DTN 150: Biotech is Back, Baby
Plus: Date night for AI-human couples, Moonbase Alpha, India boosts deep tech startups, Falcon 9 returns to flight, the economics of orbital AI, and more.
We’re throwing a party. You’re invited.
SF friends, we’re bringing our Biotech Bash west, a bookend to November’s Boston Biotech Bash. Join leading biotech innovators and HAUS biotech director Jenny Henry for an evening of networking, drinks, and insights straight from JPM.
Deep Tech Newsletter subscribers are guaranteed entry until we reach capacity. RSVP below to reserve your ticket!
A sign biotech is back? Four drugmakers go public, raising nearly $1 billion in all
“Having both Eikon and Generate, which has poured around $700 million into building an artificial intelligence platform for drug development, go public showcases a potential change in attitudes. ‘With Generate, there might be another class of companies that emerge in IPO,’ said Ben Zercher, senior biotech and pharma analyst at Pitchbook.”
- The Waymo World Model: A new frontier for autonomous driving simulation
- Rolls-Royce launches hydrogen-ready modular gas engine power plants
- European VCs form coalition to garner support for homegrown biotech investing
- The largest-ever satellite of its kind just unfurled its wings in low-Earth orbit
- This startup thinks it can make rocket fuel from water. Stop laughing.
- ‘Moonshot’ agency ARPA-H lays off staff meant to commercialize breakthroughs
- Isomorphic claims major advance with new AI drug design engine
- Falcon 9 returns to flight after upper stage engine investigation
- SpaceX delays Mars plans in favor of the Moon
- CIA overhauls acquisition to get new tech faster
- India has changed its startup rules for deep tech
- ChatGPT rolls out ads
- Boston Dynamics CEO Robert Playter steps down after 30 years at the company
“Most fusion technologies, as well as nuclear fission, are based on generating heat to power steam turbines, which produce the electricity. Helion’s technology captures the electricity during the fusion process—skipping the need for turbines. ‘That’s really the fundamental difference that we believe allows us to move much faster than other people,’ Helion cofounder and CEO David Kirtley said.” (via Fortune)
- AI-guided micromachining advances next-generation biocompatible titanium alloys
- A microfluidic chip monitors gases using integrated, motionless pumps
- A key barrier in protonic ceramics may be fading, and hydrogen tech could benefit
- Near-perfect bonding between key fusion reactor materials achieved
- Solar-powered seesaw extractor simultaneously extracts lithium and desalinates water
- Power at the micrometer scale: A battery built for the smallest machines
- Simulations pinpoint key conditions for all-solid-state battery electrolyte materials
- Alva Energy raises $33M Series A to scale nuclear power from existing U.S. reactor fleet
- Stoke Space adds $350M Series D extension to advance fully reusable Nova rocket
- Axiom Space raises $350M to advance commercial space station and next-generation spacesuits
- Deep Space Energy raises €930K pre-seed to develop radioisotope thermoelectric generators for deep-space missions
- Trener Robotics raises $32M Series A to build AI robot skills platform for manufacturing
- ILiAD Biotechnologies raises $115M Series B to advance infectious disease vaccine programs
- Apptronik raises $935M Series A extension to scale humanoid robotics platform
- Integrate raises $17M to move defense project management into the 21st century
- Inertia Enterprises raises $450M Series A to commercialize inertial fusion power systems
- ICEYE raises €150M Series E and €50M secondary to scale SAR satellite constellation
- Atlas Oncology Partners raises $28M Series A to expand value-based oncology platform
- Loyal raises $100M Series C to advance longevity drugs for senior dogs
- Oxide Computer Company raises $200M Series C to expand on-prem cloud infrastructure platform
- Stanhope AI raises $8M Seed to advance brain-inspired “Active Inference” AI systems
- Neurent Medical raises €62.5M Series C to expand minimally invasive treatment for chronic rhinitis
- The Biological Computing Co. raises $25M Seed to advance brain-inspired computing platform
- Project Omega raises $12M to recycle spent nuclear fuel into strategic energy assets
- Anthropic raises $30B Series G in second-largest venture deal ever
- QuantX Biosciences raises $85M Series B to advance immunology pipeline
- Benchmark raises $225M in special funds to double down on Cerebras, the AI chipmaker building wafer-scale processors for large-scale AI workloads
- Tomorrow.io raises $175M to scale its AI-native weather satellite constellation
- Phylo raises $13.5M in seed funding to scale its AI-native biology platform
- ElevenLabs raises $500M Series D to scale its audio AI platform
- Gather AI raises $40M Series B to deploy its “curious” AI warehouse drones
- Aerska raises $39M Series A to advance brain shuttle technology
- Pandorum Technologies raises $18M Series B to advance exosome-based regenerative therapies
- Geolinks Services raises $7.1M for its real-time seismic subsurface monitoring platform FlowTerra
- Algorized raises $13M to advance predictive safety engines for human-robot collaboration
- Kainova Therapeutics raises $32M CAD Series B to advance GPCR-targeting therapies
- Primary Ventures raises $625M Fund V to focus on seed investing
- Natilus raises $28M Series A to build its blended-wing cargo aircraft KONA
- Deep Fission raises $80M to advance its underground small modular nuclear reactors
- R3 Robotics raises €20M to automate EV battery disassembly with AI-powered robotics
- Backslash Security raises $19M Series A for AI-native coding security
Inside the New York City date night for AI lovers / Man who videotaped himself BASE jumping in Yosemite arrested, federal officials say. He says it was AI. / WiFi could become an invisible mass surveillance system / AI agents can now create their own bank accounts / What’s next for Chinese open-source AI / How often does the average person fart? Scientists built a device to find out / A wave of unexplained bot traffic is sweeping the web / Why the economics of orbital AI are so brutal / US increasingly dependent on importing critical minerals / Battery storage comes of age: From grid accessory to essential infrastructure / Earth’s core may contain 45 oceans’ worth of hydrogen / Why Xi Jinping has been purging China’s military leadership, and what may come next / San Francisco’s pro-billionaire march draws dozens / Crypto.com places $70M bet on AI.com domain ahead of Super Bowl / An ice dance duo skated to AI music at the Olympics
