Good day. Would a profusion of new venture shops be a good thing for humanity? Adeo Ressi, chief executive of Decile Group and chairman of the startup accelerator Founder Institute, believes it would. “There need to be about 20,000 to 25,000 more VC firms in the world to get half of the major cities in the world to have functioning venture-capital ecosystems,” he avers.

We want to hear from you: Do you agree with Ressi, and exactly how possible is this? Please email responses to vcnews@wsj.com.

Last week, we asked how President Trump’s megabill could affect venture capital and startups. Here are responses, edited for clarity and length:

• Bob Ackerman, managing partner and co-founder of DataTribe and founder, managing director and chairman of AllegisCyber Capital: “The expansion of Qualified Small Business Stock (QSBS) tax treatment from $10 million to $15 million of potential federal tax exemption will be a tremendous catalyst for investment in early-stage companies. These companies are the “seed corn” of the innovation economy and their funding will materially advance America’s competitive advantage.”
   
• Vijen Patel, founding partner, the 81 Collection: “The tax incentive of QSBS via Section 1202 is an incredibly powerful tool to incentivize investment into startups, and this program expanded via the BBB [Trump’s ‘big beautiful bill’]. At one point this year, the market cap of the Magnificent 7 was more than the entire equity market cap of Canada, the U.K. and Japan...combined. All seven of those companies were started with angel/venture investment in America. Investments into startups can be exempt from federal capital gains up to $15 million (used to be $10 million) via Section 1202. This tool helps America lead innovation and will support America's strong entrepreneurial ecosystem.”

And now on to the news...

NVCA cheers crypto bills. The venture-capital industry's main trade group saluted the House passage of three cryptocurrency-related bills. “These bills will enhance the venture industry’s ability to back transformative companies and drive lasting economic growth,” said Bobby Franklin, president and CEO of National Venture Capital Association. He said the bills, the GENIUS Act, the CLARITY Act and the Anti-CBDC Surveillance State Act, establish a clear regulatory framework for stablecoins and other digital assets.                                           —Yuliya Chernova, WSJ Pro

President Trump wants to speed up America’s lagging munitions production and revitalize deteriorated shipyards. Advanced manufacturing startup Hadrian aims to do that with the help of a workforce of robots, and is now armed with fresh funding to boost manufacturing. Southern California-based Hadrian said Thursday it raised $260 million in debt and equity to expand production of critical defense components and complete a 270,000-square-foot factory in Mesa, Ariz., which will be the company’s largest. The equity portion of the raise, $110 million, was led by defense-tech funds Founders Fund and Lux Capital. Morgan Stanley provided the loan for the factory expansion.

OpenAI rolled out its latest entry in the red-hot area of independently operating AI bots, an agent that lets users automate tasks like online shopping and create spreadsheets and PowerPoint presentations. ChatGPT agent, as the bot is called, runs on a new AI model created to power the capability, the San Francisco-based company said. It works just as OpenAI’s ‘Operator’ agent does, by accessing the internet through its own browser and can click, scroll and type just as a person would.

Upbeat showing. Venture-capital funding into global startups dipped to $94.6 billion in the second quarter from the $124.6 billion raised in the prior quarter, according to analytics firm CB Insights. The haul is an upbeat showing for the overall sector relative to the last few years. The first quarter's high mark was boosted by OpenAI's massive $40 billion funding round. Explore more second-quarter insights on our data page.

Funds

VentureIsrael is launching a $25 million second fund to back early-stage startups across sectors including cybersecurity, AI infrastructure, space tech and quantum technologies.

People

Healthcare-focused investor Flare Capital Partners appointed Caroline Glen as director of investor relations. She was most recently at RA Capital.

Bessemer Venture Partners promoted Alex Yuditski to vice president. Before joining the firm in 2023, she was at Owl Rock Capital and William Blair.

Madrona promoted Sabrina Albert (Wu) to partner. Prior to joining the firm, she was an associate at Vector Capital.

Battery Ventures promoted Justin Rosner to partner, along with Olivia Henkoff and Gavin Tasker to vice president. The firm also named Sudheendra Chilappagari, Michael Hoeksema, Lior Mallul and Lauren Wedell as principals.

Lovable, a Stockholm-based AI platform enabling nontechnical builders to create full-stack software applications through text, completed a $200 million Series A round, valuing the company at $1.8 billion. Led by Accel, the investment included contributions from 20VC, byFounders, Creandum and Hummingbird.

Baraya Extended Care, a Saudi Arabia-based provider of long-term care and rehabilitation services, closed a $124 million Series B round from investors including TVM Capital Healthcare.

Substack, a San Francisco-based subscription network for authors, journalists, podcasters and video creators, scored $100 million in Series C funding. BOND and the Chernin Group co-led the investment, which included participation from Andreessen Horowitz. Mood Rowghani of BOND will join the company’s board.

Exodigo, an underground data intelligence provider, closed a $96 million Series B round. Zeev Ventures and Greenfield Partners co-led the investment, which included participation from 10D, Square Peg and others.

Bedrock Robotics, a San Francisco-based autonomous construction technology startup, emerged from stealth with $80 million in seed and Series A funding from investors including 8VC and Eclipse.

GeologicAI, a Canadian company applying AI and high-resolution decision engineering to the critical minerals mining industry, secured $44 million in Series B financing led by Blue Earth Capital.

Panacea Financial, a Little Rock-based provider of financial services to doctors, added $37 million in Series B funding from Valar Ventures, bringing the round total to $62 million.

Ephemera, a startup building an open-source messaging protocol, closed a $20 million Series B round co-led by Union Square Ventures, a16z crypto and Lightspeed Faction. Fred Wilson, managing partner at Union Square, will join the company’s board.

GT Medical Technologies, a Tempe, Ariz.-based medical device company focused on brain tumor treatment, added $16 million in Series D financing to close the round at $53 million. Investors including FemHealth Ventures and Warren Point Capital provided the latest tranche.

Blockskye, a corporate travel infrastructure startup, picked up a $15.8 million investment led by Blockchange Ventures.

Folio, a Durham, N.C.-based financial operations platform for hotels, grabbed $14 million in Series A funding led by Thrive Capital and Construct Capital.

• TSMC to speed up Arizona expansion to meet soaring chip demand

• Meta directors, shareholders settle privacy suit before board members testify at trial

• White House prepares executive order targeting ‘woke AI’

• FDA authorizes Juul’s e-cigarettes after ban nearly bankrupted firm

• Legislators embrace technology recycling to compete with China

• Is it bad that I desperately need my chatbot’s approval?

• Amazon's Ring goes full founder mode, taking the company back to its crime-fighting roots (Business Insider)
   
• AI text-to-speech programs could “unlearn” how to imitate certain people (MIT Technology Review)
   
• Fed up with ChatGPT, Latin America is building its own (Rest of World)

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.

Follow us on X: @wsjvc