The Dealflow by Founders Capital - Edition 29

Key News and Trends

Supplier, Investor: Nvidia Mulls $100B OpenAI Stake

Reuters reports Nvidia is in talks to invest up to $100B in OpenAI, linking the leading chipmaker directly with the world’s most hyped AI lab. The move would give OpenAI guaranteed access to Nvidia GPUs and cement Nvidia’s influence across the AI stack. For investors, it blurs the line between supplier and owner, Nvidia may be hedging against the risk of customers becoming rivals. Read more here.

Stargate Scales: $500B AI Infrastructure Lands Ahead of Schedule

OpenAI, Oracle, and SoftBank announced five new U.S. data center sites under Stargate, bringing total planned capacity to nearly 7 GW and over $400B in investment. That puts the consortium on track to hit its full $500B, 10-GW commitment by year-end, ahead of schedule. The new sites span Texas, New Mexico, Ohio, and the Midwest, with Oracle leading three and SoftBank powering two. Together, they’re expected to create 25,000+ jobs and cement the trio as the backbone of U.S. AI infrastructure. Read more here.

Benioff’s AI “Crisis”: Panic First, Clarify Later

Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff inadvertently stoked panic this week, describing AI as being in “crisis” during a public forum. His remarks rattled some industry watchers, amplifying existing concerns over runaway costs and slowing enterprise adoption. Benioff later clarified he meant the sector faces a strategic crisis, not a collapse, but the damage was done, feeding into bearish AI narratives. Read more here.

TikTok’s American Remix: Oracle, Silver Lake, MGX Take 45%

Oracle, Silver Lake, and Abu Dhabi’s MGX will take a combined 45% stake in TikTok’s U.S. business. ByteDance will retain 19.9%, with the balance spread across existing and new investors. President Trump signed an executive order blessing the deal, keeping TikTok alive stateside after months of divest-or-ban brinkmanship. Oracle will oversee security, a U.S.-majority board will be installed, and for users, little change, except the ownership now looks more like a private equity syndicate than a Chinese app. Read more here.

Founder’s Take: Stargate or Black Hole?

The past month has been a flood of announcements from OpenAI: GPT-5, the Statsig acquisition, revenue-share renegotiations with Microsoft, and now two of the boldest moves yet, a $100B+ expansion of the Stargate data center project with Oracle and SoftBank, and reports that Nvidia may take a $100B equity stake.

Critics say the spending looks unsustainable, but that misses the bigger picture. What we’re seeing is OpenAI build the industrial coalition it needs to compete at global scale. Oracle cements itself as the AI backbone, SoftBank brings capital and ambition, and Nvidia not only secures its most important customer but ties itself directly to OpenAI’s upside.

It’s rare to see a software company stitch together infrastructure, hardware, and capital at this pace. The partnerships aren’t just hedges, they’re force multipliers. If Stargate delivers, and Nvidia joins the cap table, OpenAI won’t just be a model provider. It will be the gravitational center of the AI ecosystem.

Top Venture Deals

Cohere: $450M Raise at $7B Valuation (AMD, Index, Tiger Global, Nvidia)

• Toronto-based Cohere secured $450M at a $7B valuation, just a month after its last round. The raise included AMD as a new strategic investor, cementing its GPU supply partnership. Proceeds will expand its enterprise AI platform, which now counts Oracle, SAP, and Salesforce among customers. Read more here.

Auterion: $120M Series B (A16z, Lakestar, Redpoint, USV)

• Swiss drone software firm Auterion raised $120M to expand its open-source operating system for autonomous drones. Its platform is already used by the U.S. DoD, NASA, and leading commercial operators. Funds will accelerate scaling in defence and logistics markets as regulatory tailwinds grow. Read more here.

Filevine: $400M Growth Round (Insight, Accel, Halo Fund)

• Legal-tech firm Filevine raised $400M to scale its AI-powered “legal intelligence” suite. The platform automates workflows across case management, contracts, and litigation analytics. With ARR surpassing $200M, Filevine plans aggressive hiring and international expansion. Read more here.

Upcoming Public Offerings

Fermi

• Fermi, a data-center REIT backed by former U.S. Energy Secretary Rick Perry, has filed for a U.S. IPO targeting a $13B valuation. The Austin-based firm operates hyperscale facilities designed for AI workloads, positioning itself as a direct beneficiary of the GPU boom. Proceeds will fund expansion across North America as demand for power-hungry AI compute accelerates. Read more here.

Beta Technologies

• Vermont-based Beta Technologies, an electric aircraft developer, is preparing for a U.S. IPO after raising $1B+ in venture backing from Fidelity, Amazon’s Climate Pledge Fund, and TPG Rise. Its Alia-250 eVTOL is undergoing FAA certification, with UPS and Blade signed as early customers. The listing could make Beta one of the first publicly traded eVTOL makers with both commercial and defence applications. Read more here.

See you in the next edition,
The Founders Capital Team

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