Keyfactor and SambaNova: $2 Billion for AI and Cybersecurity

The 10 Biggest Funding Rounds of the Week

Summary

This week, the artificial intelligence (AI) sector once again dominated fundraising, with five of the ten largest financings announced. Among them, two spectacular rounds of one billion dollars each were recorded in the fields of AI infrastructure and cybersecurity. Investors also showed sustained interest in various sectors such as quantum computing, geothermal energy, crypto infrastructure, and aerospace. Here’s a detailed overview of the major funding rounds of the week.

Funding Details

1. Keyfactor, $1 billion, cybersecurity: Keyfactor successfully raised an impressive $1 billion in a private equity funding round led by Summit Partners. Other major players such as Insight Partners and Sixth Street Growth also participated. Keyfactor specializes in digital identity and machine identity management software, essential for securing certificates, encryption keys, and connected devices. Since its inception, the company has raised a total of $1.21 billion, according to Crunchbase data.

2. SambaNova, $1 billion, AI infrastructure: Based in Palo Alto, SambaNova announced a highly anticipated Series F funding round, raising $1 billion. This round was led by General Atlantic, with a post-money valuation of $11 billion. Other notable investors include Battery Ventures, BlackRock, Capital Group, Intel Capital, Qatar Investment Authority, T. Rowe Price, and Vista Equity Partners. SambaNova focuses on developing AI chips and infrastructure for training and inference workloads. To date, the company has raised nearly $2.5 billion.

3. Oratomic, $300 million, quantum computing: Quantum startup Oratomic, based in South Pasadena, raised $300 million in a Series A round co-led by Arch Venture Partners, Khosla Ventures, and Spark Capital. A total of 16 investors, including Bezos Expeditions and General Catalyst, participated in this round. Oratomic is developing neutral atom quantum hardware and fault-tolerant architectures to accelerate the commercialization of quantum computing.

4. Quaise Energy, $134 million, clean energy: Quaise Energy, headquartered in Houston, raised $134 million in a Series B round led by Prelude Ventures. Other investors include Jera Ventures and Idemitsu Americas Holdings Corp. Quaise is developing millimeter-wave drilling technology to harness deep geothermal energy, an emerging source of carbon-free energy. To date, the company has raised $225 million.

5. Prime Intellect, $130 million, artificial intelligence: Prime Intellect, based in San Francisco, raised $130 million in a Series A round led by Radical Ventures. Numerous investors, including Silicon Valley figures like Box CEO Aaron Levie and OpenAI co-founder John Schulman, participated. Prime is building an open platform for training and deploying AI models on distributed computing networks. The company has raised a total of $200.4 million, according to Crunchbase.

6. Gauntlet, $125 million, crypto infrastructure: Based in New York, Gauntlet raised $125 million in a Series B round, with Japan's SBI Group as the sole investor. The company develops simulation, risk management, and optimization software for decentralized finance protocols.

7. Norm AI, $120 million, artificial intelligence: Norm AI, also based in New York, secured $120 million in a Series C round led by Khosla Ventures at a valuation of $1.2 billion. The company develops AI systems that translate complex laws and regulations into software to help businesses automate their compliance workflows. It has raised a total of $256 million to date.

8. Venus Aerospace, $91 million, aerospace and defense: Venus Aerospace, based in Houston, raised $91 million in a Series B round. Mercury supported this round, which will be used to advance the development of Venus's hypersonic propulsion technology. The company has raised a total of $197 million.

9. EDX Markets, $76 million, fintech: EDX Markets, a digital asset exchange platform, raised $76 million as institutional interest in crypto trading infrastructure continues to grow. The round was supported by the SBI Group, marking the second major crypto funding for this Japanese company this week.

10. Fore Biotherapeutics, $67.4 million, biotechnology: Fore Biotherapeutics, based in Philadelphia, raised $67.4 million in a Series D round to advance its precision oncology therapies targeting rare cancer mutations. The company has raised a total of $274 million.

Notable Fundings Outside the United States

Several startups based outside the United States also raised notable funding this week:

• Proxima Fusion, €411 million, fusion energy: Proxima Fusion, based in Munich, raised €411 million (approximately $468 million) to develop what is expected to become the first commercial fusion power plant in Europe.

• Skello, €200 million, work technology: Skello, based in Paris, raised €200 million ($229 million) in a private equity round led by Bridgepoint Group, to develop HR software for employers.

We have tracked the largest announced rounds in the Crunchbase database for the period from July 4 to July 10. While most announced rounds are represented in the database, there may be a slight time lag, as some rounds are reported late in the week.