All posts tagged: Fundraise

Payments startup Flutterwave hits .2B valuation, backed by Ripple

Payments startup Flutterwave hits $3.2B valuation, backed by Ripple

Published by skeptic

African payments infrastructure company Flutterwave announced Tuesday a Series E round that values the company at $3.2 billion. This round, notably, includes an equity investment from payments blockchain company Ripple. The company did not reveal the size of this round, although Flutterwave says it has now raised more than $500 million in funding to date. Ripple’s stake is part of a plan to help both companies expand financial services on the African continent. Cross-border payments, the industry in which Flutterwave primarily operates, remain challenging in Africa due to fragmented banking systems, strict foreign exchange policies, currency volatility, and the routing of transactions through European cities like London, which causes delays.  Progress is being made, however, with companies like Flutterwave offering solutions in API unification, which refers to helping Africa operate as one market. Earlier this year, the fintech also bought the African banking startup Mono to adopt its API technology. And in October 2025, it introduced stablecoin solutions for businesses in partnership with Polygon Labs, which will let transactions bypass traditional banking systems for, the …

Daniel Ek-backed defense tech Helsing to raise .2B at B valuation

Daniel Ek-backed defense tech Helsing to raise $1.2B at $18B valuation

Published by skeptic

Five-year-old European military drone startup Helsing is reportedly close to raising a new $1.2 billion round at about an $18 billion valuation. The round is expected to be led by Dragoneer and co-led by existing Helsing investor Lightspeed, the Financial Times reported. Helsing last raised just under a year ago, in June 2025, in a deal that was led by billionaire Spotify founder Daniel Ek. That was a €600 million investment at an estimated €12 billion valuation ($14 billion USD). So this new round is a step-up. While Helsing isn’t the only European unicorn defense tech, it is by far the one that investors deem the most valuable. For instance, German drone maker Quantum Systems raised €180 million in November, which valued it at more than €3 billion. And a year ago, Lisbon-headquartered Tekever raised £400 million at a valuation above £1 billion. Amid Russia’s ongoing war in Ukraine, the proving ground for new technologies, autonomous defense startups have become a hot area for VCs. Helsing, Dragoneer, and Lightspeed could not be immediately reached for comment. …

Sources: Anthropic could raise a new B round at a valuation of 0B

Sources: Anthropic could raise a new $50B round at a valuation of $900B

Published by skeptic

Investor interest in Anthropic has reached a feverish pitch. The maker of the Claude AI assistant has received multiple preemptive offers to raise fresh capital of around $50 billion at a valuation in the $850 billion to $900 billion range, according to half a dozen sources familiar with the matter. Bloomberg and Business Insider reported earlier this month that Anthropic received multiple preemptive bids at an $800 billion valuation, but at that time, the company had not yet committed to a fundraise. Sources say, however, that Anthropic is finding it difficult to resist the pressure to secure more funding in what could be its final round of private fundraising before a potential IPO. The company is expected to make a definitive decision on the round and its valuation at a board meeting in May, one person told TechCrunch. The round is expected to total $40 billion to $50 billion, according to people familiar with the company. But investor demand appears to be much higher given the company’s rapid growth, which shows no sign of slowing. …