Eyes on Powell
Week of June 16th, 2025
Welcome to AI8’s weekly newsletter, your ultimate source for curated insights and updates from the dynamic world of venture capital!
We’ve scoured the vast landscape of the web to bring you a comprehensive roundup of the industry’s top news articles, all in one convenient place. We keep you ahead of the game and in the know about all things related to the vibrant world of investments
STARTUPS
ROUNDS AND UNICORNS
The Week’s Biggest Funding Rounds: Scale AI Tops Busy Week For AI Investment (Crunchbase, 5 minute read)
Scale AI (Generative AI): Raised $14.3B in a new investment from Meta at a $29B valuation. Based in San Francisco, Scale provides training data and model evaluation tools for AI applications
Cyera (Cybersecurity): Raised $540M (Series E) from Georgian, Greenoaks, and Lightspeed Venture Partners, bringing total funding to $1.3B. Headquartered in New York and Israel, Cyera offers a data security platform
Meter (Networking): Raised $170M (Series C) led by General Catalyst. Based in San Francisco, Meter builds networking infrastructure for businesses and has raised $255M to date
Glean (Enterprise AI): Raised $150M (Series F) led by Wellington Management at a $7.2B valuation. Based in Palo Alto, Glean provides an AI-powered work assistant for enterprises. This follows a $260M Series E nine months ago that doubled its valuation
Gecko Robotics (Robotics): Raised $125M (Series D) at a $1.25B valuation, led by Cox Enterprises. Based in Pittsburgh, Gecko develops AI-driven robotics platforms for infrastructure inspection in the defense, energy, and manufacturing sectors
New Unicorns Add $22B In Value In May As 5 Trot Onto Board From Europe (Crunchbase, 7 minute read)
In May 2025, thirteen new companies joined The Crunchbase Unicorn Board, collectively adding $21.7 billion in value. Europe contributed five unicorns—the continent’s highest monthly count since 2023—including the first two from Germany and the first from Portugal this year. The U.K. added two as well. The U.S. led with six new unicorns, bringing its year-to-date total to 31. Meanwhile, six companies exited the board in May, erasing $13.4 billion in value
Sectors like sales and marketing, and defense tech—both heavily influenced by AI—saw the most new unicorns
Four went public, including eToro, Hinge Health (which debuted below its prior valuation), Ather Energy, and MNTN
Two others—Windsurf and Daily Harvest—were acquired, with Windsurf notably sold to OpenAI for $3 billion
INDUSTRY
New York passes a bill to prevent AI-fueled disasters (TechCrunch, 5 minute read)
New York lawmakers have passed the RAISE Act, a landmark AI safety bill aimed at regulating powerful AI models like those from OpenAI, Google, and Anthropic. The bill targets models trained with over $100 million in computing resources and used by New York residents, requiring labs to publish detailed safety reports and disclose any security incidents. Noncompliance could result in civil penalties of up to $30 million
While designed to avoid stifling startups and academic research—unlike California’s vetoed SB 1047—the bill has faced industry pushback
Critics argue it could discourage companies from offering their AI in New York, though supporters, including safety advocates Geoffrey Hinton and Yoshua Bengio, insist the transparency rules are necessary guardrails
The bill now awaits Governor Hochul’s decision
ECONOMIC SNAPSHOT
What To Expect From This Week's Federal Reserve Meeting on Interest Rates (Investopedia, 3 minute read)
The Federal Reserve is expected to hold its benchmark interest rate at 5.25%–5.5% during its upcoming meeting, maintaining a cautious “wait-and-see” stance amid political pressure and economic uncertainty. Markets are pricing in a 99.4% probability of no rate change, according to CME Group’s FedWatch tool. President Trump has repeatedly demanded a 100 basis point (1%) rate cut, calling Fed Chair Jerome Powell a “numbskull” for not acting sooner
Fed officials, however, are concerned that Trump’s tariffs could reignite inflation, which has cooled to 2.4% year-over-year in May, close to the Fed’s 2% target
The Fed last adjusted rates in December 2024, after cutting them by a full percentage point earlier that year
With May job growth at 139,000 and core inflation rising just 0.1% month-over-month, recent data supports holding steady
The Fed is watching closely to see whether tariffs drive a surge in prices or lead to broader economic softening before making further moves
Fed on Hold Leaves Wall Street Asking What It Will Take to Cut Interest Rates (Bloomberg, 4 minute read)
Financial markets are increasingly aligning with the Fed’s cautious stance, with futures pricing in a near 100% probability that interest rates will remain unchanged at this week’s FOMC meeting. Investors are now betting that the first rate cut won’t come until September at the earliest, a shift driven by resilient labor data, cooling inflation, and ongoing policy uncertainty surrounding tariffs and geopolitical tensions
The yield on 2-year Treasury notes, a key barometer of rate expectations, fell more than 7 basis points last week to 3.96%, as softer-than-expected core inflation in May boosted hopes for eventual easing
Markets are tempering expectations, bracing for just one or two cuts in 2025, down from earlier projections of more aggressive action
