From Xenomorph Reactors to Robot Harvesters

Good morning wonderful people! The day has finally arrived, welcome to the very first issue of Going on a Venture!

Our mission is simple: to bring you the most intriguing and impactful stories from the startup and VC world, all in one place.

Think of us as your daily guide to the innovation shaping tomorrow. No need to overstay this intro, we know you’re here for the good stuff. So, let’s dive straight into today’s most exciting updates!

NEWS

Tokamak Energy: Fusion Energy’s Hot New Player

AI needs power and lots of it. Especially if people keep using ChatGPT for everything they do.

As AI adoption skyrockets, so does our demand for energy.

Enter Tokamak Energy, a UK-based startup developing fusion reactors that look like something straight out of a sci-fi movie (think xenomorph egg incubators, but cooler).

The company just raised $125M to refine its magnetic confinement fusion tech, which uses magnets to squish hot plasma into a reactor.

The goal? Delivering scalable, clean energy through a pilot plant by 2034. Fusion energy might just power the AI-driven future we’re building.

New Lantern: AI for Radiologists, Not Against Them

Radiologists are superheroes, but even heroes don’t love drawing measurements and writing reports all day.

New Lantern automates these tedious tasks with AI, freeing up radiologists to focus on what they do best: diagnosing and problem-solving.

Rather than replacing radiologists, New Lantern enhances their work, speeding up report turnaround and improving patient outcomes.

After raising $19M Series A, led by Benchmark, they’re bringing efficiency to hospital basements everywhere.

Four Growers: Robots That Harvest the Future

Forget hand-picked; it’s all about robot-picked.

YC-backed Four Growers has built autonomous robots that harvest produce at peak ripeness using cameras and precise robotic arms.

Focused on greenhouses, these bots save farmers time and money while reducing spoilage and delivering fresher produce faster.

Their $9M Series A round, led by Basset Capital, is sowing seeds for a more efficient farming future.

Converge Bio: Generative AI Meets Biotech Generative

AI isn’t just for chatbots, it’s revolutionizing biotech.

Converge Bio raised $5.5M seed funding to help pharma and biotech companies make sense of complex biological data.

Think of it as the ChatGPT of drug discovery, but trained on DNA sequences instead of memes.

With partnerships with big names like Teva and Compugen, Converge Bio accelerates drug development, cuts costs, and enables breakthroughs in mRNA vaccine design, antibody engineering, and more.

Tekever: Surveillance as a Service (with Drones)

Love it or hate it, defense tech is here to stay.

Portugal-based Tekever just raised $74M, led by Baillie Gifford & Co. and the NATO Innovation Fund, to expand its unmanned surveillance drone platform.

Already deployed in Ukraine and beyond, these drones are marketed as tools for saving lives and enhancing maritime security.

Apparently all Ukraine is at this point is an opportunity to field test all the fancy new defence tech being spun out…

While the tech might not resolve conflicts, it’s definitely confronting them.

SUMMARY

• Tokamak Energy: Raised $125M to develop fusion reactors for clean energy by 2034.

• New Lantern: Secured $19M to automate radiology tasks with AI, boosting efficiency.

• Four Growers: Raised $9M for robots that autonomously harvest greenhouse produce.

• Converge Bio: Closed $5.5M to enhance generative AI for faster drug discovery.

• Tekever: Secured $74M for unmanned surveillance drones deployed in conflict zones.

That’s a wrap for today’s edition of Going on a Venture! Keeping it short and impactful, as promised. I’ll be back tomorrow with more of the latest and greatest from the startup world.

H