dev/agents today announced it has raised $56 million in seed funding to bui
Academic side project to $600M startup in 2 years.
LMArena raised $100M seed at $600M valuation, led by a16z and UC Investments.
What it is: Platform behind Chatbot Arena where users vote on AI model responses in blind comparisons.
Key metrics:
• $100M seed (largest in AI evaluation)
• 3.5M+ human preference votes
• 400+ models evaluated
• 1M+ monthly visitors
How it happened:
• Started as UC Berkeley PhD side project in 2023
• Built simple blind comparison tool under LMSYS
• Major AI labs began using for pre-release testing
• Became go-to AI model leaderboard
• Spun out as company in April 2025
Takeaway: Solve real infrastructure problems, market comes to you.
https://techcrunch.com/2025/05/21/lm-arena-the-organization-behind-popular-ai-leaderboards-lands-100m/
LMArena raised $100M seed at $600M valuation, led by a16z and UC Investments.
What it is: Platform behind Chatbot Arena where users vote on AI model responses in blind comparisons.
Key metrics:
• $100M seed (largest in AI evaluation)
• 3.5M+ human preference votes
• 400+ models evaluated
• 1M+ monthly visitors
How it happened:
• Started as UC Berkeley PhD side project in 2023
• Built simple blind comparison tool under LMSYS
• Major AI labs began using for pre-release testing
• Became go-to AI model leaderboard
• Spun out as company in April 2025
Takeaway: Solve real infrastructure problems, market comes to you.
https://techcrunch.com/2025/05/21/lm-arena-the-organization-behind-popular-ai-leaderboards-lands-100m/
TechCrunch
LM Arena, the organization behind popular AI leaderboards, lands $100M | TechCrunch
LM Arena, a crowdsourced benchmarking project major AI labs rely on to test and market their AI models, has raised $100 million in a seed funding round that values the organization at $600 million, according to Bloomberg.
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Two 23-year-olds from rural France just beat Google DeepMind and raised $4.1M.
Minitap makes mobile development 10x faster with AI agents that write, test, and ship features autonomously.
• $4.1M seed round co-led by Moxxie Ventures and Mercuri
• Beat Google DeepMind on AndroidWorld benchmark in 40 days
• 1,900 GitHub stars, 70M+ user apps as design partners
How it happened:
• Met in rural Burgundy, taught each other coding
• Built viral app Fuego to 10K users (bootstrapped)
• Combined AI research + mobile expertise + infrastructure skills
• Built mobile-use framework + minitap cloud
• Claimed #1 benchmark position in 40 days
• Open-sourced solution, attracted major design partners
The gap: AI transformed web development but mobile stayed slow. Minitap bridges that.
https://technews180.com/funding-news/how-two-23-year-olds-beat-google-and-raised-4-1m-for-minitap/
Takeaway: Technical depth + market timing + execution beats big tech advantages.
Source: TechNews180
Minitap makes mobile development 10x faster with AI agents that write, test, and ship features autonomously.
• $4.1M seed round co-led by Moxxie Ventures and Mercuri
• Beat Google DeepMind on AndroidWorld benchmark in 40 days
• 1,900 GitHub stars, 70M+ user apps as design partners
How it happened:
• Met in rural Burgundy, taught each other coding
• Built viral app Fuego to 10K users (bootstrapped)
• Combined AI research + mobile expertise + infrastructure skills
• Built mobile-use framework + minitap cloud
• Claimed #1 benchmark position in 40 days
• Open-sourced solution, attracted major design partners
The gap: AI transformed web development but mobile stayed slow. Minitap bridges that.
https://technews180.com/funding-news/how-two-23-year-olds-beat-google-and-raised-4-1m-for-minitap/
Takeaway: Technical depth + market timing + execution beats big tech advantages.
Source: TechNews180
TechNews180
How Two 23-Year-Olds Beat Google and Raised $4.1M for Minitap
Minitap raises $4.1M to make mobile development 10x faster with AI. Backed by Moxxie Ventures, Mercuri, and six unicorn founders.
Yoodli just closed $40M Series B with 900% revenue growth in 12 months.
What it is: AI roleplay platform for sales/communication training. Think "batting cage for conversations."