US prices continued to rise in May amid Trump tariffs (The Guardian, 3 minute read)
U.S. inflation ticked up slightly in May to 2.4% year-over-year, from 2.3% in April, as Donald Trump’s tariffs begin to impact prices across the economy. Monthly CPI rose 0.1%, and core inflation—excluding food and energy—also increased 0.1%, both below economists’ expectations. While Trump hailed the data as “great,” economists warn that tariff-related price hikes are likely to become more pronounced over the summer
54% of U.S. companies surveyed by Allianz said they plan to raise prices due to tariffs
Job growth also slowed, with 139,000 new jobs added in May, below the 12-month average, and manufacturing sentiment hit a six-month low
Despite pausing some tariffs, major ones remain—including 30% on Chinese goods and 25% on auto imports—and may return in full by July
Stocks Take Worst One-Day Tumble in Almost a Month After Mideast Strikes (The New York Times, 5 minute read)
Iran’s retaliation against Israel’s military strikes triggered a sharp reaction in global markets, raising fears of a broader Middle East conflict that could disrupt energy supplies and stoke inflation. On Friday, the S&P 500 fell 1.1%, ending a two-week rally, while Brent crude oil surged 7% to over $74 a barrel, its largest one-day gain in 2025. West Texas Intermediate also jumped nearly 7% to $73. Investors rushed into safe havens like gold, and Treasury yields dipped, reflecting heightened risk aversion
Market participants also pushed back expectations for Fed rate cuts, anticipating that a spike in oil prices could reignite inflation
Iran, a major oil exporter—particularly to China, which consumes 15% of global supply—controls the strategic Strait of Hormuz, a chokepoint for one-third of global seaborne oil shipments
Though analysts say Iran is unlikely to block the strait due to its own reliance on it, any disruption could cause oil prices to double, according to worst-case estimations
IPO & EXITS
Chime’s 54% IPO discount signals down rounds are here to stay (PitchBook, 5 minute read)
Chime’s IPO marks a turning point for consumer fintech, reflecting a broader investor acceptance of down-round exits. Priced at $27 per share and closing its first trading day at $37.11—a 37% jump—the company still debuted at a $11.6 billion valuation, down 54% from its $25 billion peak in 2021. While late-stage investors like Sequoia and SoftBank are breaking even, early backers such as Crosslink Capital, Menlo Ventures, and Cathay Innovation are seeing substantial returns
Chime, which offers fee-free banking services to underserved Americans, reported a $12.9 million profit on $518.7 million in Q1 2025 revenue
As one of the few major consumer fintech exits in a muted market, Chime’s listing may help reframe valuation expectations and pave the way for others—Klarna potentially next
A 2025 IPO market revival is underway. Big banks are poised to ride the wave (CNBC, 6 minute read)
The IPO market is gaining momentum in June 2025, with Chime’s 37% stock pop on debut joining a string of successful listings, including Voyager Technologies (+82%) and Circle (+168%). Upcoming IPOs include Gemini and Caris Life Sciences, which targets a $5.3 billion valuation. In total, 89 IPOs have occurred so far in 2025, outpacing the 150 in all of 2024, though still below the 397 in 2021
Investor enthusiasm, strong first-day gains, and upsized deals suggest renewed optimism, with analysts forecasting more listings in sectors like space and quantum computing
Investment banks like Goldman Sachs and Wells Fargo stand to benefit as deal pipelines grow
However, risks remain: geopolitical tensions (e.g., Israel-Iran), volatile trade policies from President Trump, and macro uncertainty could disrupt this rebound
Still, with key regulatory hurdles lifted—like Wells Fargo’s $1.95T asset cap—and a wave of pent-up unicorns ready to exit, 2025 could surpass expectations
WHAT A TIME TO BE ALIVE
Why Now Could Be The Right Time To Go Green With Your Investments (Investopedia, 4 minute read)
Global investment in green technology hit a record $2.1 trillion in 2024, reflecting strong investor demand for climate solutions despite a slower growth rate of 11%, down from 24–29% in prior years. Key sectors driving this investment include electrified transport ($757B) and renewable energy ($728B), with power grids ($390B) and emerging technologies like hydrogen and carbon capture ($155B) also receiving significant funding
China led the charge, investing $818B—more than the U.S., EU, and U.K. combined
While the environmental impact of technologies like EV batteries and solar panels raises concerns, they remain crucial in reducing global emissions, which rose 1.3% year-over-year
Risks to green tech investment include regulatory changes, greenwashing, and scalability, but the market continues to offer compelling opportunities as nations pursue net-zero goals
8alpha.ai is the anti-vc vc. We are an AI investment company transforming overlooked, cash-generating businesses into scalable, AI-powered companies. We provide revenue-based financing and hands-on AI transformation, delivering no zeros with unlimited upside.
Become part of our revolution.
Happy reading,
8alpha.ai’s Research & Investment Team
