Venture Chatter: Deals, Funds and Fresh Starts

The Weekly Vibe

🌱 A Small Milestone, A Big Thank You

Hi there,

Before we dive in - a heartfelt thank you. Founder-VC Vibe quietly crossed 100 subscribers this week and while that number might seem modest, to me, every single reader who chooses to spend their time here matters deeply. I am grateful to every single subscriber.

This space started as an experiment, a place where I could explore founder journeys, decode VC dynamics and curate startup insights that often get lost in the noise. The fact that so many of you resonated with it means the world.

I hope to keep showing up more consistently with thoughtful stories, sharp insights, and practical tools that fuel your journey as a founder or investor.

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As June winds down, here are a few sharp signals from the ecosystem from major fundraises and new funds to roles that might just be your next big thing:

Funding Rounds

Xona Space Systems
Raised $92 M Series B, led by Craft Ventures + SpaceWERX, the innovation arm of the Space Force. following its Pulsar‑0 satellite launch. Xona is building next-gen satellite PNT services to secure GPS‑reliant industries including logistics, defense, finance, automotive and mining.

Raphe mPhibr
Indian drone startup has secured $100 M in funding led by General Catalyst - the largest private investment in India's drone sector. The Noida-based company is scaling high‑altitude and mission-critical aerial platforms with a 650,000-square-foot facility as a result of the fresh capital infusion.

Kalshi
Secured a $185 million Series C funding round that values the company at $2 billion post-money. The San Francisco-based startup (founded in 2018) lets users place bets on outcomes ranging from elections and economic indicators to weather and sports, basically a prediction market platform where users trade on real-world events. The funding comes just two days after Polymarket, the world’s biggest prediction market, is reportedly close to raising $200 million at a valuation of over $1 billion. The fundraise is a sign that the prediction market is heating up as investors pour money into platforms turning public opinion into tradable contracts.

Kalshi cofounders Tarek Mansour and Luana Lara. Source: Forbes

Centific
A Seattle-area startup that builds infrastructure for enterprise AI, secured $60 million in a Series A funding round to expand its global footprint. The round was led by Granite Asia (senior managing partner Jenny Lee).

Centific’s platform, the “AI Data Foundry,” helps organizations manage and scale data pipelines and model deployments to support large-scale AI. (Source: Techstartups)

💼 Fund Launches & Ecosystem Moves

Galaxy Announces Final Close of Oversubscribed Galaxy Ventures Fund I at Over $175M

• Galaxy Asset Management, an affiliate of Galaxy Digital Inc. (NASDAQ/TSX: GLXY) and one of the world’s largest digital asset and blockchain investment managers, today announced the final close of its oversubscribed Galaxy Ventures Fund I. Driven by strong investor demand for access to the growing digital asset venture ecosystem, the Fund closed with over $175 million in capital commitments, exceeding its target of $150 million.

Orbit Capital has launched €100M fund to support Central and Eastern Europe tech firms

• Orbit Capital, a venture firm based in Prague and Warsaw, has completed a €70 million first close of its Growth Debt II fund, aiming for a total of €100 million. The fund invests in scaleups, offering ticket sizes ranging from €3 to €10 million.

Prague-based Rockaway Ventures closes €55M fund to fuel innovation in strategic sectors

• Rockaway Ventures, a Prague-based investment fund under the Rockaway Capital group, has closed its second fund at nearly €55 million to back late-seed and Series A startups across CEE and Western Europe.

  

Lithuanian unicorn Vinted launches Vinted Ventures to support European re-commerce startups

• Vilnius-based second-hand marketplace app Vinted has launched Vinted Ventures. It aims to invest in Series A to C startups driving re-commerce and encouraging sustainable consumer behavior. Cheques will range from €500,000 to €10 million. (Source: VestBee)

Open roles in VC (Featuring some interesting ones…)

Forum Ventures is hiring an Investment Analyst in Toronto!

Forum Ventures is hiring an Investment Associate to join our team in Toronto to support the next generation of standout B2B technology startups.

Venture Builder - Climate, Energy Transition & Resilience

Diagram is looking for a new Venture Builder who will ideate, de-risk, and launch tech-enabled businesses backed by our $80M fund focused on climate innovation in energy transition, green mobility, industrial efficiency, and infrastructure resilience.

Partner 32, Assistant Controller

Founded in Silicon Valley in 2009 by Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz, Andreessen Horowitz (aka a16z) is a venture capital firm that backs bold entrepreneurs building the future through technology. They are looking for an Assistant Controller to join our Fund Finance team. The Assistant Controller will report directly to a Controller and will work closely with other Assistant Controllers and Fund Finance staff.

Applied Ventures Senior Director

Applied Ventures (AV) is the corporate venture capital arm of Applied Materials (NASDAQ: AMAT) and is one of the leading global Deeptech and Semiconductor focused venture capital firms. AV invests in both early and growth stage companies globally in the broader Materials to Systems™ stack.

Remote openings at the Equality Fund

What I’ve Been Reading

I read a lot of Substacks so you don’t have to 😉Here are a few reads that sparked a thought, added perspective, or simply made me go “hmm” this week:

• How a Founder Sold His 1-Person AI Startup for 9 Figures in 6 months by

  Henry Shi

• The Dark Side of the 9-9-6 Work Culture⏰, AI's Impact on SaaS Growth🤖, VCs Are Rethinking Deal Sourcing by

  Ruben Dominguez Ibar

• Business Lessons from the Gamification of User Engagement by

  Jens Stark

• What if Venture Capital could add decades of joyful span by

  EUVC

• Futureproof Yourself: Are You Becoming AI-Enhanced or AI-Replaceable? by

  Joel Salinas

That’s all for this week’s Founder-VC Vibe, thanks for spending your time here.
If something sparked your interest, hit reply and tell me. I love hearing from this thoughtful little corner of the internet.

Until next time, keep building, keep learning and don’t forget to rest too.

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Onwards,