The metrics:
• $40M Series B (WestBridge Capital led)
• 900% revenue growth YoY
• Team tripled to 40+ people
• Customers: SAP, Google, Snowflake
• <1 year since $13.7M Series A
How it happened:
• Started consumer (public speaking practice)
• Pivoted to B2B sales training
• Built interactive roleplay vs passive slides
• Focused on ROI-measurable outcomes
• Expanded to "experiential learning"
• Landed enterprise logos early
Takeaway: Interactive beats passive. Replace training videos with hands-on practice.
Source: GeekWire
Brewed by Startup Beaker.
What it is: AI roleplay platform for sales/communication training. Think "batting cage for conversations."
The metrics:
• $40M Series B (WestBridge Capital led)
• 900% revenue growth YoY
• Team tripled to 40+ people
• Customers: SAP, Google, Snowflake
• <1 year since $13.7M Series A
How it happened:
• Started consumer (public speaking practice)
• Pivoted to B2B sales training
• Built interactive roleplay vs passive slides
• Focused on ROI-measurable outcomes
• Expanded to "experiential learning"
• Landed enterprise logos early
Takeaway: Interactive beats passive. Replace training videos with hands-on practice.
Source: GeekWire
Brewed by Startup Beaker.
Google bets $100M on AI security cameras.
Verkada hit $5.8B valuation in CapitalG-led round — up $1.3B since February. The startup crossed $1B in annualized bookings.
• $100M funding led by Google's CapitalG
• $5.8B valuation, $1B+ bookings
• 60+ AI features launched in September
• 30,000 customers, 20M+ images processed hourly
How it happened:
• Filip Kaliszan couldn't find good home cameras (2016)
• Partnered with Meraki co-founder for hardware expertise
• Offered free re-installations to win early customers
• Expanded through channel partners
• Launched 60+ AI features to beat legacy players
Takeaway: Legacy hardware markets are ripe for AI disruption when founders solve their own problems first.
Source: The Tech Buzz
Verkada hit $5.8B valuation in CapitalG-led round — up $1.3B since February. The startup crossed $1B in annualized bookings.
• $100M funding led by Google's CapitalG
• $5.8B valuation, $1B+ bookings
• 60+ AI features launched in September
• 30,000 customers, 20M+ images processed hourly
How it happened:
• Filip Kaliszan couldn't find good home cameras (2016)
• Partnered with Meraki co-founder for hardware expertise
• Offered free re-installations to win early customers
• Expanded through channel partners
• Launched 60+ AI features to beat legacy players
Takeaway: Legacy hardware markets are ripe for AI disruption when founders solve their own problems first.
Source: The Tech Buzz
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German AI startup Black Forest Labs just closed a $300M Series B at $3.25B valuation.
What it is: Visual AI company behind FLUX image generation models, launched August 2024.
The numbers:
• $300M Series B (total $450M raised)
• $3.25B valuation in 16 months
• Led by Salesforce Ventures + AMP
• Enterprise customers: Adobe, Canva, Meta, Microsoft
How it happened - Founder steps:
• Built superior tech: FLUX outperforms competitors on prompt adherence
• Dual strategy: Open-source for developers + premium enterprise offerings
• Strategic partnerships: Integrated with major platforms
• Enterprise focus: Targeted Fortune 500 workflows from day one
• Network effects: Open-source adoption drove enterprise demand
Takeaway: Technical superiority + dual go-to-market strategy can create billion-dollar outcomes in 16 months.
Source: Entrepreneur Loop
#startups #AI
What it is: Visual AI company behind FLUX image generation models, launched August 2024.
The numbers:
• $300M Series B (total $450M raised)
• $3.25B valuation in 16 months
• Led by Salesforce Ventures + AMP
• Enterprise customers: Adobe, Canva, Meta, Microsoft
How it happened - Founder steps:
• Built superior tech: FLUX outperforms competitors on prompt adherence
• Dual strategy: Open-source for developers + premium enterprise offerings
• Strategic partnerships: Integrated with major platforms
• Enterprise focus: Targeted Fortune 500 workflows from day one
• Network effects: Open-source adoption drove enterprise demand
Takeaway: Technical superiority + dual go-to-market strategy can create billion-dollar outcomes in 16 months.
Source: Entrepreneur Loop
#startups #AI
Zego alumni just cracked the software selection problem.
Dragonfly raised £2.6M pre-seed and launched their AI-powered software selection tool. Founded December 2024 by Sean King and Sven Sabas.
