The Dealflow by Founders Capital - Edition 31

Key News and Trends

xAI Targets $20B Raise with Nvidia-Backed SPV

Elon Musk’s xAI is expanding its fundraise to $20 billion, up from $10 billion, via a mix of equity and debt to finance its Memphis-based “Colossus 2” data centre. Nvidia will invest up to $2 billion through an asset-backed vehicle buying GPUs for xAI to rent, while Apollo and Diameter join the debt side. The round underscores AI’s “circular financing” loop, where chips become collateral for more AI capacity, and cements xAI as a cornerstone of Musk’s infrastructure empire. Read more here.

OpenAI Unveils ChatGPT Apps, Turning Its Chatbot Into an AI Platform

At DevDay 2025, OpenAI launched “Apps in ChatGPT,” letting users access apps like Spotify, Figma, Zillow, and Coursera directly in chat. Developers can build with the new Apps SDK and Model Context Protocol, enabling dynamic interfaces, in-chat video, and account-linked actions. The update turns ChatGPT into a full AI operating system for third-party apps. Privacy questions remain, but monetisation via Instant Checkout and subscriptions is coming. Read more here.

Betting Big: ICE Takes $2B Stake in Polymarket as Prediction Goes Mainstream

Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), parent of the NYSE, will invest up to $2 billion for a stake in crypto-based prediction platform Polymarket, valuing it at ~$8 billion. The deal could pave the way for Polymarket’s return to the U.S. market and legitimise prediction markets as a regulated asset class. For ICE, it signals a bold expansion beyond traditional exchanges into tokenised information trading. Read more here.

Silicon Alliance: OpenAI to Buy 10% of AMD in $1 Trillion Compute Push

OpenAI and AMD struck a multi-year partnership that could see OpenAI acquire up to 10% of the chipmaker via a warrant for 160 million shares. The agreement covers 6 GW of AMD Instinct GPUs to power OpenAI’s infrastructure, part of a $1 trillion build-out alongside Nvidia and Oracle. The deal reduces supplier dependence and cements AMD as a core partner in OpenAI’s global compute ecosystem. Read more here.

Founder’s Take: xAI Doubles Down - Chips as Collateral, Capacity as Currency

xAI is reportedly doubling its raise to $20B - a mix of equity and debt to fund a massive data centre buildout in Memphis. NVIDIA’s $2B slice comes via an asset-backed vehicle purchasing GPUs that xAI will lease back, a move that effectively turns silicon into collateral.

This is the new AI playbook: chips as collateral, capacity as currency. What we’re seeing is AI funding evolve from pure venture bets into infrastructure finance. Musk isn’t just building another model; he’s assembling the full AI-NG compute stack, owning the picks and shovels of the next technological gold rush.

Top Venture Deals

Base Power - $1B Series C (Addition, CapitalG, Thrive Capital, Valor Equity Partners)

• Austin-based Base Power raised $1 billion to accelerate deployment of its home battery systems across the U.S., valuing the company at $3 billion pre-money. The startup leases high-capacity batteries to homeowners for as little as $995 upfront, enabling affordable backup power and grid participation. With one of Texas’ largest battery fleets already operational, Base Power plans to expand nationally and build a second U.S. factory. Read more here.

n8n - $180M Series C (Accel, Meritech, NVentures, T Capital, Visionaries Club)

• Berlin-based n8n, an “AI orchestration” platform helping enterprises automate workflows, secured $180 million at a $2.5 billion valuation. The company connects hundreds of business tools and large language models to streamline AI deployment, boasting 3,000+ enterprise clients including Vodafone and Softbank. The round will fund engineering expansion and global scaling amid tenfold revenue growth in the past year. Read more here.

Stoke Space - $510M Series D (US Innovative Technology Fund, Washington Harbour Partners, General Innovation Capital)

• Stoke Space closed a $510 million round led by Thomas Tull’s USIT Fund, signalling how launch has become a defence-first industry. The startup, selected for the U.S. Space Force’s NSSL Phase 3 program (up to $5.6B in contracts), is developing reusable rockets positioned at the intersection of national security and aerospace innovation. The raise cements Stoke’s status within the U.S. defence-industrial base. Read more here.

Upcoming Public Offerings

BillionToOne

• Menlo Park–based diagnostics firm BillionToOne has filed for a Nasdaq IPO under ticker BLLN. The company’s single-molecule NGS platform detects and quantifies genetic targets with extreme precision, enabling prenatal and oncology diagnostics. In H1 2025, it generated $125.5M revenue (+82% YoY) with a $4.2M net loss, narrowing sharply from 2024. The deal, led by J.P. Morgan, Jefferies, Piper Sandler, and William Blair, proceeds despite the U.S. government shutdown - signaling confidence in the genomics IPO pipeline. Read more here

Cerebras Systems

• AI chipmaker Cerebras Systems has withdrawn its IPO filing but reaffirmed its intention to go public once it updates its financials and strategy. CEO Andrew Feldman said the company has evolved substantially since its 2024 prospectus and will refile with refreshed data. The move follows a $1.1B private round at an $8.1B valuation, with participation from Tiger Global and 1789 Capital (Donald Trump Jr.). Cerebras is positioning itself as a GPU alternative to Nvidia, having expanded into AI cloud services running large-scale model inference. Read more here

See you in the next edition,
The Founders Capital Team

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