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TL;DR
Antler is doubling down on investing and building community for the top inception stage entrepreneurs in the US with our $160m US Fund II.
Open doors to accelerators: SkyDeck’s $200K + UC Berkeley edge, Dreamit’s enterprise pilot machine (no upfront equity), ERA’s NYC seed cohort, and Techstars Spring 2026 on deck.
Non-dilutive fuel grants: a steady stream of equity-free options for U.S. small businesses + solo founders—some rolling, some quarterly, with paths tied to training or membership.
Pre-seed/seed heat: capital landing on agent-ready security, sustainable factory automation, safe-by-design AI avatars, and “last-mile” visual protection for sensitive data.
Series A+ momentum: big rounds powering construction workflow AI, everyday BCI, agent-native web search/extraction infrastructure, and automated creator-ads marketplaces.
Who’s actively deploying: Seed specialists leading $1M–$4M rounds—and multi-stage firms stepping in with $500K–$100M+ checks, backed by fresh funds heading into 2026.
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Accelerators + Grants
🚀 Accelerators
$200K investment from SkyDeck Fund; 6-month program in Berkeley with access to UC resources, 900+ advisors, workshops, and Demo Day; open to global startups in any industry; applications ongoing with batches twice yearly.
No upfront equity taken; 3-6 month customer-focused program with direct intros to enterprise partners, Investor Sprints, and scaling support for revenue/pilot-stage startups; rolling applications for ongoing cohorts.
Up to $150K for 6% equity (post-money SAFE); 4-month intensive program in New York City with hands-on mentorship from 500+ experts, workshops, founder series, and investor access; applications open now.
Techstars Spring 2026 Programs
💰 Grants
Up to $4,000 equity-free grants for U.S. self-employed individuals and small businesses (requires NASE membership); rolling applications reviewed quarterly for expenses like marketing, equipment, hiring, or expansion – ideal for micro-businesses and early-stage founders.
$10,000 equity-free grants (multiple awards) for U.S. small businesses completing free online courses and resources; applications open periodically with deadlines throughout the year – includes personalized coaching and tools.
Quarterly equity-free grants (amounts vary) for revenue-generating U.S. small businesses impacting underserved communities; applications open first day of each quarter – prioritizes low-income areas and established startups.
Roladex Venture Studios
Roladex provides hands-on support with fundraising, product development, and marketing—plus the team, network, and resources to launch and scale your business👇
PreSeed + Seed
Notable companies that recently raised:
1️⃣ Multifactor — raised $15M (Seed)
Description: Post-quantum security platform that enables provably secure, shareable access to online accounts for humans and AI agents (without exposing credentials).
Investors: Nexus Venture Partners (lead), Y Combinator, Taurus Ventures, Honeystone Ventures, Flex Capital, Pioneer Fund, Ritual Capital, Liquid2 Ventures + operators including Mohan & Padma Warrior, Gokul Rajaram, Mathilde Collin.
2️⃣ Rotostitch — raised $1M (Pre-Seed)
Description: Automated textile/apparel manufacturing startup focused on flexible, faster, more sustainable garment production.
Investors: Boost VC (lead), Nova Threshold (lead).
3️⃣ Lemon Slice — raised $10.5M (Seed)
Description: Digital avatar technology startup building AI-generated avatars (with safeguards against unauthorized face/voice cloning).
Investors: Matrix Partners, Y Combinator, Arash Ferdowsi (Dropbox CTO), Emmett Shear (Twitch CEO), The Chainsmokers.
4️⃣ Cyphlens — raised $3.8M (Seed)
Description: “Visual encryption” security layer that protects sensitive information at the moment it’s viewed (the “last mile” beyond traditional encryption), aimed at mitigating phishing/screen-scraping/insider threats.
Investors: Salesforce Ventures, Motivate Ventures, DCG, ex/ante, Cambrian Ventures.
💸 Active Investors & New Funds
1️⃣ Antler — Globally
Antler just raised $160M for Fund II. They are actively across 30 locations globally, where we specialize in early-stage investments.
2️⃣ Work-Bench — New York, NY
$2M–$4M lead Seed checks; NYC-rooted enterprise software specialist (AI, cybersecurity, dev tools, enterprise apps). Just announced Work-Bench Fund IV ($160M) to keep leading Seed rounds.
3️⃣ Susa Ventures — San Francisco, CA
Pre-Seed & Seed focus; long-running early-stage firm backing category-defining companies. Announced Susa Ventures V ($175M) to continue pre-seed/seed company building (check-size range not explicitly stated in the announcement).
Series A+
Notable companies that recently raised:
1️⃣ PermitFlow — raised $54M (Series B)
Description: AI platform for construction that automates pre-construction workflows (permitting, inspections, licensing) to reduce delays and costs.
Investors: Accel (lead), Kleiner Perkins, Felicis, Initialized Capital, Altos Ventures, Y Combinator + existing investors.
2️⃣ Neurable — raised $35M (Series A)
Description: Boston-based noninvasive brain-computer interface (BCI) company commercializing “everyday” brain-signal processing tech (Neurable AI) for consumer devices and cognitive insights.
Investors: Spectrum Value Management + Moonshot Fund (leads); existing investor support referenced from Pace Ventures.
3️⃣ Parallel Web Systems — raised $100M (Series A)
Description: Web search + extraction infrastructure built specifically for AI agents, aiming to keep web access open and verifiable for machine workflows.
Investors: Kleiner Perkins (co-lead), Index Ventures (co-lead), Spark Capital + existing: Khosla Ventures, First Round Capital, Terrain
4️⃣ Agentio — raised $40M (Series B)
Description: “Creator ads” marketplace that automates creator campaign matching, management, and performance tracking across platforms (starting with YouTube, expanding to Meta partnership ads and more).
Investors: Forerunner (lead), Benchmark, Craft Ventures, AlleyCorp, Antler, Starting Line.
💸 Active Investors & New Funds
1️⃣ Lightspeed Venture Partners — Menlo Park, CA ✨
$500K–$100M checks; multi-stage investor that frequently leads Series A/B in AI, enterprise software, fintech, and consumer. Closed $9B+ across six new funds (Dec 15, 2025) to keep deploying aggressively into 2026+.
2️⃣ Dragoneer Investment Group — San Francisco, CA
Primarily growth-oriented (often participating from later Series B onward), but active across venture/growth in top US software and internet companies. Raised $4.3B for its seventh VC fund (Dec 2025)—a major fresh pool of capital heading into 2026.
3️⃣ General Catalyst — Boston/Cambridge, MA
$500K–$100M checks; multi-stage firm that regularly leads Series A/B in AI, fintech, healthcare, and enterprise. Raised $8B in fresh funds (Oct 2024) to continue scaling A/B deployments across US markets into 2026.
4️⃣ Kleiner Perkins — Menlo Park, CA
$500K–$50M checks; strong Series A/B leader across enterprise, consumer, fintech, healthcare, and hardtech. Announced KP21 ($825M) + KP Select III ($1.2B) on Jun 28, 2024—fresh capital that remains in active deployment windows for 2026.
Thanks for reading this week’s newsletter! Our goal is to continue providing founders with the insights and resources they need to succeed in today’s startup ecosystem. We hope you enjoy and catch us on the next one 😄
- Michael Marra, Founder & CEO of Entre
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