Key metrics:
• 250,000+ software products catalogued
• Conversational AI answers in seconds vs months of research
• 12-person team, mostly ex-Zego talent
• Led by Episode 1
How they did it:
• Built world's largest software catalogue first
• Developed conversational AI layer on top
• Assembled experienced team before launch
• Secured funding pre-launch
Takeaway: Software selection paralysis is real. Build the data moat first, then the AI layer.
Source: https://startupsmagazine.co.uk/article-dragonfly-raises-ps26m-it-launches-ai-tool-simplify-software-selection
#startups #AI
Dragonfly raised £2.6M pre-seed and launched their AI-powered software selection tool. Founded December 2024 by Sean King and Sven Sabas.
Key metrics:
• 250,000+ software products catalogued
• Conversational AI answers in seconds vs months of research
• 12-person team, mostly ex-Zego talent
• Led by Episode 1
How they did it:
• Built world's largest software catalogue first
• Developed conversational AI layer on top
• Assembled experienced team before launch
• Secured funding pre-launch
Takeaway: Software selection paralysis is real. Build the data moat first, then the AI layer.
Source: https://startupsmagazine.co.uk/article-dragonfly-raises-ps26m-it-launches-ai-tool-simplify-software-selection
#startups #AI
Startups Magazine
Dragonfly raises £2.6M as it launches AI tool to simplify software selection | Startups Magazine
Dragonfly has announced the close of a £2.6 million pre-seed round alongside the public launch of its conversational AI tool. Founded in December 2024 by Zego alumni Sean King and Sven Sabas, the round was led by Episode 1, joined by Dreamcraft and Portfolio…
Evalyze launched an AI investor matching engine that analyzes pitch decks and matches founders with relevant investors in minutes.
Built on 8,000+ successful funding applications and 12,000+ verified investors.
How it works:
• Upload pitch deck + company details
• Get investor-readiness score with improvement suggestions
• Receive curated investor list by stage, sector, geography
Founder insight: Ex-VC CEO Vahid Fakhr saw great teams waste months on repetitive fundraising loops. Solution: data-driven outreach over cold emails.
Key numbers:
• 6,000+ founders already using it
• Focuses on pre-seed/seed software and AI startups
Takeaway: Fundraising is pattern recognition. Use data from thousands of successful applications before you start pitching.
https://www.evalyze.ai
#startups #fundraising
Built on 8,000+ successful funding applications and 12,000+ verified investors.
How it works:
• Upload pitch deck + company details
• Get investor-readiness score with improvement suggestions
• Receive curated investor list by stage, sector, geography
Founder insight: Ex-VC CEO Vahid Fakhr saw great teams waste months on repetitive fundraising loops. Solution: data-driven outreach over cold emails.
Key numbers:
• 6,000+ founders already using it
• Focuses on pre-seed/seed software and AI startups
Takeaway: Fundraising is pattern recognition. Use data from thousands of successful applications before you start pitching.
https://www.evalyze.ai
#startups #fundraising
Evalyze: AI Investor Matching + Pitch Deck Analysis
Match with investors that fit your startup, then improve your deck with investor-style feedback and readiness scoring. Start free and upgrade anytime.
PearAI got "cancelled" on day 1 of Y Combinator for cloning an open-source code editor. 3 months later: $1.25M seed round.
What happened:
• Released MVP that was essentially a copy of Continue editor
• Got roasted for licensing violations and bravado tweets
• Apologized within 24 hours, fixed licensing
• Pivoted from editor to AI coding framework
• Used feedback to build tool that integrates multiple AI coding platforms
• Graduated YC Winter 2024 with modified product
• Raised from Goodwater Capital, Multimodal Ventures, others
How they recovered:
→ Listened to criticism instead of defending
→ Fixed technical issues immediately
→ Pivoted based on market feedback
→ Turned controversy into product validation
Takeaway: Sometimes getting "cancelled" forces the pivot you needed.
Brewed by Startup Beaker.
What happened:
• Released MVP that was essentially a copy of Continue editor
• Got roasted for licensing violations and bravado tweets
• Apologized within 24 hours, fixed licensing
• Pivoted from editor to AI coding framework
• Used feedback to build tool that integrates multiple AI coding platforms
• Graduated YC Winter 2024 with modified product
• Raised from Goodwater Capital, Multimodal Ventures, others
How they recovered:
→ Listened to criticism instead of defending
→ Fixed technical issues immediately
→ Pivoted based on market feedback
→ Turned controversy into product validation
Takeaway: Sometimes getting "cancelled" forces the pivot you needed.
