Baselayer, an AI-driven startup specialized in helping financial institutions verify business identities and mitigate fraud, has raised $35 million in Series A funding led by M13. The San Francisco-based company has developed technology that integrates business identity, credit, and fraud data to assist banks and fintech firms in evaluating prospective customers. Over 2,000 financial institutions use Baselayer's platform, which has helped prevent more than $1 billion in fraud losses since its founding in early 2023.

With its new funding, Baselayer is expanding to address the challenge of verifying AI agents acting on behalf of individuals or businesses. Their newly launched Agentic Identity Suite aims to establish authorized credentials for AI agents to prove legitimacy, helping merchants and financial institutions make informed decisions on transactions involving such agents. Baselayer is collaborating with industry players like FIS, Prove, and Socure in this effort.

The rise of AI agents creates both opportunities and risks, as fraudsters can now exploit automation to scale fraudulent activities more rapidly. Baselayer's platform seeks to provide a framework to identify and trust AI agents, a necessary evolution in a world where AI increasingly performs economic and transactional roles.

In 2026, U.S. venture-backed tech companies have raised nearly $90 billion through public offerings, ranking as one of the highest on record. However, the vast majority of this capital was secured by just two heavyweights: SpaceX, capturing 83% of the funds, and Cerebras Systems, with 6%. The rest of the tech IPO landscape remains modest, with only 21 other sizable offerings including a mix of traditional IPOs and SPACs totaling less than $10 billion. Notably absent this year are enterprise software IPOs—a sector traditionally represented among tech offerings—which may be shifting focus towards AI-driven innovations instead. Meanwhile, sectors like energy, defense, aerospace, medical devices, and consumer products have seen relatively strong activity. This year saw energy startups, especially in geothermal and nuclear technologies, leading the IPO count, quantum computing and defense tech making solid entries, and consumer mobility platforms like Lime debuting despite valuation challenges. The uneven distribution highlights a winner-takes-almost-all dynamic in tech IPOs, with big players dominating returns and smaller companies holding back. Pipeline IPOs similarly are dominated by giants like Anthropic and OpenAI, leaving enterprise software offerings largely absent from the immediate horizon.

By SC Moatti

Leading with “we use AI” no longer sets a product apart; AI is now basic infrastructure. According to data from 576 venture-backed AI B2B companies raising over $50 million since 2025, true competitive moats today are those that AI models alone cannot replicate. Using Hamilton Helmer’s 7 Powers framework and insights from Products That Count, two moats stand out:

1. Counter-positioning: Building a business model so distinct that incumbents won’t copy it because doing so would undermine their own business economics. Examples include AI insurers who bypass traditional brokers and AI-native revenue management that competes against consulting revenue. Only 5% of companies employ this, commanding the highest valuation multiples. Key question: Would it cost an incumbent more to copy you than it would cost you to build?

2. Network economies: Value grows as more users or companies join, creating a powerful self-reinforcing cycle. Seen in platforms connecting brands, factories, advertisers, and audiences, where data accumulates and becomes harder to replicate. Also used by 5% of companies, offering strong capital efficiency.

Other assumed moats like proprietary data and switching costs are often weaker than they appear due to model erosion and high capital needs. Scale economies aren’t achievable for most startups outside major players like OpenAI.

Ultimately, the moat is structural—embedded in business model or network design—not just AI tech. Founders must define what aspect of their business would survive a better-funded competitor launching tomorrow. Those who can't answer are merely building products, not enduring powers.

SC Moatti is Founding Managing Partner at Mighty Capital and Chair at Products That Count. She is recognized for pioneering investments and product leadership, with deep experience building award-winning products at Meta and Siebel Systems.

In August, 29 companies joined The Crunchbase Unicorn Board, collectively adding approximately $63 billion in valuation. Remarkably, over a third are startups under three years old, highlighting rapid growth in the tech space. Leading the newcomers are China's XPeng Robotics, valued at $6.3 billion, California's Lumilens at $5.5 billion, and AI platform River AI alongside semiconductor startup Source Foundry, each valued at $5 billion. AI software dominates the new entries across various applications including model training, assistants, and enterprise automation, while semiconductors rank second with five new unicorns. The U.S. contributed the most new unicorns (16), followed by China with four. This surge illustrates a dynamic landscape where sectors like robotics, financial services, data centers, security, and energy are also gaining momentum. Notably, nine companies exited the Unicorn Board through public offerings or acquisitions, reflecting a healthy ecosystem of growth and maturation.

Cecilia Ziniti, a former general counsel at Replit, transformed her insight into legal challenges faced by corporate lawyers into the AI startup GC AI. Despite not being a coder, Ziniti leveraged early access to GPT technology to develop AI tools tailored specifically for in-house legal teams. Her legal expertise helped identify key product features such as accurate citations and trustworthy content, addressing the precision and sourcing gaps in general AI chatbots for legal use. GC AI has grown rapidly, serving over 2,100 companies with products that assist in contract analysis and legal request management. With nearly one-third of its 125 employees being lawyers, GC AI emphasizes trust and data security to build confidence among corporate legal departments. Funded by venture capital including a $60 million Series B round, GC AI exemplifies how domain experts can partner with engineers to create AI solutions that truly meet specialized professional needs.

