Latest news with #SeriesC
Business Insider
21 hours ago
- Business
- Business Insider
I went to the 'save America' conference in Detroit, where patriotic founders vied for VC dollars
At a still-under-construction tower in downtown Detroit, venture capitalists and founders from both coasts gathered for the second annual Reindustrialize Summit. The site was a fitting, if unintentional, metaphor for the conference's central theme: how startups and venture capitalists can spur an American industrial renaissance. The conference speakers, who were mostly company builders and their investors, boldly shared the event's mission: "Welcome to year two of the save America conference," Chris Power, CEO of automated factory startup Hadrian, said in his opening speech. "We're about to go into a generational grudge match with the Chinese Communist Party." Reviving the country's manufacturing and defense base has become an ascendant obsession in Silicon Valley, fueled in part by Trump 2.0's assertions about tariffs energizing American manufacturing and a proposed $1 trillion defense budget for fiscal year 2026. (The House passed an $832 billion defense funding bill for the same year early Friday.) Y Combinator, a program that invests in and provides mentorship for early-stage startups, collaborated with the June event in requesting applications from founders who hope to modernize manufacturing. According to PitchBook, defense tech investments soared to $1.4 billion in the first quarter of 2025, compared with $200 million in the same period last year. A handful of companies announced news at the two-day event in what seemed like a competition for venture eyeballs. Anduril founder Palmer Luckey hinted at the possibility of the company producing American-made computers. Hadrian announced its $260 million Series C financing led by Founders Fund and Lux Capital, and a factory expansion loan facility arranged by Morgan Stanley. Chariot Defense, a startup that makes energy infrastructure for the military, launched at Reindustrialize, publicizing a seed funding round led by General Catalyst and XYZ Venture Capital. Regent said that it will start making its seaglider vessels for defense applications. It became yet another company targeting dual-use strategies. And California Forever, the group behind a new city a stone's throw away from San Francisco, announced on Thursday plans to build a manufacturing park. Please help BI improve our Business, Tech, and Innovation coverage by sharing a bit about your role — it will help us tailor content that matters most to people like you. What is your job title? (1 of 2) Entry level position Project manager Management Senior management Executive management Student Self-employed Retired Other Continue By providing this information, you agree that Business Insider may use this data to improve your site experience and for targeted advertising. By continuing you agree that you accept the Terms of Service and Privacy Policy . 'The art of the possible' Growing geopolitical tensions with China, which has a strong manufacturing base and a modernizing military, undergirded Secretary of the Navy John Phelan's address about the importance of skilled laborers in the industrial race against American adversaries. "We've spent the last 10 years teaching people how to code," he said in a speech on Wednesday. "We're going to spend the next 10 years teaching people how to use their hands." Selling venture capitalists with deep pockets on the image of a pro-industrialization America seemed as important as the mission itself. Whitney Houston's 1991 Super Bowl performance of the national anthem blasted over speakers to a packed auditorium before Phelan's speech. The conference's imagery blended old and new Americana: a waitress confronted with a buzzing drone, a worker riding an electric scooter, and Wyoming's cowboys under the shadow of the Grand Tetons and a fighter jet. "The people that founded this country and the people that pushed out into the frontier are really inspiring to a lot of the folks who are attending," Mike Slaugh, a Reindustrialize cofounder and producer, told Business Insider. "They see the art of the possible." Slagh worked on Reindustrialize's branding with Warpcraft, a design firm for hardware and frontier tech startups. He said the creative team generated and edited the images using artificial intelligence. Americana Swagger Attendees' outfits spoke volumes, too. They sported event-provided nametags affixed to American flag-printed lanyards and picked up tie-dye merch on their way out. Some strutted the halls wearing "Make American Nuclear Great Again" caps, a riff on Trump's MAGA trucker hat. Others opted for headgear that promoted their portfolio companies. Swag aside, Gregory Bernstein, a Reindustrialize cofounder and CEO of investment firm New Industrial Corporation, told BI that the mission captivated many: "It's like an actual movement," he said. "The people who come are here because they legitimately want to solve this problem. It's not an ego thing." But not everyone bought in. Protesters from a group called Engineers Against Apartheid, according to a flyer obtained by BI and distributed by the demonstrators, gathered outside the conference venue and in front of a nearby Gucci store to protest the event and defense companies like Palantir Technologies. Palantir CTO Shyam Sankar said at the conference on Thursday, "Our greatest threat isn't China. It's ourselves."
Express Tribune
a day ago
- Business
- Express Tribune
Andy Byron scandal puts Astronomer's funding future and investor trust at serious risk
Andy Byron, CEO of data orchestration company Astronomer, has been placed on administrative leave amid a viral controversy involving Chief People Officer Kristin Cabot. The incident, captured at a Coldplay concert, sparked widespread online attention, but the real consequences may be playing out in the boardroom. Astronomer had recently announced a $93 million Series C funding round led by Bain Capital Ventures, with participation from Salesforce Ventures, Venrock, and Meritech Capital. Public estimates place the company's valuation between $740 million and $1.3 billion. While Astronomer has not publicly commented on investor sentiment, conversations online and in tech circles have turned toward the potential impact on funding, reputation, and leadership stability. On prediction market Polymarket, over $750,000 was wagered on whether Byron would step down, reflecting broader public speculation. In a formal LinkedIn statement, Astronomer confirmed that its board had initiated an internal investigation and reaffirmed its commitment to company values and professional conduct. The post emphasized that no other employees were involved, specifically naming VP of People Alyssa Stoddard, and denied reports that Byron had issued a personal statement. Shortly after, co-founder Pete DeJoy was announced as interim CEO. The original video clip, which appeared to show Byron and Cabot in an intimate moment fueled waves of social media commentary, parody merchandise, and scrutiny of workplace ethics in tech startups.
