Atoms funding round tops U.S. startup financings at $1.7B

The Atoms funding round was the largest U.S. startup financing announced for the July 18-24 period, with Travis Kalanick’s physical AI company raising $1.7 billion in a deal led by Andreessen Horowitz, according to Crunchbase. The round stood well above other large financings in AI infrastructure, battery technology, fintech, defense tech, biotech, healthcare software and cybersecurity.

Crunchbase tracked the week’s biggest announced rounds for U.S.-based companies. The data may lag if some deals are reported late in the week, and several companies did not disclose all terms, including valuation in the largest deal.

What is Atoms building?

Atoms is described as a Los Angeles-based physical AI startup founded by Uber founder Travis Kalanick. Kalanick said the company’s vision is tied to “the coming industrial revolution where large industrial economic sectors get completely digitized.”

That framing puts Atoms in the part of AI investing aimed at applying models and automation to physical industries rather than software-only workflows. The company did not disclose a valuation in the Crunchbase report, leaving the market signal centered on the size of the check and the Andreessen Horowitz lead.

Other large AI and infrastructure rounds

Meshy AI raised $400 million in Series B funding at a $1.5 billion valuation, according to Crunchbase data. The Silicon Valley company is developing foundation models for AI-powered 3D generation. Monolith Capital, IDG Capital and Matrix Partners China were listed as lead backers.

Sila, based in Alameda, California, raised $300 million in a round led by Atreides Management and Sutter Hill Ventures. The battery technology company plans to use the capital to expand its silicon anode plant in Moses Lake, Washington.

Etched also raised $300 million, closing a Series C led by Sequoia Capital. Crunchbase described the San Jose company as a co-designer of chips, racks, software and manufacturing methods for frontier models. The round valued Etched at $10 billion before the new money.

Fintech, defense and healthcare also drew large checks

Augustus, a San Francisco fintech startup focused on giving financial institutions direct access to dollar accounts, raised $180 million in Series B funding. Tiger Global led the round, which valued the company at $1 billion.

Cathedral, a Washington, D.C.-based defense tech startup focused on expanding U.S. military cyber capabilities, reportedly raised $160 million with backing from Sequoia Capital and Andreessen Horowitz, according to Reuters as cited by Crunchbase. Reuters reported the company was founded by a team of former DOGE employees.

Crystalys Therapeutics closed an oversubscribed $130 million Series B round. The San Diego biotech is developing therapies for people living with gout, and Frazier Life Sciences led the financing.

Candid Health raised $120 million in Series D funding led by Sixth Street Growth. The San Francisco company develops revenue cycle management software for the healthcare industry.

Cybersecurity rounds filled out the list

Glow, a Palo Alto, California-based endpoint security startup, launched from stealth and said it has raised $180 million to date. Crunchbase reported that $100 million came from the newest financing, with lead backers including Sequoia Capital, Cyberstarts, Greenoaks and Redpoint.

Neo Security, based in Boston, is building an agentic software control platform for enterprises. Crunchbase’s roundup listed Neo Security at $75 million, while the deal description said the company picked up $100 million in a new round led by Bessemer Venture Partners and Andreessen Horowitz.

The week’s financing mix shows that large U.S. venture rounds remain concentrated around AI-adjacent companies, but capital also went to hard tech, biotech, healthcare operations and security. The disclosed valuations were uneven: Meshy AI, Etched and Augustus reported valuation figures, while several other rounds were announced without that detail.

This story draws on original reporting from Crunchbase News.