Brewed by Startup Beaker.
Ask Sage cracked government AI with $17M Series A.
GenAI platform for defense/government sectors. Founded by Nicolas Chaillan (ex-Air Force/Space Force Chief Software Officer).
• $17M Series A, Sapphire Ventures lead
• 30,000+ DoD users, 14,000+ gov teams
• First GenAI with DoD IL5 + FedRAMP High certs
How it happened:
• Leveraged insider gov knowledge from military roles
• Built security-first, compliance-ready platform
• Secured massive regulatory barriers (IL5/FedRAMP)
• Proved PMF with 30K users before fundraising
• Used gov traction for top-tier VC validation
Takeaway: Domain expertise + regulatory moats = defensible govtech.
Brewed by Startup Beaker.
GenAI platform for defense/government sectors. Founded by Nicolas Chaillan (ex-Air Force/Space Force Chief Software Officer).
• $17M Series A, Sapphire Ventures lead
• 30,000+ DoD users, 14,000+ gov teams
• First GenAI with DoD IL5 + FedRAMP High certs
How it happened:
• Leveraged insider gov knowledge from military roles
• Built security-first, compliance-ready platform
• Secured massive regulatory barriers (IL5/FedRAMP)
• Proved PMF with 30K users before fundraising
• Used gov traction for top-tier VC validation
Takeaway: Domain expertise + regulatory moats = defensible govtech.
Brewed by Startup Beaker.
🔥 Fireside Chat in Tashkent / December 12 at C-Space
After the Digital Startup Awards ceremony, MOST invites you to an open discussion about the future of the venture market in the region.
📍 Location: MOST C-Space Hub
🕓 Time: December 12 at 16:00
🎙 Topic: “Central Asia Investment Hub: The Role of Uzbekistan in the Regional Venture Landscape”
Uzbekistan is rapidly strengthening its position in Central Asia as a new center for investment and technological innovation. During the Fireside Chat, we will discuss how the regional venture ecosystem is forming, why Uzbekistan is becoming a gateway for investors into Central Asia, and what opportunities are emerging for startups and corporations.
Speakers:
Pavel Koktyshev — CEO, MOST Holding
Bakht Niyazov — Founder of Justart VC Studio, venture investor
Uchkun Tulavov — Founder & CEO of BITO Ecosystem, entrepreneur, expert in business digital transformation
Dilmurod Khodiev — CEO, C-Space
We welcome venture investors, entrepreneurs and startup founders, corporate representatives developing CVC and partnerships, as well as everyone interested in venture trends and the evolution of Tech & Innovation in Central Asia.
🎁 Bonus for guests
Exclusive pre-sale of tickets to CEVF 2026 Tashkent will be available only at this event—lowest prices with a 30% discount.
Registration: https://forms.gle/2Lp7NFUVhfApwDHm7
After the Digital Startup Awards ceremony, MOST invites you to an open discussion about the future of the venture market in the region.
📍 Location: MOST C-Space Hub
🕓 Time: December 12 at 16:00
🎙 Topic: “Central Asia Investment Hub: The Role of Uzbekistan in the Regional Venture Landscape”
Uzbekistan is rapidly strengthening its position in Central Asia as a new center for investment and technological innovation. During the Fireside Chat, we will discuss how the regional venture ecosystem is forming, why Uzbekistan is becoming a gateway for investors into Central Asia, and what opportunities are emerging for startups and corporations.
Speakers:
Pavel Koktyshev — CEO, MOST Holding
Bakht Niyazov — Founder of Justart VC Studio, venture investor
Uchkun Tulavov — Founder & CEO of BITO Ecosystem, entrepreneur, expert in business digital transformation
Dilmurod Khodiev — CEO, C-Space
We welcome venture investors, entrepreneurs and startup founders, corporate representatives developing CVC and partnerships, as well as everyone interested in venture trends and the evolution of Tech & Innovation in Central Asia.
🎁 Bonus for guests
Exclusive pre-sale of tickets to CEVF 2026 Tashkent will be available only at this event—lowest prices with a 30% discount.
Registration: https://forms.gle/2Lp7NFUVhfApwDHm7