Recapping this week in startups

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September 11, 2026

 

TechCrunch Top 3

Nuclear startup Bluecore Energy raises $50M seed round, just two months after launch

Nuclear startup Bluecore Energy raises $50M seed round, just two months after launch: Bluecore Energy announced Tuesday an oversubscribed $50 million seed round — just months after raising a $10 million pre-seed and coming out of stealth.  Read More

Cognition hits $48B valuation, signaling investors believe AI coding is far from a winner-take-all market: Cognition's valuation multiple is higher than Cursor's was before selling to SpaceX. Read More

Travis Kalanick’s Atoms might be getting into the robotaxi business: The Uber founder has said that Atoms will allow him to complete "unfinished business." Read More

A message from Invest Hong Kong

Asia’s #1 Fintech Center Welcomes U.S. Fintechs to HONG KONG

Hong Kong – Asia’s Fintech capital, Innovation Hub to the Greater Bay Area and gateway to the Chinese Mainland – invites U.S. Fintechs to join a U.S. delegation for Hong Kong FinTech Week 2026, November 2–6. Access a curated program, meet key players in Hong Kong’s fintech ecosystem and discover how YOU can grow YOUR Fintech in Asia’s World City!

More Information Here

Must-Reads

Bending Spoons to buy collaboration tools maker Miro for $1.36B, 90% less than its 2022 valuation

Bending Spoons to buy collaboration tools maker Miro for $1.36B, 90% less than its 2022 valuation: Bending Spoons is buying Miro for $1.36 billion, a huge dip in valuation for the workplace collaboration startup, which was valued at $17.5 billion in late 2021. Read More

Harvey hits $15.5B valuation, months after reaching $11B: The legal AI startup and VC darling has nearly doubled its valuation in nine months. Read More

Maven Robotics wants to steal your robot deployment deal: Maven Robotics emerged from stealth today with a $100 million Series A and active deployments. Read More

Google signs its biggest rice-methane carbon credit deal with Indian startup Mitti Labs: The four-year agreement will cover rice farms across three Indian states, reaching about 100,000 hectares at peak delivery. Read More

Defense tech Mach Industries doubles valuation to $3.7B in 3 months: The buzzy startup raised another $600 million in a Series C extension round, bringing the total of the round to $900 million. Read More

 

Last but Not Least

Furo's founders left Silicon Valley — and it's paying off

Furo's founders left Silicon Valley — and it's paying off: The three 28-year-old founders behind energy startup Furo moved from Silicon Valley and back to Germany, and yet secured $4 million in funding from mostly U.S. backers.  Read More

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