AI Cloud Computing, Search and DeFi Deals
Key Points
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Fluidstack, a UK AI cloud computing company, is in talks for a Series A up to $200 million, linked to a €10 billion French supercomputer project.
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Genspark, a Bay Area AI search engine, raised $100 million Series A at a $530 million valuation, aiming to compete with Google.
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Arize AI, based in Berkeley, secured $70 million Series C for its AI monitoring platform, led by Adams Street Partners.
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Pulpex, a UK sustainable packaging firm, raised £62 million Series D, led by the National Wealth Fund and Scottish National Investment Bank, to build a Glasgow facility.
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Unit Network, a London DeFi startup, raised $18 million, led by Blockchain Founders Fund and Outlier Ventures, to expand asset tokenization.
Fluidstack: AI Cloud Computing Ambitions
Fluidstack, a UK-based company specializing in AI cloud computing, is currently in discussions to raise up to $200 million in a Series A funding round. This move is tied to their ambitious plan to build a €10 billion supercomputer in France, expected to open in 2026 with a gigawatt capacity, powered mainly by nuclear energy. This project aligns with French President Emmanuel Macron’s AI infrastructure initiative, potentially boosting Europe’s AI capabilities.
Genspark: Challenging the Search Giant
Genspark, located in the Bay Area, has raised $100 million in a Series A funding round at a $530 million valuation. This funding, led by a group of U.S. and Singapore-based investors, will support their AI search engine, which already boasts over 2 million monthly active users. Their goal is to disrupt Google’s dominance in search, offering AI-generated results for a more streamlined user experience.
Arize AI: Enhancing AI Observability
Arize AI, based in Berkeley, CA, has secured $70 million in a Series C funding round, led by Adams Street Partners, with participation from investors like M12 and Datadog. This funding will help expand their AI observability and LLM evaluation platform, crucial for monitoring and improving AI performance, especially as AI adoption grows across industries.
Pulpex: Pioneering Sustainable Packaging
Pulpex, a UK-based sustainable packaging company, has raised £62 million in a Series D round, led by the National Wealth Fund (£43.5 million) and the Scottish National Investment Bank (£10 million), with additional contributions from existing investors. The funds will finance a new manufacturing facility near Glasgow, creating 35 jobs and advancing their mission to replace plastic with recyclable fiber-based packaging.
Unit Network: Expanding DeFi Horizons
Unit Network, a London-based DeFi startup, has raised $18 million in a funding round led by Blockchain Founders Fund and Outlier Ventures, with diverse investors including entrepreneurs and even poker players. This investment will scale their blockchain infrastructure and expand tokenization efforts in sectors like real estate and gaming, aiming to democratize financial access through asset tokenization.
Survey Note: Detailed Analysis of VC Deals
The venture capital landscape is buzzing with significant deals that promise to shape the future of AI, sustainability, and decentralized finance. This report for “Exploring Horizons by Niriis Consultants,” delves into five notable VC investments, providing a comprehensive overview of each deal, including company details, funding specifics, sources, potential trajectories, relevant tags, and broader implications.
The analysis is grounded in recent reports and official announcements, ensuring accuracy and relevance for our readers.
Fluidstack: Scaling AI Infrastructure with a French Twist
Company Overview:
Fluidstack, based in the UK, specializes in GPU cloud services for AI, machine learning (ML), and large language models (LLMs). They cater to major clients like Meta and Midjourney, offering access to over 50,000 GPUs globally, including NVIDIA A100s and H100s, from hundreds of data centers.
Funding Details:
The company is in talks to raise up to $200 million in a Series A funding round, as reported by Bloomberg on February 20, 2025. This funding is linked to their announcement of a €10 billion ($10.4 billion) supercomputer project in France, expected to open in 2026 with a gigawatt capacity, powered predominantly by nuclear energy.
Investors include Episode 1 Ventures, Seedcamp, and others, with recent mentions of 7GC’s investment aligning with generative AI themes.
Possible Ways Forward:
With the funding, Fluidstack aims to realize its supercomputer project, positioning itself as a key player in AI infrastructure. This could involve scaling operations, enhancing GPU capacity, and integrating with Macron’s €109 billion data center pledge, potentially ordering NVIDIA’s new Blackwell chips to support AI workloads.
Tags:
AI, Cloud computing, Data centers, France, UK
Implications:
This deal could significantly enhance Europe’s AI capabilities, fostering innovation and collaboration between the UK and France. It aligns with global trends toward AI infrastructure development, potentially attracting further investment and partnerships in the region.
Genspark: AI Search Engine Aiming to Disrupt Google
Company Overview:
Genspark, based in Palo Alto, CA, is an AI search engine startup founded by former Baidu executives, including CEO Eric Jing. It differentiates itself by using multiple AI models to generate customized pages per query, offering natural language answers instead of link lists, and boasts over 2 million monthly active users.
Funding Details:
On February 21, 2025, Reuter s reported that Genspark raised $100 million in a Series A round, valuing the company at $530 million. The round was led by a group of U.S. and Singapore-based investors, following a $60 million seed round in June 2024 led by Lanchi Ventures, valuing it at $260 million.
Possible Ways Forward:
The funding will likely fuel further development of their AI search engine, potentially expanding user base, enhancing features like Sparkpages for follow-up questions, and exploring paid subscription models. Their focus on e-commerce and finance-specific search tools could see significant growth.
