Mega Rounds: AI Infrastructure Leads the Way
The headline raise of the day came from the enterprise AI space, with a jaw-dropping round anchored by one of tech's most prominent backers.
- Thrive Holdings raised $2B at a $12B valuation, backed by OpenAI, SoftBank, D1 Capital Partners, and Altimeter Capital, to accelerate AI adoption across enterprise customers.
- Lovable, the Swedish AI software creation platform, closed a $400M Series C at a $13.3B valuation, more than doubling its previous valuation. The round was led by Menlo Ventures and co-led by the Scaleup Europe Fund managed by EQT.
These two raises alone account for over $2.4B in a single day, underscoring how much conviction investors are placing on AI as a foundational layer for both enterprise software and developer tooling.
Growth Stage: Africa, India, and Logistics
Beyond the mega rounds, several growth-stage companies secured meaningful capital to expand operations.
- Jumia secured $50M in equity funding, offering a fresh lifeline to the pan-African e-commerce platform as it works toward sustained profitability.
- ClearJet, the Austin-based AI logistics startup connecting shippers with unused cargo capacity on commercial flights, raised $25M in a Series B led by Edison Partners.
Defence and Deep Tech: India's Moment
India's defence and frontier technology ecosystem had a notably active day, with both a startup and a fund closing capital.
- Vayudh, the defence arm of IIT Delhi's BotLab Dynamics, raised $10M to scale manufacturing of nano surveillance drones and swarm systems for the Indian armed forces.
- Bluehill.VC closed its maiden frontier-tech fund at Rs 400 Cr (roughly $48M), targeting startups in defence, space, semiconductors, energy, and advanced manufacturing.
Fund Closes: Europe and India Attract LP Capital
Several fund closes signalled continued confidence from limited partners in both European early-stage tech and Indian venture growth.
- Accel raised $800M for its ninth early-stage Europe and Israel fund, one of the largest vehicles of its kind focused on the region.
- Mirae Asset Venture Investments (MAVI) achieved a first close of Rs 1,125 Cr (roughly $135M) for its Venture Opportunity Fund II, targeting Series B through D investments across sectors in India.
Early Stage: Cybersecurity, Travel, and Strategy Tools
Smaller rounds rounded out a busy day, spanning regulated industries and B2B software.
- Cytix, a UK cybersecurity startup focused on AI-driven software change risks, raised $7M in a Series A led by Northern Gritstone.
- Entravel Group, the Danish travel infrastructure platform, raised $7.5M co-led by Ethereal Ventures and Finality Capital to expand its white-label model and stablecoin-enabled payments layer.
- STRGY AI, the Helsinki-based strategy execution platform, closed a $1M angel round to grow its StrategyOS product commercially.
What the Day's Raises Signal
The distribution of capital on August 13 points to a few clear themes. AI infrastructure is commanding valuations that would have seemed extraordinary even eighteen months ago, with Thrive Holdings and Lovable both pricing rounds at figures that reflect strategic rather than purely financial logic. At the same time, defence and frontier tech are maturing beyond a niche interest into a legitimate asset class, particularly in India and Europe. The Accel and MAVI fund closes suggest that limited partners remain willing to commit fresh capital to venture, even at a moment of macroeconomic uncertainty, as long as the thesis is tightly defined. Taken together, the day reads less like a scattered collection of deals and more like a coordinated bet on a handful of durable themes: AI productivity, physical-world autonomy, and the digitisation of legacy industries.