TL;DR
A fresh batch of top accelerators now accepting applications, from pre-idea programs to structured seed-stage cohorts
Multiple equity-free grants and startup credits available, plus founder-friendly programs offering hands-on support
New pre-seed and seed rounds closing across AI, dev tools, legal tech, and advanced manufacturing
Strong Series A+ momentum in AI, biotech, aerospace, and enterprise software
Check out the active investors across Pre-seed to Series A — from $250K pre-seed checks up to $50M Series A/B rounds deploying capital right now
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Accelerators + Grants
🚀 Accelerators
Typically $25K - $50k investment for 5% equity with a 6-month intensive program featuring mentorship from Fortune 100 executives, enterprise customer introductions, fundraising support, and a global Demo Day for B2B startups in SaaS, AI, cybersecurity, blockchain, and more.
Up to $10K equity-free seed funding (top teams share $100K total) through an equity-free 12-week remote program for women 19–24 building AI-powered ventures. Includes expert mentorship, AI/technical training, and pitch development.
Equity-free prizes up to €100K with access to investors, mentorship, and global events; focused on early-stage deep tech startups in AI, biotech, climate, energy, advanced computing, and more; includes tailored support, investor day, and recognition for worldwide teams (up to Series A) based on new tech/scientific discoveries.
Equity-free 10-week virtual program for digital health startups (including oncology innovations in drug discovery, trials, detection, and care). Includes mentorship from industry leaders, pharma partner access, pilot opportunities, pitch development, and startup showcase.
💰 Grants
Monthly $1,000 equity-free micro-grants from US chapters (many active across cities); no-strings-attached funding for innovative projects, ideas, and early startups. Simple rolling applications – many tech/innovation winners.
Monthly $1,000 equity-free micro-grant open to any U.S. small business (including startups); rolling applications with awards announced monthly – simple process to explain your business and how you'd use the funds for growth.
$10,000 equity-free grants (two awards available) for U.S.-based entrepreneurs and small business owners; quick application focused on your goals and impact – open through December 31, 2025, with general and Skip Plus member categories.
Up to $4,000 equity-free grants for U.S. self-employed individuals and small businesses (requires NASE membership); rolling applications for expenses like marketing, hiring, equipment, or expansion – strong for early-stage founders.
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 Unconventional AI — raised $475M (Seed)
Description: Neuromorphic computing startup building energy-efficient AI hardware inspired by biological systems to solve power consumption in large-scale AI training and inference.
Investors: Andreessen Horowitz (co-lead), Lightspeed Venture Partners (co-lead), Lux Capital, DCVC, Jeff Bezos, Databricks
2️⃣ Raindrop — raised $15M (Seed)
Description: Monitoring and alerting platform for AI agents – lets enterprises observe, debug, and secure autonomous workflows in production.
Investors: Lightspeed Venture Partners (lead), Figma Ventures, Vercel Ventures, founders of Replit & Cognition
3️⃣ Dux Security — raised $9M (Seed)
Description: Autonomous cloud infrastructure security platform that continuously scans and hardens environments against emerging threats.
Investors: TLV Partners (lead), Maple Capital
4️⃣ Honeyjar — raised $2M (Pre-Seed)
Description: AI-powered platform modernizing public relations workflows – automates outreach, tracking, and analytics for comms professionals.
Investors: Human Ventures (lead via Heather Hartnett), SNR Ventures (lead via Kevin Mahaffey), plus angels/advisors including Margit Wennmachers (a16z), Jesse Angelo (Checker Media), Josh Constine (ex-TechCrunch), Desiree Gruber (Full Picture), Joanne Bradford, Becky Porter, Ajay Arora
💸 Active Investors & New Funds
1️⃣ S3 Ventures — Austin, TX ✨
$500K–$15M initial checks; Texas-born with nationwide US investments (roughly half in Texas). Backed by a single philanthropic LP for patient, unconstrained capital; focuses on early-stage (Seed to Series B) across business software and healthcare technology; one of Texas' most active firms with 13 deals already in 2025 and operational support for founders. Just closed $250M Fund VIII, pushing AUM over $1B.
2️⃣ Precursor Ventures — San Francisco, CA
$500K–$2M checks; classic pre-seed specialist backing diverse, high-potential founders across broad sectors (no deeptech focus); one of the most consistent and active Bay Area early-stage firms, recently closed Fund V at $66M and continues leading pre-seed rounds in 2025.
3️⃣ Basis Set Ventures — San Francisco, CA
$500K–$2M checks; data-driven pre-seed/seed fund targeting AI-applied future of work, automation, and infrastructure; women-led with quantitative sourcing and hands-on operator support; highly active deploying into pragmatic, capital-efficient teams in 2025.
4️⃣ Haystack — San Francisco, CA
$500K–$2M checks; prolific pre-seed/seed investor focused on technical founders building tools, infrastructure, and applied AI; known for writing some of the earliest checks in breakout companies, very active in 2025 with a founder-friendly, high-conviction approach across US markets.
Series A+
Notable companies that recently raised:
1️⃣ Runware — raised $50M (Series A)
Description: Developer tools platform providing ultra-low latency APIs for real-time generative AI, specializing in fast image, video, and audio creation.
Investors: Dawn Capital (Lead), Comcast Ventures, Speedinvest, Insight Partners, a16z Speedrun
2️⃣ Serval — raised $75M (Series B)
Description: AI-powered automation platform for IT support, using generative agents to resolve tickets and extend into HR, legal, and finance workflows.
Investors: Sequoia (Lead), Redpoint, Meritech, First Round, General Catalyst, Evantic, and others
3️⃣ Prolynx — raised $70M (Series A)
Description: Biotechnology company developing longer-lasting obesity and metabolic disease drugs with reduced dosing frequency using advanced delivery tech.
Investors: 5AM Ventures (Co-lead), OrbiMed (Co-lead), Monograph Capital
4️⃣ Yoodli — raised $40M (Series B)
Description: AI roleplay tool for communication training, simulating sales calls, interviews, and presentations with personalized real-time coaching.
Investors: WestBridge Capital (Lead), Neotribe, Madrona
5️⃣ AnySignal — raised $24M (Series A)
Description: Aerospace startup building advanced radio technologies and production for space and defense applications.
Investors: Upfront Ventures (Lead), BlueYard Capital, First In Ventures, and other strategic investors
💸 Active Investors & New Funds
1️⃣ Battery Ventures — Boston, MA
$10M–$50M checks; Series A/B leader in application software, infrastructure, consumer internet, and industrial tech, extremely active deploying from recent multi-billion funds in 2025. Global tech-focused firm with a long track record of backing category-defining companies, offering deep operational expertise and scaling support.
2️⃣ Upfront Ventures — Santa Monica, CA
$10M–$30M checks; Series A leader in enterprise software, consumer, and frontier tech (e.g., recent aerospace/defense leads), highly active in 2025. LA-based powerhouse with a founder-centric approach, offering strategic guidance and network access for US-based scaling startups.
3️⃣ Spark Capital — Boston, MA
$10M–$40M checks; Series A/B specialist in consumer, commerce, fintech, software, frontier, and media, consistently active across stages in 2025. Early and growth-stage firm backing creative thinkers building bold products, with offices supporting East Coast deal flow.
4️⃣ Drive Capital — Columbus, OH
$10M–$50M checks; Series A/B focus on tech, healthcare, and consumer outside coastal hubs, actively investing in Midwest founders building market-defining companies. Midwest-based firm bringing decades of experience to overlooked regions, providing relentless partnership for world-class scaling.
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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