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Sean Jacobsohn worked at HR software startups long before he began investing in them. He held senior roles at WageWorks and Cornerstone OnDemand as both companies grew from single-digit millions in revenue to tens of millions, and he also worked at Upwork. All three of which went public. He later became a venture partner at Emergence Capital before joining Norwest in 2014.

Paris-based generative AI startup Mistral AI said Tuesday that it has nearly doubled its valuation to more than $24 billion with a $3.5 billion Series D fundraise. Samsung Electronics led the round, with participation from co-leads Scaleup Europe Fund, managed by EQT, and existing investor PSG Equity. The financing comes nearly one year to the day after Mistral’s $2 billion Series C, which valued the company at $13.7 billion. Mistral has now raised $7.5 billion since its 2023 inception.

​​Want to keep track of the largest startup funding deals in 2026 with our curated list of $100 million-plus venture deals to U.S.-based companies? Check out The Crunchbase Megadeals Board. This is a weekly feature that runs down the week’s top 10 announced funding rounds in the U.S. Check out last week’s biggest funding deal roundup here. AI infrastructure dominated the largest venture rounds this week, with two multibillion-dollar deals in the sector taking the top spots.

Editor’s note: The following is the fifth profile in a series of articles about startup founders from non-technical backgrounds who have launched successful venture-backed companies. Read the previous interviews with MagicSchool AI founder Adeel Khan here, Trunk Tools founder Sarah Buchner here, Tabs founder Ali Hussain here, and Craft founder Ilya Levtov here.

Venture investors poured $42 billion into just over 1,500 startups worldwide in August, Crunchbase data shows, down 25% from July’s $56 billion but still up a significant 122% compared to last August, which is typically a slower month for startup investment. Seven companies raised billion-dollar fundings in August, tied with a few months for the year’s second-highest count after July, when 13 companies did the same.

Lyte, a physical AI startup building sensing and perception technology for robots, has raised $165 million in Series C funding at a $1.6 billion post-money valuation. The financing, led by Maverick Silicon, brings Lyte’s total raised to $272 million. Fidelity Management And Research Co., which led Lyte’s Series B, also participated in the Series C, along with Atreides Management, Key1 Capital, Ora Global (formerly Exor Ventures), and additional existing and new investors.

The 2026 IPO class already has a record-setting headliner in SpaceX. Now, with the public-market window narrowing and the post-Labor Day filing sprint upon us, attention is turning to which venture-backed companies might still make a move in coming months. Crunchbase’s predictive intelligence tools flags a handful of well-funded private companies with at least a 40% probability of going public within the next six months.

Félix, an AI-powered WhatsApp remittance platform for Latino immigrants, announced on Tuesday that it has secured $200 million in Series C funding co-led by Andreessen Horowitz and General Catalyst. A16z led an $87 million equity investment, with participation from QED Investors, Castle Island Ventures, Switch Ventures, Contour Venture Partners and Endeavor Catalyst. And General Catalyst’s Customer Value Fund committed $113 million in debt to fund Félix’s growth.

Venture funding to proptech startups is nowhere near its peak and still hasn’t returned to pre-pandemic levels, as higher interest rates make real estate a tougher place to invest, leading to fewer deals and raising the bar for startups seeking capital. But startup investors haven’t abandoned the sector, either, Crunchbase data shows.

While the AI boom has disrupted funding patterns across the startup sphere, biotech has remained a rare steady sector for investment. For the past few years, global funding to biotech startups has hovered between $36 billion and $40 billion. Per Crunchbase data, 2026 is on track to stay close to that range. The numbers don’t paint an especially bullish picture, even though overall venture investment rose to a record level in the first half of this year.