TL;DR
Welcome to the first newsletter for The Capital!
Google for Startups just opened for new applicants now through January.
NEW $28M Pre-seed fund opens for AI investments
Roladex Venture Studio is open for 2026 applicants!
Teleskope—First Agentic Data Security platform raises $25M Series A
Accelerators + Grants
🚀 Accelerators
Google for Startups[Recently opened]
Equity-free; Google Cloud credits ($350K+), 1:1 mentorship from Google engineers, sprint projects for 10-15 startups/cohort.
Up to $1M in AWS credits, plus 8 weeks of mentorship & GTM support for AI startups.
$500K prize pool + mentorship for U.S. university-affiliated startups building dual-use tech.
$75K-$150K to accelerators / ecosystems; useful if you’re part of a strong program.
Equity-free first check ($500K–$3M), $350K Azure + $10K OpenAI credits, 1:1 mentorship from Village network (Gates, Bezos, Hoffman), rolling apps, global/remote, AI & pre-seed focus. Apply anytime
💰 Grants
Non-dilutive funding up to $1.25M for startups with validated prototypes.
€100K equity-free prize for deep-tech startups + global exposure.
Roladex Venture Studio
Whether you’re just shaping an idea or already gaining traction, all founders are welcome to apply 🚀
Roladex provides hands-on support with fundraising, product development, and marketing—plus the team, ne twork, and resources to launch and scale your business 👇
PreSeed + Seed
Notable companies that recently raised:
1️⃣ Contrails AI — raised $1M (Pre-Seed)
Description: Trust & safety infrastructure using multimodal AI: detects deepfakes, synthetic media, and manipulation across video, audio, images, and text.
Investors: Huddle Ventures (Lead), IAN Group / Indian Angel Network
2️⃣ Scalekit — raised $5.5M (Seed)
Description: Modular auth + identity stack for AI-native / agentic workflows: OAuth 2.1 server, agent actions, scoped tokens, SSO, etc.
Investors: Together Fund (Lead), Z47 (Lead), Adam Frankl, Oliver Jay, Jagadeesh Kunda
3️⃣ Woz — raised $6M (Seed)
Description: AI-powered “app factory” for non-technical companies: AI agents + human engineers build production-ready mobile and web apps.
Investors: Cervin Ventures (Lead), Burst Capital, Y Combinator, Untapped Ventures, MGV, Lacob Family (Golden State Warriors)
💸 Active Investors & New Funds
Active Capital is a San Antonio–based solo-GP VC firm that just closed a $28M pre-seed fund for AI startups 🚀
Pat Matthews, the founder, emphasizes backing technical founders and staying small. They invest around $500K–$1M per deal, and they’re betting big on AI-native enterprise tools, data infrastructure, cloud security, and developer-focused AI platforms 🤖
Series A+
Notable companies that recently raised:
1️⃣ Fastbreak AI — raised $40M (Series A)
Description: AI‑powered sports ops software: optimizes scheduling and operational workflows for pro and youth leagues.
Investors: Greycroft (Lead), GTMfund (Lead), NBA, NHL, TMRW Sports, Patrick Cantlay, Kurt Kitayama, Larry Fitzgerald Jr., Luke Kuechly
2️⃣ Teleskope — raised $25M (Series A)
Description: Agentic data‑security platform: autonomously detects, classifies, and remediates sensitive data risk across cloud, SaaS, and hybrid environments.
Investors: M13 (Lead), Primary Venture Partners, Lerer Hippeau
3️⃣ Numeric — raised $51 M (Series B)
Description: AI-powered accounting automation: close management, analytics, and cash‑management workflows.
Investors: IVP (Lead), Menlo Ventures, Founders Fund, Alkeon, 8VC, Socii Capital, Access Industries, Friends & Family Capital, Long Journey Ventures, Fifth Down
💸 Active Investors & New Funds
Institutional Venture Partners (IVP) — Growth equity; bets on breakout software companies (cloud, AI, analytics) at inflection points.
Insight Partners — Scale‑up software / SaaS investor; very active in high-growth, late‑stage, international tech.
M13 — Early‑to-mid stage; software and infrastructure, with an ops-heavy “Propulsion” platform backing founders.
Scale Venture Partners — Series A–B; focused on cloud, SaaS, AI-enabled business software (“cognitive applications”).
Bessemer Venture Partners — Very broad; cloud, AI/ML, SaaS, infra — supports companies from early through growth.
Thanks for reading this week’s newsletter!
We’re excited to kick this off and continue providing founders with the insights and resources they need to succeed in today’s startup ecosystem. Stay tuned for more!
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- Michael Marra, Founder & CEO of Entre