In August, venture capitalists invested $42 billion across more than 1,500 startups worldwide, marking a 122% increase compared to last August despite a 25% drop from July’s $56 billion. Seven startups secured billion-dollar funding rounds, matching the year's second-highest monthly total after July's 13 such deals. The standout was Databricks, which raised $5 billion at a $190 billion valuation. Other billion-dollar rounds spanned diverse sectors including defense tech, AI, satellite networks, nuclear energy, automated coding, and home battery services. Significant exits included Unitree Robotics’ IPO, soaring 460% on its debut in Shanghai, and Nvidia’s planned $12.9 billion acquisition of AI platform Hugging Face. Funding momentum remains strong, with many companies quickly closing large rounds within months, underscoring investor confidence in emerging tech leaders.

The 2026 IPO season has seen remarkable activity, led by SpaceX's record-breaking Nasdaq debut raising $86 billion. While the public-market window is closing, a select group of venture-backed startups remain poised for IPOs in the coming months. Crunchbase's predictive intelligence highlights eight diverse companies—including leaders in AI, fintech, crypto, and climate tech—with a strong likelihood of going public within six months. Anthropic, the world's most valuable private venture startup, might take a slightly longer timeline, but remains a key player to watch. Other notable candidates include Oura, Notion, Kraken, SambaNova, Stegra, Stripe, and OpenEvidence, each positioned to make significant market impacts with upcoming listings or plans. This evolving IPO landscape reflects increased investor appetite and strategic moves by private companies to capitalize on public markets in 2026.

The 2026 cohort of newly minted unicorns has seen significant backing from some of venture capital's most recognizable names, including Sequoia Capital, Khosla Ventures, and Y Combinator. According to the Crunchbase Unicorn Board, which tracks active investors over time, 250 companies have joined the unicorn ranks so far this year—up from 193 last year—with key sectors being robotics, AI, healthcare, biotech, and financial services. The majority of these companies are U.S.-based, with a strong representation from China as well.

Crunchbase data reveals that 75% of the funding these unicorns raised, totaling $74 billion out of $98 billion, was secured in 2026 alone. Though many deals happened in prior years, investment activity significantly picked up with 329 deals in 2026. The top 10 most active investors by deal count include venture firms like Sequoia Capital, Khosla Ventures, and Lightspeed Venture Partners, with Y Combinator notable as the sole accelerator.

At the seed stage, Y Combinator and Sequoia Capital led investment counts, while Andreessen Horowitz and Khosla Ventures were most active in Series A deals. These investors’ early-stage involvement and capacity to support scaling have positioned them as dominant players in this booming market. The upcoming challenge will be ensuring that this rapid influx of funding translates into long-term, impactful business successes for these new unicorns.

I recently had a discussion with a cybersecurity company's founder who mentioned that the board only thinks about a potential M&A process when they’re "in the mood," signaling that selling is often treated as a backup plan when growth slows or liquidity pressures arise. However, the best moment to consider selling usually comes when things are going exceptionally well—when revenue is growing, customer retention is strong, and market momentum is high. This is when strategic buyers tend to offer the best valuations since they prefer acquiring winning businesses.

Another sign to start thinking about sale options is when the founder begins to lose energy or shifts focus, though this doesn’t necessarily mean a sale—sometimes a leadership transition or a partial liquidity event suits better. Also, when multiple buyers show interest, it’s valuable intel that the company may be strategically well-positioned, even if formal selling isn’t immediately planned.

Typically, boards only seriously consider selling when the company faces challenges like slowing growth or cash constraints, but at this point, valuations often reflect struggles, and shareholders may receive less favorable offers. Instead, these moments might be better for a strategic reboot like pivoting or leadership changes to regain momentum.

Boards should actively avoid inertia by continuously evaluating whether selling, scaling, pivoting, or remaining independent will best create shareholder value. Ideally, these conversations happen proactively—not out of urgency or crisis.

Itay Sagie advises tech companies and boards on strategy and M&A, emphasizing the importance of timing and strategy in maximizing company value.

Venture capital funding for physical AI companies has soared in 2026, marking a major new chapter in the AI investment story. According to Crunchbase data and reports from The Wall Street Journal, funding hit $47.4 billion in the first half of 2026 across 521 deals, nearly quadrupling the $12 billion raised in the latter half of 2025. This boom encompasses industries like robotics, autonomous vehicles, aerospace, drones, industrial automation, and sensors. Standout deals include Waymo's $16 billion Series D at a $126 billion valuation, defense tech Anduril's $5 billion funding round, and Shield AI's $2 billion Series G. The sector has seen high-profile public offerings such as SpaceX’s $75 billion IPO and several strategic acquisitions, reflecting strong exit activity. Investors see physical AI as a convergence of hardware, software, sensors, and IoT delivering new operational insights and efficiencies across manufacturing, supply chain, agriculture, and more. Falling costs and improved infrastructure are lowering barriers to entry, while business models shift towards recurring revenue and outcome-based pricing. Experts emphasize the importance of companies that combine technical sophistication with operational reliability and scalable commercial models to capture enduring value in this rapidly growing space.