Tags:
AI, Search engine, Bay Area, Start-up
Implications:
This investment intensifies competition in the search engine market, challenging Google’s dominance. It highlights the shift toward AI-driven search, potentially leading to innovations in user experience and market dynamics, with implications for tech giants and new entrants alike.
Arize AI: Strengthening AI Observability
Company Overview:
Arize AI, headquartered in Berkeley, CA, offers an AI observability and LLM evaluation platform. Founded in 2020 by Jason Lopatecki and Aparna Dhinakaran, it monitors and troubleshoots AI performance, supporting both traditional ML and generative use cases, with integrations like Microsoft Azure AI Studio.
Funding Details:
On February 20, 2025, Arize announced a $70 million Series C round on their blog, led by Adams Street Partners, with participation from M12 (Microsoft’s venture fund), Sinewave Ventures, OMERS Ventures, Datadog, PagerDuty, Industry Ventures, Archerman Capital, and existing investors like Battery Ventures and TCV. This follows a $38 million Series B in 2022, marking it as the largest-ever investment in AI observability.
Possible Ways Forward:
The funds will expand operations and development efforts, potentially enhancing platform capabilities, integrating with more ecosystems, and scaling customer reach. Their partnership with Microsoft could deepen, offering more seamless observability solutions for AI engineers.
Tags:
AI, Observability, LLM evaluation, Berkeley, CA
Implications:
This funding underscores the critical need for AI observability tools as AI adoption accelerates, ensuring reliability at scale. It could drive industry standards for AI monitoring, benefiting sectors like healthcare and finance, and fostering innovation in AI management.
Pulpex: Advancing Sustainable Packaging with UK Support
Company Overview:
Pulpex, based in Cambridgeshire, UK, is a sustainable packaging technology company offering fiber-based bottles made from sustainably sourced wood pulp, recyclable like paper or cardboard. Established in 2020 through a collaboration between Pilot Lite Group and Diageo PLC, it aims to replace single-use plastics.
Funding Details:
On February 19, 2025, Pulpex announced a £62 million Series D round, led by the National Wealth Fund (£43.5 million) and the Scottish National Investment Bank (£10 million), with the balance from existing investors, as per National Wealth Fund’s press release. This follows a £20 million Series C in 2023, led by CMPC.
Possible Ways Forward:
The funding will finance the construction of Pulpex’s first commercial-scale manufacturing facility near Glasgow, creating 35 initial jobs. This facility will scale production, potentially expanding to global markets and accelerating decarbonization in packaging.
Tags:
Sustainable packaging, UK, Scotland, Manufacturing
Implications:
This investment supports UK sustainability goals, reducing plastic waste and boosting the green economy. It creates jobs in Scotland, aligning with national strategies for industrial transformation and environmental impact, potentially setting a model for global packaging innovation.
Unit Network: Democratizing Finance through Tokenization
Company Overview:
Unit Network, based in London, UK, is a decentralized financial (DeFi) platform specializing in asset tokenization, enabling trade of real-world and digital assets. It operates on a proprietary blockchain, aiming to remove traditional financial barriers, with 50,000 active members.
Funding Details:
On February 21, 2025, FinSMEs reported that Unit Network raised $18 million, led by Blockchain Founders Fund and Outlier Ventures, with additional investors including Cristina Venture (White Star Capital), Diego Gutiérrez Zaldívar (Rootstock), and notable figures like poker players Alec Torelli and Huck Seed, and musician Oliver Tree.
Possible Ways Forward:
The funds will scale blockchain infrastructure, integrate with additional ecosystems, and expand tokenization in real estate, gaming, and digital commerce. This could involve developing new features, enhancing interoperability, and attracting more users and businesses.
Tags:
DeFi, Blockchain, Tokenization, London
Implications:
This funding supports the growth of DeFi and asset tokenization, potentially transforming asset management and trade. It reflects continued investor interest in blockchain applications, with implications for financial inclusion and innovation in sectors like real estate and gaming.
Comparative Analysis Table
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Company
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Location
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Business Focus
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Funding Amount
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Lead Investors
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Key Forward Move
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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Fluidstack
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UK
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AI cloud computing
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Up to $200M Series A
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In talks, not specified
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Build €10B supercomputer in France
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Genspark
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Bay Area, CA
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AI search engine
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$100M Series A
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U.S. and Singapore-based investors
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Compete with Google, expand user base
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Arize AI
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Berkeley, CA
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AI observability, LLM evaluation
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$70M Series C
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Adams Street Partners
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Expand platform, deepen Microsoft integration
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Pulpex
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UK
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Sustainable packaging
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£62M Series D
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National Wealth Fund, Scottish National IB
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Build Glasgow facility, create 35 jobs
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Unit Network
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London, UK
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DeFi, asset tokenization
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$18M
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Blockchain Founders Fund, Outlier Ventures
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Scale blockchain, expand to real estate, gaming
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This table highlights the diversity and scale of these investments, each addressing critical needs in their sectors.
Conclusion
These VC deals reflect the dynamic interplay of innovation, investment, and strategic growth across AI, sustainability, and DeFi. Each company is poised to make significant impacts, from enhancing AI infrastructure and search capabilities to advancing green packaging and democratizing finance.
As “Exploring Horizons by Niriis Consultants,” we will continue to monitor these developments, providing insights into their long-term effects on markets and society.
