This Week in SF Fundings
$370.9 million was raised across various companies and funds.
In recent SF funding activities highlighted, approximately $370.9 million was raised across various companies and funds. These investments span multiple sectors, including technology, AI, healthcare, and manufacturing, underscoring diverse growth opportunities across different stages of development.
Bright Machines, a San Francisco-based company specializing in intelligent, software-defined manufacturing, has raised $126 million in Series C funding. This round brings the company's total funding to over $400 million. The investment consists of $106 million in equity funding led by BlackRock, with participation from NVIDIA, Microsoft, Eclipse, Jabil, and Shinhan Securities, and $20 million in venture debt from J.P. Morgan. Bright Machines plans to use this capital to drive product innovations, expand its software stack to increase assembly flexibility and strengthen strategic relationships with ecosystem partners. This substantial funding round underscores the growing importance of intelligent manufacturing technologies and positions Bright Machines to advance further its role in transforming the manufacturing industry through software-driven solutions.
Klarity, a San Francisco-based startup specializing in automated document review and contract analysis for finance and accounting professionals, has secured $70 million in Series B funding. Now in its seventh year of operation, the company saw this round led by Nat Friedman and Daniel Gross. Additional funding participants included Scale Venture Partners, Tola Capital, Picus Capital, Invus Capital, and Y Combinator. This substantial investment will likely fuel Klarity's growth and further development of its AI-powered solutions for streamlining document processing in the financial sector.
Odaseva, a San Francisco-based company providing an enterprise data security platform for Salesforce, has secured $54 million in Series C funding. This round, led by Silver Lake Waterman, brings Odaseva's total funding to $90 million. Existing investors F-Prime, Eight Roads, and Serena Capital participated, along with new investors Eurazeo and Crescent Cove. Odaseva plans to use this capital to fuel its growth, focusing on enhancing its data security and Zero Trust product offerings. This investment underscores the increasing importance of specialized data security solutions in the enterprise software ecosystem.
KarmaCheck, a San Francisco-based company offering technology-driven solutions for background checks, credentialing, and compliance, has raised $45 million in Series B funding. The round was led by Parameter Ventures, with additional investments from PruVen Capital, Velvet Sea Ventures, GC1 Ventures, and NextView Ventures. With this new capital, KarmaCheck plans to accelerate the development of its proprietary technology platform, enhance its service capabilities to serve more customers and candidates, and expand its reach into new industry sectors.
Conduit, a San Francisco-based startup specializing in cloud deployment and managing blockchain nodes and related services for developers, has successfully closed a $37 million Series A funding round. The investment was co-led by prominent crypto-focused venture capital firms Paradigm and Haun Ventures. Additional participants in the round included Robot Ventures, Credibly Neutral, Coinbase Ventures, and Bankless Ventures. This substantial funding will likely bolster Conduit's efforts to simplify blockchain infrastructure management for developers and accelerate the company's growth in the rapidly evolving blockchain technology sector.
Clearstory.build, a San Francisco-based startup founded six years ago, has successfully raised $16 million in a Series B funding round. The company has developed a collaborative tool to streamline communication between general contractors, specialty contractors, and project owners to minimize risk and accelerate payment processes in the construction industry. The funding round was spearheaded by Prudence, with participation from Industry Ventures and existing investors, including Jackson Square Ventures, Building Ventures, GS Futures, and Cloud Apps Capital Partners. This investment will help Clearstory develop and expand its innovative solution for the construction sector.
Inventive, a San Francisco-based startup specializing in embedded AI for SaaS products, has raised $6.5 million in seed funding. Wing VC led the investment round, with additional support from Tokyo Black and a group of angel investors, including founders and former executives from Google and Meta. The company plans to utilize this capital to develop further its platform, which is designed to assist product teams in integrating AI capabilities into their software products. This funding represents a significant milestone for Inventive as it aims to enhance its position in the growing field of AI-powered SaaS solutions.
Smashing, a newly established San Francisco startup, has secured $3.4 million in seed funding. Founded in 2024 by Otis Chandler, who previously co-founded Goodreads, Smashing is developing an innovative app that combines AI technology with community input to curate and recommend high-quality content from across the internet. The seed round attracted investments from notable venture capital firms, including True Ventures, Blockchange, Offline Ventures, Advancit Capital, and Power of N Ventures. This early-stage funding will likely support Smashing's efforts to develop its AI-driven content curation platform and build its user community, potentially positioning the company as a new player in the content discovery and recommendation space.
Fluently, a San Francisco-based startup founded just one year ago has secured $2 million in seed funding. The company leverages artificial intelligence to provide personalized coaching for language learners. Pioneer Fund and SID Venture Partners participated in this investment round. The funding is expected to support Fluently's mission of revolutionizing language learning through AI-powered coaching.
Stafl Systems, a San Francisco-based company specializing in lithium-ion battery technology, has received an investment from WindSail. While the specific investment amount was not disclosed, Stafl Systems plans to use the funds to support its continued growth and expand its production capabilities. This investment will enable the company to serve its existing customers better and potentially meet increasing demand in the lithium-ion battery market.
Funds
Rackhouse Venture Capital, a San Francisco-based venture firm specializing in early-stage AI investments, has successfully raised $45 million for its second fund. Founded by Kevin Novak, who served as Uber's inaugural head of data science, Rackhouse continues to expand its investment focus in the AI sector.
Rebellion Ventures, a San Francisco-based venture capital firm, has launched its first $12.9 million pre-seed/seed fund focused on investing in autonomous operations and AI agents. The fund aims to support entrepreneurs developing artificial super capability (ASC) technologies that could dramatically enhance productivity and transform business models. Notably, the fund has attracted over 70 high-profile limited partners, including unicorn founders, executives, and AI industry experts, who form the Rebellion Advisor Network. This network provides valuable expertise and connections to the fund and its portfolio companies, reinforcing Rebellion Ventures' commitment to fostering innovation in the AI and automation sectors.