Good day. In Tuesday’s newsletter, we wrote about research showing which companies are more likely than others to spawn unicorns via their former employees. Now we ask: Do you think this year’s expected (and completed) crop of IPOs will result in a new cohort of entrepreneurs spinning out and hitting the startup fundraising circuit once their paper wealth turns into real cash? How are venture investors preparing for that potential outcome? Please email responses to vcnews@wsj.com.

(Note: Question of the Week is appearing today because VC Daily won’t publish Friday in observance of Juneteenth.)

Last week, we asked for your outlook on venture capital once the expected mega-IPOs are completed. Here are edited excerpts of responses:

Zach Aarons, co-founder and general partner at MetaProp: "While the recent SpaceX IPO and the [expected] OpenAI and Anthropic IPOs are justifiably obtaining a ton of press, the actual IPO picture for 2026 and 2027 is much broader. Industries like semiconductors, defense, enterprise software and cybersecurity are also experiencing success with IPOs that have recently begun trading or have been filed."

Simon Wu, partner at Cathay Innovation: “The reopening of the IPO market starts the process of recycling capital back to LPs, founders and employees who will fund the next generation of companies. While we’ll likely see broader investment across areas like AI infrastructure, robotics, supply chains and quantum computing, much of the capital and returns [will] remain concentrated among the firms and founders that were early to the AI wave.”

Andre de Baubigny, co-founder and managing partner of MVP Ventures: “My hope is that these mega-IPOs don't shift the market toward believing that only massive companies can go public. Instead, they should reinforce how well IPOs work. There are a lot of great private companies that can go public today, rather than waiting 20 years, and still see similar price appreciation that can be shared with public market investors.”

And now on to the news...

Regrets of SpaceX “flippers.” SpaceX shares have surged nearly 50% in their first days of trading and left a trail of remorseful traders in their wake: those who sold too early.

• After climbing an additional 4.8% in Tuesday’s session, SpaceX ended the day as the world’s fifth-largest public company by market cap, surpassing Amazon. The gains came as SpaceX announced a deal to buy AI-coding startup Cursor for $60 billion.

China’s DeepSeek raised more than $7.4 billion in its first round of fundraising to support its costly development of artificial intelligence.

• Investors valued the company at more than $50 billion, people familiar with the matter said, making it the country’s most valuable AI startup.
   
• Founder Liang Wenfeng, who held nearly 90% of DeepSeek before the financing round, invested around $3 billion in the biggest contribution of the fundraise, the people said.

Databricks is releasing AI agents that help professionals get answers from their business data, aiming to expand beyond its core data offerings and showcase its staying power in the artificial-intelligence world.

• The San Francisco-based company, which is valued at $134 billion, calls its new offering Genie One, or an “agentic co-worker” that helps business teams—from finance to marketing and sales—get answers and make decisions based on their corporate data.

WSJ Sports: The Next Sports Economy will bring together investors, team owners, executives and advisers at Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Frederick P. Rose Hall in New York July 15-16 for conversations on the forces transforming the business of sports. Join leaders from across finance, media, ownership and operations as they sit down with WSJ reporters to explore the future of investment, governance and value creation across the global sports landscape.

People

Base10 Partners said Caroline Chen joined the firm as principal, where she focuses on Series B investments.

Axonius, an asset intelligence platform for unified security operations and exposure management, appointed Moshe Ben Simon as chief product officer. He most recently served as vice president of product management at Fortinet.

AI governance startup Cinchy appointed J.Paul Haynes as chief executive officer.

Sarvam, an Indian AI platform, raised $234 million in the first close of its $300 million Series B round at a post-money valuation of $1.5 billion. Bessemer Venture Partners and Khosla Ventures were among the investors.

Hydra Host, a Boulder, Colo.-headquartered startup developing an operating system and compute offtake network for AI data centers, closed a $100 million Series A round. Kindred Ventures led the investment, which included participation from Founders Fund and several others.

Respond.io, a Malaysia-based customer-conversation management platform, secured $62.5 million in Series B financing. Camber Partners led the investment, which included participation from Endeavor Catalyst and others.

AttoTude, a Menlo Park, Calif.-based startup developing an interconnect platform for AI and hyperscale infrastructure, raised $52 million in Series C funding. The Westly Group led the investment, which included participation from Sutter Hill Ventures and Mayfield.

Bland, a San Francisco-based voice AI platform that automates customer interactions, landed $50 million in Series C funding. Dell Technologies Capital led the round, which included contributions from HubSpot Ventures, Archerman Capital, Tribeca Venture Partners, Scale Venture Partners and others.

Copia Automation, a New York-based industrial code management and resiliency startup, added $26 million in new funding. AE Ventures and Squadra Ventures co-led the round, which saw participation from KAS Venture Partners, Construct Capital, Lux Capital and others.

Foundation Alloy, a Boston-based metals company building a new way to engineer alloys, nabbed $22 million in Series A funding. Voyager Ventures led the round, which included additional support from Trust Ventures, Yamaha Motor Ventures and America's Frontier Fund.

Aston Power, a Raleigh, N.C.-based startup providing carbon-free energy for data centers, dry warehouses, cold storage and EV charging, picked up $20 million in new funding led by TDK Ventures and Building Ventures.

Limitless Labs, a Tel Aviv-headquartered developer of a physical AI foundation model and platform for precision manufacturing, grabbed $20 million in Series A funding co-led by Dell Technologies Capital and Square Peg.

Flagright, an AI operating system for financial crime compliance, snagged $12.5 million in Series A funding led by Infinity Ventures. The company has offices in San Francisco, London and Singapore.

• The Job Interview Is Broken. Here’s How AI Could Actually Fix It.
   
• Rivian’s Make-or-Break SUV Is Here. Fans Are Already Balking at the Lease Price.
   
• Qualcomm Is a Rare AI Chip Value Play (Heard on the Street)

• Snap unveils $2,195 AR glasses as CEO Evan Spiegel bets on post-smartphone future (CNBC)
   
• My father wants to age in place. AI will be watching (Wired)

This newsletter was compiled by Yuliya Chernova, Matthew Strozier and Zachary Cole.

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

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

Join us on LinkedIn.