CNBC
2 days ago
- Business
- CNBC
Investing in Space: The market's taking off
It's that time of the year again, when CEOs take a deep breath, analysts ready their calculators, investors obsessively refresh stock tickers and every market open's a potential rollercoaster: quarterly earnings. It's a quieter affair in the space sector, where some big names — like Elon Musk's SpaceX and Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin — have so far steered clear of going public. There's still a sound swathe of listed heavy hitters that (also) dabble in space activities and are likely to draw the eye, from Boeing and Lockheed Martin to Virgin Galactic. Voyager Technologies only just entered the public arena last month, with shares soaring more than 80% in company's debut trading day after upsizing its initial public offering. And then there's the other new kid set to enter the Nasdaq's block: rocket maker Firefly Aerospace's filed to list and thereafter trade under the "FLY" ticker symbol. It's yet to reveal the number of shares that'll be made available and their price range, but the firm's success in touching its Blue Ghost lunar lander down on the Moon earlier this year is likely to have earned it some attention. The sector's startups kept drawing in funds over the April-June stretch, riding the high of "sustained interest" in defense opportunities and improved market sentiment after a fleeting pause in the U.S.' so-called reciprocal tariffs, according to a report from Seraphim Space covering industry activity in the second quarter. No big surprise on the security-linked gains: from intelligence gathering to imaging, communications and navigation, space is pretty integral to defense operations. It's only stepped further the limelight this year between the U.S.' plans for the Golden Dome missile-intercepting system, Europe's "ReArm" initiative and NATO allies' recent pledge to raise their defense contributions to 5% of their gross domestic product by 2035. Altogether, investment in space startups rallied to $3.1 billion over the April-June stretch, marking the second largest quarter of investments in Seraphim Space's records and a boost from around $2.1 billion over the January-March period. Not unpredictably, U.S. firms absorbed the lion's share of the second-quarter space tech funding at $2.2 billion, or 70%. This means year-to-date investment in U.S. space businesses has already surpassed the total achieved in the whole of 2024 — impressively, despite federal contracts and NASA budget cuts and the volatility triggered by the recent U.S. administration's protectionist trade policies. Just two non-U.S. deals ranked in the second-quarter's top 10 fundraisers — one by German launch services supplier Isar Aerospace in a $174 million Series C round, and another by Chinese positioning service provider Qianxun Spatial Intelligence, which clinched $137-million's worth of Series B funds. U.S. startup Impulse Space meanwhile scored the top deal of the second quarter in a $300-million Series C raise. Overall, venture capital companies remained the most active space investors in recent months, contributing 77% of 2025 funding in the sector to date, compared with the 54% average of 2024, according to Space Capital's separate second-quarter Space IQ report. The company identified especially strong funding momentum for habitats — crewed space stations — as well as for on-orbit servicing and energy generation and storage. Noting 18 acquisitions that took place in the second quarter, Space Capital flagged it expects more than 10 "high-value" deals to close in 2025, for a projected total of $35 billion. And space businesses are also carrying out investment. The talk of the town is a Wall Street Journal report that signals SpaceX has agreed to invest a whopping $2 billion in xAI — the maker of controversial chatbox Grok, which is already believed to be powering the customer support features of SpaceX's satellite network Starlink. The space company's investment in xAI is part of a broader $10 billion debt and equity fundraising effort previously announced by Morgan Stanley, the WSJ said, citing sources. CNBC has reached out to xAI and SpaceX for comment.
Bloomberg
2 days ago
- Business
- Bloomberg
Hong Kong Insurer Bowtie Raises Up to $70 Million From Sun Life
Bowtie Life Insurance Co. has secured up to $70 million in a private funding round led by Sun Life Financial Inc. 's Hong Kong unit. The investment, part of a Series C funding round, will help Bowtie achieve goals that include becoming a top five provider of medical insurance in Hong Kong and expanding internationally, the digital insurer said in a statement Friday.
CNBC
3 days ago
- Business
- CNBC
Defense manufacturing startup Hadrian closes $260 million funding round led by Peter Thiel's Founders Fund
Defense manufacturing startup Hadrian on Thursday announced the closing of $260 million Series C funding round led by Peter Thiel's Founders Fund and Lux Capital. The machine parts company said it will use the funding to build a new 270,000 square foot factory in Mesa, Arizona, and expand its Torrance, California, location as it looks to beef up its shipbuilding and naval defense capabilities. "What we really need in this country is this quantum leap above China's manufacturing model," said CEO Chris Power in an interview with CNBC's Morgan Brennan. "It's about supercharging the worker versus replacing them." Defense tech startups like Hadrian are disrupting the mainstay defense contracting industry, which is led by leaders such as Northrop Grumman and Lockheed Martin, and battling it out to boost U.S. defense production while scooping up Department of Defense contracts. Hadrian said the Arizona space will be four times the size of its California facility and start operations by Christmas. The factory will create 350 local jobs. The Hawthrone, California-based company said it is working on four to five new facilities to support production over the next year to support Department of Defense needs. Hadrian said it uses robotics and artificial intelligence to automate factories that can "supercharge American workers." Power said demand is rapidly growing, but the lack of U.S.-based talent is a major hurdle to building American dominance in shipbuilding and submarines. Using its tools, the company said it can train workers within 30 days, making them 10 times more productive. Its workforce includes ex-marines and former nurses who have never set foot in a factory. "We have to do a lot more ... but certainly we're able to keep up with the scale right now, and grateful to our team and customers for letting us go and do that," he said. "As a country, we have to treat this like a national security crisis, not just the economics of manufacturing." The fresh raise also includes investments from Andreessen Horowitz and new stakeholders such as Brad Gerstner's Altimeter Capital. The company closed a $92 million funding round in late 2023.
