Good day. Venture investor Coefficient Capital has raised a new fund, after several acquisitions of its portfolio companies in recent years generated liquidity in a market often lacking distributions.

Coefficient pulled in $290 million for its third venture fund focused on consumer products brands, a strategy that stands out in a sea of AI-focused investment vehicles.

The new fund brings the New York venture firm’s assets under management to more than $800 million. Coefficient is led by Founders and Managing Partners Andrew Goletka and Franklin Isacson.

Coefficient is investing behind trends such as wellness and longevity, products for pets, and functional food. Its portfolio companies include Lemme, a vitamins brand founded by Kourtney Kardashian Barker, as well as skin care startup Sincerely Yours, co-founded by influencer Salish Matter, and energy drink maker Gorgie.

Overall, acquisition dealmaking in consumer food and beverage products rose about 37% globally in 2024 to $96.9 billion, and then declined to $92.3 billion last year, according to a report by PitchBook.

Meanwhile, total global venture investing in consumer products and services startups dropped to $33 billion in 2025, the lowest figure in a decade and down from $51 billion in 2024, according to PitchBook. By comparison, AI startups globally raised more than $225 billion last year, nearly double the amount the previous year, according to research firm CB Insights.

Read the full article.

And now on to the news...

‘The next big revolution in AI.’ Advanced Machine Intelligence, the startup co-founded by Meta Platforms’ former chief artificial-intelligence scientist Yann LeCun, said it raised $1.03 billion in a seed funding round as it seeks to develop a new breed of AI systems that can better understand the real world than existing models.

• In November, LeCun wrote in a LinkedIn post that he was creating a startup to “bring about the next big revolution in AI,” focusing on systems that could understand the physical world, have persistent memory, could reason and plan complex action sequences, all while remaining controllable and safe.
   
• Advanced Machine Intelligence, or AMI Labs, said Tuesday that Bezos Expeditions of Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos and venture capital firms Cathay Innovation, Greycroft, Hiro Capital and HV Capital had co-led the investment.

Nvidia is investing in Mira Murati’s Thinking Machines Lab, part of a multiyear partnership in which the startup will deploy at least one gigawatt of cutting-edge chips to train and serve its frontier AI models. The deal includes a collaboration to design artificial-intelligence training and serving systems using Nvidia technology. The size and structure of the investment couldn’t be learned. Thinking Machines, founded last year by Murati, OpenAI’s former chief technology officer, and a number of her former colleagues, has so far been largely quiet about its intentions. 

An Australian startup that developed plastic-eating enzymes is looking to raise more than $70 million as it focuses its recycling technology on critical minerals. Since 2021, Samsara Eco has used artificial intelligence to design new enzymes that can break down commonly used types of plastics, allowing them to be reused in new products. The company, which is backed by Singapore state-investment company Temasek and has a supply deal with apparel maker Lululemon, plans to tailor microscopic organisms to retrieve materials from electronic waste otherwise destined for landfills.

Funds

Entrepreneurs First, which backs individuals and helps them build startups from scratch, raised $200 million in new capital.

Scout Ventures, a venture firm focused on national security and dual-use technologies, closed its fifth fund at $125 million.

Seed-stage investor Breakout Ventures closed its third fund with $114 million in commitments. The San Francisco-based firm also promoted Nima Ronaghi to partner.

Exits

Meta plans to acquire Moltbook, a social networking platform for AI agents, according to the Wall Street Journal. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Moltbook launched in January and will join Meta’s Superintelligence Labs division.

Legora, a Stockholm-headquartered collaborative AI platform for lawyers, picked up $550 million in Series D funding at a $5.55 billion valuation. Accel led the investment, which included additional support from General Catalyst, Iconiq, Redpoint Ventures, Menlo Ventures and several others.

Eridu, a Saratoga, Calif.-based AI networking startup, emerged from stealth with more than $200 million in funding. The capital raise included an oversubscribed Series A round from investors including Socratic Partners, Capricorn Investment Group, Matter Venture Partners, Bosch Ventures, Eclipse and Fusion Fund.

Armadin, a San Francisco-based cybersecurity startup, raised $189.9 million in seed and Series A funding. Accel led the investment, which included participation from GV, Kleiner Perkins, Menlo Ventures, In-Q-Tel, 8VC and Ballistic Ventures.

Chowbus, a Chicago-based technology platform for independent restaurants, closed an $81 million investment led by Prysm Capital and Left Lane Capital.

Juicebox, a San Francisco-based AI recruiting platform, secured $80 million in Series B financing at an $850 million valuation. DST Global led the round, which included contributions from Sequoia Capital, Coatue Management, Y Combinator and others.

KAST, a financial platform built on stablecoin rails, scored $80 million in Series A funding co-led by QED Investors and Left Lane Capital. Nigel Morris, managing partner at QED Investors, will join the company’s board.

Slide, a Norwalk, Conn.-headquartered business continuity and disaster recovery platform for managed service providers, raised $70 million in Series B funding led by General Catalyst.

Jazz, a New York-based data loss prevention provider, emerged from stealth with $61 million in seed and Series A funding. Glilot Capital and Team8 led the financing, which included contributions from Ten Eleven Ventures, Merlin Ventures and others.

Outpost, a startup providing AI-powered payments and compliance infrastructure for cross-border commerce, nabbed $17.5 million in Series A funding. Ribbit led the round, which saw participation from Better Tomorrow Ventures and others. The company is based in New York and London.

AgentMail, a San Francisco-based email provider built for AI agents, was seeded with a $6 million investment led by General Catalyst.

Captur, a New York-based provider of AI infrastructure for enterprise mobile apps that verifies user-submitted photos for quality and accuracy, was also seeded with a $6 million investment. Rally Ventures led the round, with Venture Partner Ben Fried joining the company’s board.

Sybilion, a Portugal-based startup helping industrial companies make decisions in volatile markets, grabbed a $4.2 million seed investment co-led by VentureFriends and Semapa Next.

• Oracle Raises 2027 Sales View as AI Demand Outpaces Supply

• Why Ads in Chatbots May Not Click
   
• Shift to Hybrid Ferries Bolsters Battery-Maker Corvus Energy 
   
• Your Data Has Been Breached! (And This Notice Is a Scam!)

This newsletter was compiled by Matthew Strozier and Zachary Cole.

Share your tips, comments and questions: vcnews@wsj.com

The team: Matthew Strozier, Yuliya Chernova, and Brian Gormley.

Join us on LinkedIn.