In partnership with
TL;DR
HF0 Residency (Spring 2026 / 2026 cohorts): HF0’s SF residency for repeat technical founders, Betaworks AI Camp in NYC, and AngelPad’s ultra-selective 15-startup cohorts across SF/NY.
Equity-free money with dates you can’t miss: Faire’s $5K store credit, Citizens NYC microgrants up to $5K , and AmEx Shop Small $20K.
Pre-seed/seed signals: funding is going to reasoning-driven fintech advice, frontier AI labs, cooling materials for AI chips/data centers, and next-gen sports betting infrastructure.
Series A+ is rewarding “trust + measurement + materials”: trusted real-world data for AI training (Protege), model benchmarks that shape the industry (LMArena), breakthrough rare-disease therapeutics (Diagonal), and defense/aerospace composites (Cambium).
Who’s actively writing bigger checks: pre-seed leaders at $100K–$5M (Hustle Fund, Afore, Accion) — and A/B heavyweights scaling winners with $10M–$100M+ checks into 2026 (Bessemer, NEA).
Accelerators + Grants
🚀 Accelerators
Up to $1M uncapped SAFE investment; 12-week in-person residency in San Francisco for repeat technical founders focused on intensive building and product development; applications open for 2026 cohorts.
Up to $500K investment; 12-week in-person program in NYC focused on AI themes with mentorship, product development support, and Demo Day; applications open for Spring 2026 cohort.cohort.
$120K investment for single-digit equity; 12-week intensive program in San Francisco or New York with small cohorts (15 startups), hands-on mentorship from experienced founders, and investor connections; highly selective with applications opening for Spring/Fall 2026 cohorts.
💰 Grants
$5,000 in store credit equity-free for new independent U.S./Canada retail stores opened or planned in 2025/2026; quarterly applications, Q1 opens January 24, 2026.
Up to $5,000 equity-free microgrants for profit-generating small businesses in New York City’s five boroughs (≥2 years operating, ≤10 employees); first 2026 deadline February 2, 2026, with additional rounds.
$20,000 equity-free grants (over 500 awards planned) for U.S. brick-and-mortar small businesses operating since before 2025 with ≤20 employees; applications open November 29, 2025 to January 16, 2026 – funds to be spent April-September 2026 on growth, innovation, or community projects.
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 Autonomous Technologies Group — raised $15M (Pre-Seed)
Description: AI research lab and product company focused on applied reasoning models for financial advising, enabling personalized and automated financial guidance.
Investors: BoxGroup (Lead), Y Combinator
2️⃣ Lemon Slice — raised $10.5M (Seed)
Description: Frontier AI research and product lab exploring advanced AI applications and innovations.
Investors: Undisclosed.
3️⃣ NovoLINC — raised $10.2M (Seed)
Description: Carnegie Mellon spinout developing advanced thermal interface materials to cool overheating AI chips and data centers, improving efficiency and performance.
Investors: Fathom Fund (Co-lead), TDK Ventures (Co-lead), Foothill Ventures, M Ventures, Carnegie Mellon University, Hitachi Ventures
4️⃣ Betlabs — raised undisclosed amount (Seed)
Description: Betting technology firm specializing in Dynamic Parlays, a product that modernizes traditional parlay wagering for sports betting suppliers.
Investors: SportsContentCo (Sole investor)
💸 Active Investors & New Funds
1️⃣ Hustle Fund — San Francisco, CA ✨
$100K–$1M checks; pre-seed specialist backing diverse founders in software, fintech, and consumer tech; highly active with multiple new funds deployed in 2025 and continuing investments into 2026.
2️⃣ Afore Capital — San Francisco, CA
$500K–$2M checks; pre-seed "no investment too early" approach for technical founders in infrastructure, AI, and tools; closed $185M Fund IV in early 2025, actively investing in 2026.
3️⃣ Accion Ventures — Washington, DC
$1M–$5M checks; pre-seed to Series A in inclusive fintech and financial services; $152.5M fund closed in 2025, focused on US and global startups with social impact, actively deploying in 2026.
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Series A+
Notable companies that recently raised:
1️⃣ Protege — raised $30M (Series A)
Description: AI data platform unlocking access to trusted, real-world data at scale for AI development and training.
Investors: Andreessen Horowitz (Lead).
2️⃣ Diagonal Therapeutics — raised $125M (Series B)
Description: Biotechnology company developing multi-pronged "clustering" antibodies to activate disrupted signaling pathways for rare diseases like hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia and pulmonary arterial hypertension.
Investors: Sanofi Ventures (Co-lead), Janus Henderson Investors (Co-lead), Deep Track Capital, Atlas Venture, RA Capital Management, Frazier Life Sciences, Viking Global Investors.
3️⃣ LMArena — raised $150M (Series A)
Description: AI evaluation startup providing widely cited rankings and benchmarks for large language models and AI systems.
Investors: Felicis Ventures (Lead), UC Investments.
4️⃣ Cambium — raised $100M (Series B)
Description: Advanced materials startup for defense, aerospace, and high-performance applications, accelerating discovery and scaling of innovative composites.
Investors: 8VC (Lead), MVP Ventures.
💸 Active Investors & New Funds
1️⃣ Bessemer Venture Partners — New York, NY
$10M–$50M checks; Series A/B specialist in cloud/SaaS, cybersecurity, healthcare, and consumer tech; consistently active with deep operational expertise and category leaders; launched new funds in 2025 (including $1B for Forge II) and deploying aggressively into high-growth US startups in 2026.
2️⃣ New Enterprise Associates (NEA) — Chevy Chase, MD
$10M–$100M+ checks; broad multi-stage focus on tech, healthcare, and biopharma Series A/B; one of the largest firms with massive AUM (> $25B); highly active in 2025 with dozens of new investments and continuing deployments from 2023 funds into ambitious US scaling companies in 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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