Investors are pouring larger checks into artificial‑intelligence seed‑stage companies, driving post‑money valuations far above historical norms. Founders with early revenue and enterprise pilots are commanding $40 million‑plus valuations for $5 million rounds, while venture firms are moving into pre‑seed deals to secure access to fast‑scaling startups. The heightened competition for AI talent and the rapid path from product to paying customers have reshaped seed‑stage expectations, creating both opportunities and heightened pressure for founders to deliver growth quickly. Read more →

Sycamore, founded by former Coatue investor Sri Viswanath, announced a $65 million seed round led by Coatue and Lightspeed. The funding, which also includes a roster of high‑profile angels, backs the company’s ambition to create a comprehensive AI‑agent orchestration layer for enterprises. Viswanath brings more than two decades of experience building large‑scale enterprise platforms at Sun Microsystems, VMware, Groupon, and Atlassian. While Sycamore has already attracted unnamed enterprise customers, it enters a crowded market where startups, major AI labs, and cloud providers are all racing to own the enterprise agent space. Read more →