Weekly Funding: Databricks and Emergent Achieve Unicorn Status in Recent Funding Surge, ETEntrepreneur

One new unicorn, multiple AI bets and a steady stream of capital flowed into deeptech, healthcare and consumer startups this week.

While AI continued to dominate, sectors such as consumer hardware, hospitality, and EV too found takers.

ETEntrepreneur brings a roundup of key deals below.

Databricks secures strategic funding at $188 bn valuation

Data and AI company Databricks announced a strategic funding round at a $188 billion valuation led by existing investor Coatue.

The fresh capital will accelerate its AI strategy, including investments in Unity AI Gateway, its multi-AI governance platform, Genie, its AI-powered business assistant, and Lakebase, its serverless Postgres database designed for AI agents.

The funding will also support future AI acquisitions and research.

“Enterprises are moving from tokenmaxxing to valuemaxxing. They don’t want to burn expensive tokens on the smartest model for every task—they want the best outcome per dollar,” said Ali Ghodsi, co-founder and CEO of Databricks.

Read the whole story here.

Emergent joins unicorn club with $130 million series C funding

AI software creation platform Emergent has become the latest AI startup to achieve unicorn status after raising $130 million in a series C funding round led by Creaegis, with Claypond and Sentinel Global joining as co-lead investors.

Existing investors Khosla Ventures, SoftBank Vision Fund 2, Lightspeed, and Y Combinator also participated in the round.

The fresh capital will support its efforts to expand AI-powered software creation for entrepreneurs and small and medium-sized businesses, allowing users to build applications such as CRMs, ERPs, marketplaces, internal tools and customer-facing products.

Read the whole story here.

Aina raises $5.5 million co-led by Redstart Labs, 360 ONE Asset

Consumer hardware startup Aina has raised $5.5 million in seed funding co-led by Redstart Labs (Info Edge) and 360 ONE Asset.

The funding round also witnessed participation from MIXI Global Investments, Antler, Blume Founders Fund, and angel investors including Kunal Shah, Tikhon Bernstam, Harshil Mathur, Shashank Kumar and Vaibhav Domkundwar.

Founded by former Ultrahuman Vice President of Hardware Apoorv Shankar, Aina said it will use the capital to commercialise its flagship interface, which has been under development in stealth, and expand its teams across San Francisco and Bengaluru.

Read the whole story here.

Reo.Dev raises $11.3 mn series A led by Elevation Capital

AI-native go-to-market (GTM) platform Reo.Dev has raised $11.3 million in a series A funding round led by Elevation Capital.

The funding round also witnessed participation from existing investors Heavybit, India Quotient and Foster Ventures, alongside new investor Uncorrelated Ventures.

The round takes the company’s total funding to $15.3 million.

The fresh capital comes just eight months after the company announced its seed round and will be used to strengthen its frontier AI capabilities, accelerate its AI agent roadmap and expand its platform for companies selling software to engineering and technical teams.

Read the whole story here.

NapTapGo raises ₹8 Cr seed funding led by Inflection Point Ventures

NapTapGo has raised ₹8 crore in a seed funding round led by Inflection Point Ventures (IPV), as the company looks to expand its footprint across India through a capital-efficient co-investment model with local partners.

The fresh capital will be used to scale the company’s network of capsule hotels while retaining operational control over all properties to ensure standardised guest experiences.

Founded in 2023 by Nitin Malhotra and Himanshu Shukla, NapTapGo operates technology-enabled ‘capsule’ hotels offering flexible check-in and pay-per-use stay options targeted at business, transit and pilgrimage travellers. The startup currently operates 132 pods across Noida, Amritsar and Katra, and said it has hosted more than 10,000 guests.

Read the whole story here.

KuhlTherm raises $1.1 mn seed funding led by Arkam Ventures

Precision liquid cooling startup KuhlTherm has raised $1.1 million in a seed funding round led by Arkam Ventures.

The fresh capital will be used to accelerate product development, strengthen research and testing infrastructure, expand engineering and business development teams, secure certifications and build strategic partnerships as the company prepares to scale its cooling solutions globally.

Founded in 2025, Ahmedabad-based KuhlTherm develops precision liquid cooling systems for AI data centres, hyperscale infrastructure and other high-density computing environments.

Read the whole story here.

SwitchOn raises $8 mn pre-series B funding led by IvyCap Ventures

Manufacturing AI startup SwitchOn has raised $8 million in a pre-series B funding round led by IvyCap Ventures with participation from SIG Tattva and Trifecta Capital.

The fresh capital will be used to expand internationally, advance next-generation Physical AI technologies and strengthen the company’s go-to-market capabilities across manufacturing sectors globally.

Founded by Aniruddha Banerjee and Avra Banerjee, Bengaluru-based SwitchOn develops AI-powered machine vision systems that automate quality inspection on manufacturing lines. Its platform, DeepInspect, integrates edge-native computer vision into factory equipment to detect product defects with sub-150-micron precision at speeds of more than 1,200 products per minute, while achieving over 99 per cent detection accuracy, according to the company.

Read the whole story here.

Hisabkitab raises seed funding to expand AI accounting platform

Surat-based fintech SaaS startup Hisabkitab has raised seed funding from a group of angel investors and high-net-worth individuals at a valuation of Rs 20 crore.

The funding amount remains undisclosed.

The fresh capital infusion will be used to build its AI Intelligence layer, including autonomous finance agents for audit, tax preparation, accounts receivable and payable, financial reporting, and business insights.

Founded in 2025 by chartered accountants Shrigopal Malani and Abhinav Sharma, Hisabkitab offers a cloud-native accounting platform that combines bookkeeping, compliance, invoicing and financial reporting with AI capabilities for SMEs.

Read the whole story here.

Flex raises $70 mn led by Halo Fund

AI-native private banking platform Flex has raised $70 million in a series B1 funding round led by Halo Fund, with participation from Portage Ventures, Wellington, Crosslink Capital, 53 Stations, Titanium Ventures, Spice, Florida Funders, and others.

The funding comes just six months after Flex’s $60 million series B round in December 2025 and will support the expansion of Flex Global, the company’s international banking platform.

With the latest raise, Flex has secured $180 million in total equity funding and $300 million in debt financing.

Read the whole story here.

E3 Electric.Ai raises ₹100 Cr in series A led by BluVenture Holdings

Deep-tech electric mobility startup E3 Electric.Ai has raised ₹100 crore ($10.5 million) in a series A funding round through a combination of equity and debt, led by BluVenture Holdings, ahead of the commercial launch of its E3 TRION electric scooter.

The Bengaluru-based startup said it will use the fresh capital to accelerate product innovation and expand its market presence across India.

Founded in 2024 by P. Sanjeev, E3 Electric.Ai develops AI-powered electric scooters designed for family commuters.

Read the whole story here.

Valarian raises $50 mn series A led by NEA

UK-based sovereign infrastructure startup Valarian has raised $50 million in a series A funding round led by New Enterprise Associates (NEA).

Existing and new investors including Lightbank, XTX Markets, Sequel, LitVC, and angel investors Gokul Rajaram and Nikesh Arora also participated in the round.

The fresh capital will be used for product development and to expand the firm’s sovereign infrastructure platforms.

Read the whole story here.

If you like ETEntrepreneur stories, add us as a trusted source on Google by clicking here and ticking the checkbox.