Morning VC Brief丨2025.07.15

Week29 Highlights丨Harmonic, Bilt, Agora, Portola, Moonvalley, Zip Security, Vellum, Ekho

Author

eric gu
July 15, 2025

Morning VC Brief is an expert daily curation of tech and venture news. Feel free to forward; the sign-up is here

Table of Contents

01. Venture News

1/ Mathematical Superintelligence Harmonic raised $100M Series B

  • Product: AI models aiding breakthroughs in math, physics, and computer science

  • Highlight: "Verified, scalable reasoning" for high-stakes scientific applications

  • Investor: Kleiner Perkins(Lead), Paradigm, Sequoia Capital

  • Source

2/ Loyalty Platform Bilt raised $250M Venture Round at $10.75B

  • Product: Comprehensive loyalty ecosystem connecting housing payments (rent/mortgage) with neighborhood commerce, rewarding residents via points

  • Highlight: Processes $100B+ annually in housing spend across 1-in-4 U.S. apartments; Drives $10B+ yearly to 40,000+ local merchants; partners with 70% of top 100 U.S. property managers

  • Investor: General Catalyst(Lead), GID

  • Source

3/ Stablecoin Platform Agora raised $50M Series A

  • Product: Builds AUSD and a white-label solution enabling enterprises to issue branded stablecoins seamlessly within days, abstracting infrastructure complexities for developers and institutions

  • Highlight: Tens of billions in cumulative volume, 50,000+ monthly active addresses, and native deployments across 13 blockchain networks

  • Investor: Paradigm(Lead), Dragonfly

  • Source

4/ AI Companions Startup Portola raised $20M Series A

  • Product: Develops Tolan, animated AI companions matched to users via personality interviews for personalized conversation and companionship on diverse topics, learning from interactions

  • Highlight: Over 3 million downloads, 100,000+ paid users, and $1M+ monthly revenue

  • Investor: Khosla Ventures(Lead), Nat Friedman, Instagram co-founder Mike Krieger

  • Source

5/ Video Gen Startup Moonvalley raised $84M Funding Round

  • Product: Builds ethical foundational AI video models exclusively trained on licensed content

  • Highlight: Only uses licensed training data; Strategic filmmaking arm Asteria develops Hollywood-tailored tools

  • Investor: General Catalyst(Lead), CAA, Comcast Ventures, Khosla Ventures

  • Source

6/ AI-Powered Security Platform Zip Security raised $13.5M Series A

  • Product: An all-in-one platform automating security, compliance, and IT operations for businesses, especially those without dedicated cybersecurity teams

  • Highlight: Leverages AI and automation to disrupt traditional security services, making enterprise-grade protection accessible and affordable for mid-market and SMBs

  • Investor: Ballistic Ventures(Lead), General Catalyst, Human Capital

  • Source

7/ AI Development Platform Vellum raised $20M Series A

  • Product: Enterprise platform for building, evaluating, and deploying mission-critical AI systems

  • Highlight: Serves 150+ companies including Swisscom, Redfin, and Drata; Accelerates AI deployment from quarters to weeks via test-driven workflows

  • Investor: Leaders Fund, Rebel Fund, Pioneer Fund

  • Source

8/ Vehicle Commerce Platform Ekho raised $17.3M Series A

  • Product: The platform automates complex vehicle transactions (titling, taxes, financing) while complying with state laws and preserving dealer relationships

  • Highlight: Enabled tens of millions in partner revenue within 12 months; Powers online purchases completed in minutes

  • Investor: Activant Capital, JPMorgan Payments, Winnebago Industries

  • Source