Good day. WSJ Pro Venture Capital’s next question of the week will come after the holidays. Cheers!

Last week, we asked for the biggest lesson readers have learned about venture capital during their careers. Responses have been edited for length and clarity.

• Alyssa Jaffee, a partner at 7wire Ventures: “Early in my career, I thought venture was about spotting the perfect market or designing the smartest strategy. I quickly learned it’s about people. Exceptional founders turn good ideas into great businesses.”
   
• Scott Breitenother, CEO and co-founder of Kilo Code: “Bootstrapped companies need the courage to take big bets, and venture-backed companies need the discipline to stay scrappy. The real lesson is knowing when to lean into—or push back against—the biases your funding model creates.”
   
• Nnamdi Okike, co-founder and managing partner of 645 Ventures: “The biggest lesson I have learned about VC is the importance of humility, because venture capital is so unpredictable that we are constantly surprised positively and negatively. There are investments I was very confident would be huge successes that went to zero. There are companies that I was sure wouldn't succeed that ended up being billion-dollar companies. Every VC has these experiences.”
   
• Neil Sequeira, founder and managing partner at Defy: “In a world driven by AI, SaaS models can sometimes feel less compelling than ‘per drink’ or per-use revenue drivers that scale quickly with engagement. At the end of the day, the key is backing founders and their vision for the future. You cannot fully model or predict the financial opportunity of entirely new markets but you can invest in leaders who will define those markets and execute on their vision.”
   
• Larry Aschebrook, founder and managing partner at G Squared: “Venture capital rewards discipline more than brilliance. Conviction matters, but process, price and liquidity matter more. The best outcomes of my career came from staying focused on fundamentals and resisting herd momentum.”
   
• Nicolas Sauvage, president of TDK Ventures: “I learned that capital is the smallest part of what we provide. The hardest thing to offer is clarity. Clarity in expectations, clarity in feedback, clarity in how decisions are made and clarity in where we can truly help versus where we cannot. Ambiguity may feel polite, but it is rarely kind.”
   
• Andre de Baubigny, co-founder and managing partner at MVP Ventures: “A firm’s brand is not the same as the conviction of the partner sponsoring an investment. I learned this when a promising company stalled after its lead investor chose not to reinvest, and the broader market quickly lost confidence. It became clear the rest of the firm didn’t share the sponsoring partner’s belief.”

And now on to the news...

Sky-high valuation eyed with new fundraising round. OpenAI is aiming to raise as much as $100 billion as it seeks to pay for ambitious growth plans in a market that has cooled recently on the artificial-intelligence boom. The fundraising round, which is in the early stages, could value the company at as much as $830 billion, if it raises the full amount it is targeting, people familiar with the matter said. The startup aims to complete the round by the end of the first quarter at the earliest. Terms of the deal could still change, and it is unclear whether there will be sufficient investor demand to reach the goal.

• OpenAI is expected to recruit sovereign-wealth funds to invest in the financing, given the scale, according to people familiar with the matter. The company has previously secured funding from United Arab Emirates-based MGX.

Kevin Mandia, founder of the cybersecurity firm Mandiant—which was acquired by Alphabet’s Google for $5.4 billion—has formed a new company called Armadin that will take on the imminent threat from AI hacking. The company aims to use artificial intelligence to supercharge the business of testing networks for vulnerabilities. Armadin raised $24 million in seed funding from Ballistic Ventures, a venture-capital firm co-founded by Mandia, and is in talks with Accel, GV and Kleiner Perkins to raise $100 million or more, people familiar with the matter said. The deal is expected to value the company at more than $600 million. 

Trump Media & Technology Group agreed to merge with an Alphabet-backed fusion energy company in a merger valued at $6 billion, seeking to capitalize on the artificial-intelligence boom’s growing power requirements. The all-stock transaction for TAE Technologies values each share of TAE stock at $53.89, but TAE is a privately held company, making the total value of its portion of the deal unclear. Trump Media, which has a market capitalization of around $2.9 billion, would provide $200 million in cash to TAE at the deal’s closing, expected in mid-2026, the company said.

• Why Fusion Is Considered Energy’s Elusive Holy Grail

People

HG Ventures, the corporate venture arm of The Heritage Group, appointed Ginger Rothrock as a managing director. Prior to joining the firm, she was vice president of technology and commercialization at RTI International.

Autotech Ventures appointed Mike Abbott as a venture partner. The early- and growth-stage investor also promoted Burak Cendek to managing director and David Le to senior operating partner.

Lovable, a Stockholm-based startup enabling non-technical users to create apps and websites by chatting with AI, scored $330 million in Series B funding at a $6.6 billion valuation. CapitalG and Menlo Ventures co-led the round, which included participation from Salesforce Ventures and others.

Syremis Therapeutics, a biopharmaceutical startup whose lead program is in Phase 1 development for the treatment of schizophrenia and other psychiatric conditions, launched with $165 million in funding. Third Rock Ventures and Dexcel Pharma co-led the investment, which included additional support from GV, Bain Capital Life Sciences and others.

Imprint, a New York-based platform partnering with brands to design, launch and operate financial products and loyalty experiences, raised $150 million in Series D funding at a $1.2 billion valuation. Khosla Ventures led the round, which included participation from Thrive Capital, Ribbit Capital, Kleiner Perkins and others.

Mythic, a startup whose analog processing units help enable more energy-efficient AI computing, snagged a $125 million investment. DCVC led the funding, which included support from New Enterprise Associates and others.

Atavistik Bio, a Cambridge, Mass.-based startup developing precision allosteric therapeutics, landed $120 million in Series B funding. Co-led by Nextech Invest and The Column Group, the round included participation from Lux Capital and Regeneron Ventures.

Exein, a Rome-headquartered provider of embedded cybersecurity for connected devices, added €100 million in new funding. Blue Cloud Ventures led the round, which included contributions from HV Capital, Intrepid Growth Partners and Geodesic Capital.

Neural Concept, an engineering platform for product development, secured $100 million in Series C financing led by the growth equity business within Goldman Sachs Alternatives. Investors including Forestay Capital and Aster Capital also participated.

Edison Scientific, a San Francisco-based AI platform for scientific research and development, was seeded with $70 million from investors including Triatomic Capital, Spark Capital, Pillar VC and Susa Ventures.

Endra, a Stockholm-based AI-powered mechanical, electrical and plumbing platform, was seeded with a $20 million investment led by Notion Capital.

Ember LifeSciences, a Westlake Village, Calif.-based startup whose temperature control technology helps improve the transport of medicines and vaccines, collected $16.5 million in Series A funding led by Sea Court Capital.

Arcads.ai, a France-based platform for creating marketing videos with AI, grabbed $16 million in seed funding. Eurazeo led the investment, with Alpha Intelligence Capital also contributing.

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This newsletter was compiled by Matthew Strozier and Zachary Cole.

WSJ Pro Venture Capital is a premium service of The Wall Street Journal. We cover venture capital and the global startup ecosystem. Share your tips, comments and questions: vcnews@wsj.com

The Team: Matthew Strozier, Yuliya Chernova, Brian Gormley and Marc Vartabedian.

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