Startups Weekly: Fast and furious

Summary

Welcome to Startups Weekly — your weekly recap of everything you can’t miss from the world of startups. Want it in your inbox every Friday? Sign up here. Some startups accrued value at lightning speed this week, and we got confirmation that defense tech is red hot. Most interesting startup stories from the week Image Credits:Kelly Sullivan / Getty Images Many startup stories this week occurred in Y Combinator’s orbit in some way. Also, Israel once again lived up to its “Start-Up Nation” reputation. That was fast: No-code website-building platform Wix acquired 6-month-old, bootstrapped vibe-coding startup Base44 — both Israeli companies — for $80 million in cash. That was fast, too: In just three months, Ramp’s valuation jumped to $16 billion following its Series E, up from $13 billion when the spend management startup did a secondary sale earlier this year. Friends and foes: New details emerged on Meta’s $14.3 billion deal to acquire 49% of startup Scale AI, including a potential dividend payout. We also learned that OpenAI was dropping Scale AI as a data provider following the deal. Frenemies: The U.S. Department of Defense awarded a contract worth up to $200 million directly to OpenAI, which could further strain the startup’s relationship with Microsoft. ICYMI: Out of all the teams presenting at YC’s recent Spring 2025 Demo Day, here are 11 startups that investors have been talking about. Didn’t happen: People are also still talking about the police shutting down the YC Demo Day after-party that controversial AI startup Cluely tried to throw; or as its CEO told TechCrunch, “the most legendary party that never happened.” Most interesting VC and funding news this week HelsingImage Credits:Helsing Most funding news was driven by either defense tech, AI, or both, but there were also some surprises. Plus, one VC firm is aiming high for its next fund. Good intuition: Applied Intuition, a company making software for autonomous vehicles, secured a $600 million Series F an...