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This is a weekly feature that runs down the week’s Top 10 announced funding rounds in the U.S. Check out last week’s biggest funding deal roundup here.
It was another interesting week for AI-related startup funding, with a number of large rounds and quirky companies. The largest financings went to Tenstorrent, a developer of AI processors and systems, and AI lab Flapping Airplanes. The quirkiest round, meanwhile, was undoubtedly a $200 million financing for Warhound, which wants to breed elite military dogs.
A number of big rounds in areas including biotech, space tech and physical AI rounded out the list.
1. Tenstorrent, $1.5B, AI infrastructure: Santa Clara, California-based Tenstorrent, a developer of AI processors and systems, secured $1.5 billion in Series E funding. Trace Capital and Innovation X led the round, which set a $6.2 billion valuation for the 10-year-old company.
2. Flapping Airplanes, $1B, foundational AI: Flapping Airplanes, an AI lab with a focus on developing models that cost less to train and run, closed on $1 billion in Series A funding led by Lux Capital and Index Ventures. The round comes less than 10 months after the year-old San Francisco startup raised a $180 million seed financing.
3. ASI, $325M, AI for critical infrastructure: ASI, a developer of AI technology for securing and operating critical infrastructure in areas such as aviation, transportation and defense, picked up $325 million in Series C financing. Spark Capital led the round, which set a $3 billion valuation for the Boston-based company.
4. Xona, $250M, space tech: Xona, a startup developing a next-generation version of GPS, raised $250 million in Series D funding led by Future Ventures. The round sets a $2.4 billion valuation for the Burlingame, California-based company.
5. Pathos AI, $237M, biotech: Pathos AI, a startup applying AI to drug development, completed a $237 million Series E financing at a post-money valuation around $3 billion. Bristol-Myers Squibb led the financing for the New York-headquartered company.
6. Warp Sciences, $215M, AI, robotics and life sciences: Warp Sciences, a startup applying AI and robotics to help develop new medicines faster, raised a $215M Series A round led by Lightspeed Venture Partners.
7. (tied) Whop, $200M, online business marketplace: Whop, a platform that helps entrepreneurs build and run online businesses, secured $200 million in Series D funding led by Sequoia Capital and Shopify Ventures. The round set a $5.1 billion valuation for the New York-based company.
7. (tied) Star Therapeutics, $200M, biotech: South San Francisco, California-based drug developer Star Therapeutics says it raised $200 million in new financing led by OrbiMed and Janus Henderson Investors. The investment follows Incyte’s July acquisition of Vega Therapeutics, a subsidiary of Star, in a deal valued at up to $2 billion.
7. (tied) Warhound, $200M, military dogs: Warhound, a startup that wants to breed working dogs for U.S. military forces and emergency responders, launched from stealth with $200 million in seed funding from a long list of backers including Sequoia Capital and 8VC 1. The startup, co-founded by AnduriI ndustries founder Palmer Luckey, plans to equip the dogs with Anduril technology.
10. Arda Industries, $160M, AI manufacturing software: Arda Industries, a developer of AI-powered software for manufacturing engineering, closed on $160 million in Series A funding at a $1.5 billion valuation, co-led by Altimeter Capital, Accel and Khosla Ventures. The San Francisco-based startup also announced a previously undisclosed $72 million seed financing.
Methodology
We tracked the largest announced rounds in the Crunchbase database that were raised by U.S.-based companies for the period of Oct. 17-23, 2026. Although most announced rounds are in the database, there may be a small time lag, as some rounds are reported late in the week.
Illustration: Dom Guzman