United States: AI and Defense Lead Weekly Fundraising Efforts

During the week of August 15 to 21, the largest funding rounds in the U.S. focused on artificial intelligence and defense. A $800 million capital round for a hypersonic missile leads the pack, while players in inference, generative video, data centers, and voice-to-text are raking in hundreds of millions, with valuations reaching up to $21 billion.

Week of August 15 to 21 and exclusively U.S. scope

The overview covers funding rounds conducted by companies based in the United States. The period considered spans from August 15 to 21. The analyzed rounds correspond to the largest announced during this window, with the caveat of potential delays: some operations may be reported late in the week, which could marginally affect the rankings.

AI, computing, and data centers concentrate massive rounds

In AI computing technologies, Etched secured $700 million, bringing its valuation to $21 billion. Based in San Jose, the four-year-old company develops inference clusters and was funded through a round led by Jane Street. The creation of generative content is also supported by abundant capital: Higgsfield, an AI-based video and image platform located in San Francisco, closed a $400 million Series B round, valuing the company at $5.4 billion, led by DST Global and involving at least 18 investors. On the infrastructure side, Groq raised $350 million in a round led by Disruptive, with Nvidia's participation expected. The San Francisco-based company operates 13 data centers and emerges from this operation with a valuation of $3.5 billion, following a previous $650 million round in June. At the application layer, Wispr Flow secured $280 million in Series B for its voice-to-text conversion tool called Flow, a round led by Menlo Ventures that values the company at $2 billion. Velaura AI raised $110 million in Series A under the auspices of Seligman Ventures, achieving a valuation above $1 billion; the Silicon Valley startup develops AI computing infrastructure based on ultra-low power silicon and software technologies. Finally, in enterprise tools, Rillet raised $100 million in Series C, led by Iconiq Capital, bringing its valuation to $1 billion. The publisher, focused on AI-powered enterprise resource planning tools within agentic finance, marks its third round in a year.

Defense and space attract significant capital

The largest round of the week goes to Castelion, based in Torrance: $800 million in capital and $250 million in debt for its hypersonic strike missile program. The capital funding was led by JPMorgan Chase, Andreessen Horowitz, and Carlyle, setting the company's valuation at $13 billion. In Earth observation, Muon Space closed $250 million in Series C, led by Eclipse. Based in Mountain View, the company designs, builds, and operates satellite constellations and recently opened a factory in San Jose aimed at producing up to 500 satellites per year by 2027.

Light mobility and health also attract notable rounds

Also, spun off from Rivian and located in Palo Alto, secured $150 million in a Series D funding round led by Prysm Capital. Part of this funding is intended to accelerate the development of its autonomous vehicle platform; the company designs electric bikes as well as small four-wheeled micromobility vehicles. In the field of connected health, Happy Health, headquartered in Austin, raised $75 million from Arch Venture Partners and OpenLoop. The company is developing a ring device intended for the diagnosis and treatment of sleep apnea.