News linked to both this project and an event.
Helion, a nuclear fusion energy startup backed by OpenAI founder Sam Altman, has announced the completion of a $465 million funding round, led by Thrive Capital. The post-investment valuation has reached $15.5 billion, nearly three times its previous valuation of $543 million. It is reported that the company is dedicated to developing nuclear fusion technology to power data centers and other customers. However, it has yet to prove the feasibility of its technology in actual electricity production. Investors remain highly confident in its potential, and this round of funding will be used to accelerate technology development and commercial advancement. (The Information)
Samsung Securities has passed a board resolution to acquire 2% of Dunamu's shares for 306.3 billion won (approximately $204 million), totaling around 697,000 shares at an acquisition price of about 439,000 won per share.The sellers in this transaction include Kakao Investment, Kakao Ventures, Kakao Youth Startup Fund, and the KIF-Kakao Woori Bank Technology Finance Investment Fund. Based on the transaction price, Dunamu's overall valuation is estimated at approximately 15.3 trillion won (about $10.2 billion).Samsung Securities stated that this investment aims to enhance its competitiveness in the digital asset business and expand related synergies. Previously, Hanwha Investment & Securities also acquired Dunamu shares held by Kakao Investment at the same valuation. (Yonhap News Agency)
According to Bloomberg, AI programming startup Cognition AI has announced a new funding round exceeding $1 billion, valuing the company at $26 billion post-funding—more than double its valuation from the previous round in September 2025. Lux Capital, General Catalyst, and 8VC co-led the round, with participation from Ribbit Capital, Atreides Management LP, and Founders Fund—Peter Thiel’s venture capital firm.
According to The Wall Street Journal, Parallel Web Systems—an AI startup founded by former Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal—has raised $100 million in its Series B funding round, led by Sequoia Capital, with participation from Kleiner Perkins, Index Ventures, and Khosla Ventures. The company’s valuation has risen to $2 billion, bringing its total funding to $230 million. Parallel focuses on building web search infrastructure for AI agents, supporting in-depth research use cases such as investment research, insurance claims processing, and government contract analysis. Over 100,000 developers are already using its platform, with customers including legal AI company Harvey. Proceeds from this round will be used to expand the sales team and strengthen R&D efforts.
On-chain lending platform Votre has raised $3.75 million in seed funding, led by a16z Crypto Startup Accelerator, with participation from MaC Venture Capital, Druid Ventures, and angel investors from Goldman Sachs, Harvard University, and OrangeDAO. Founded in 2025, Votre operates a non-custodial crypto lending platform on Coinbase’s Base Layer 2 network, enabling users to borrow USD—settled the same day—using Bitcoin as collateral, with loan sizes ranging from approximately $25,000 to $5 million. The funds will be used to scale technical infrastructure, increase platform capacity, enhance liquidity management tools, and strengthen risk and compliance systems.