Two times/week

Dealmaker

By The Information Staff

Reporters Cory Weinberg and Katie Roof tell you what’s coming next, who’s winning—and who’s losing—in the high-stakes world of startup investing.

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Dealmaker

An End to the IPO Shutdown

By Katie Roof · Nov 11, 2025 3:26pm PST
For the last 42 days, any startup seeking approval for an initial public offering from the Securities and Exchange Commission was in limbo, thanks to the government shutdown that had sent SEC staff home, preventing them from reviewing and approving IPO prospectuses.The securities agency could be back to work soon. Late Monday, the Senate passed... For the last 42 days, any startup seeking approval for an initial public offering from the...
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Dealmaker

AI Stokes Battles for Series A; Altimeter to Raise New Growth Fund

By Natasha Mascarenhas · Nov 6, 2025 1:43pm PST
I’ve been hearing a lot about how intense competition is for Series A investments lately. Investors that typically look to invest in more mature startups, say at the Series B or above rounds, are crowding into Series A rounds for fear of missing the next major winner.Like much else these days, artificial intelligence gets the credit (or blame)... I’ve been hearing a lot about how intense competition is for Series A investments lately....
Natasha Mascarenhas, Nina Achadjian and Leigh Marie Braswell at The Information's WTF Summit in October 2025. Photo by Erin Beach.
Dealmaker

Four Venture Capitalists on How AI Has Disrupted Dealmaking

By Natasha Mascarenhas · Nov 4, 2025 2:02pm PST
Before we get into today’s column, some breaking news: Roelof Botha, who has held the top role at Sequoia Capital for three years, announced he was handing the reins to two partners, Alfred Lin and Pat Grady. Botha, 52, took over Sequoia in 2022 just as tech stocks were plunging and VC firms including Sequoia were mopping up the excesses of... Before we get into today’s column, some breaking news: Roelof Botha, who has held the top role at...
OpenAI CFO Sarah Friar. Photo by Getty.
Why OpenAI Is Likely to Tap Private Investors Again
By Sri Muppidi · Oct 30, 2025 4:55pm PDT · 1 comment
OpenAI CFO Sarah Friar. Photo by Getty.
Dealmaker

Why OpenAI Is Likely to Tap Private Investors Again

By Sri Muppidi · Oct 30, 2025 4:55pm PDT · 1 comment
OpenAI this week restructured itself into a company with traditional equity, and it wasn’t long before rumblings about an initial public offering followed. There are plenty of reasons why an IPO listing may not happen until 2027 at the earliest, according to a person who has been involved in the discussion. Among them: It’s likely to be one of... OpenAI this week restructured itself into a company with traditional equity, and it wasn’t long...
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Dealmaker

Profit Pressure Spurs Chip Deals

By Valida Pau · Oct 28, 2025 12:41pm PDT
Giant tech companies are wreaking havoc on chipmakers, outcompeting them or shifting to new suppliers, and that’s spurring a dealmaking spree in the industry. We broke news last night about the largest chip deal of the year, Skyworks Solutions buying rival chipmaker Qorvo for $10.6 billion. Both companies, which make radio frequency chips... Giant tech companies are wreaking havoc on chipmakers, outcompeting them or shifting to new...
Dealmaker Newsletter
Reporters Cory Weinberg and Katie Roof tell you what’s coming next, who’s winning—and who’s losing—in the high-stakes world of startup investing.
By providing your email, you agree to The Information’s Privacy Policy
Synthesia co-founder and CEO Victor Riparbelli. Getty Images
Dealmaker

Why Some AI Startup Acquisitions Are Failing

By Laura Mandaro and Katie Roof · Oct 23, 2025 2:49pm PDT · 1 comment
Over the last few days our reporters have broken news about two merger discussions that fizzled: Adobe, which was interested in buying video startup Synthesia, and SoftBank, which talked with humanoid robotics maker Agility about a takeover. In both cases, the startups ended up pursuing more venture capital funding at higher valuations.These are... Over the last few days our reporters have broken news about two merger discussions that fizzled:...
Latham & Watkins partners Seth Gottlieb (left) and Alex Kelly (right). Photo courtesy of the subjects.
Dealmaker

AI Is Speeding Up M&A Deals, Says Latham

By Valida Pau · Oct 21, 2025 2:03pm PDT
A flurry of tech mergers and acquisitions catalyzed by the artificial intelligence boom has been big business for lawyers. Latham & Watkins, which has landed on some of the highest-profile deals, says tech is moving fast and companies are keeping pace, sometimes getting transactions done in days. “It’s speed oftentimes because the deal... A flurry of tech mergers and acquisitions catalyzed by the artificial intelligence boom has been...
Alex Ferrara, partner at Bessemer Venture Partners. Photo courtesy of Paul Clarke for Resilience Media.
Bessemer Bets on War Worries in Europe
By Cory Weinberg · Oct 16, 2025 2:38pm PDT
Alex Ferrara, partner at Bessemer Venture Partners. Photo courtesy of Paul Clarke for Resilience Media.
Dealmaker

Bessemer Bets on War Worries in Europe

By Cory Weinberg · Oct 16, 2025 2:38pm PDT
The name of Bessemer Venture Partners is tied closely with the cloud software boom of the 2010s. The backer of Twilio, Shopify and Zoom even created its own Nasdaq index of cloud software companies, which I look at often to track the ups and downs of the market.But it’s not a good time to be a software investor. That index of cloud stocks has... The name of Bessemer Venture Partners is tied closely with the cloud software boom of the 2010s....
Reflection AI CEO Misha Laskin and The Information reporter Akash Pasricha.
Dealmaker

Why Nvidia Is Shying Away From the ‘Lead Investor’ Mantle

By Miles Kruppa · Oct 14, 2025 2:11pm PDT · 1 comment
When somebody writes the biggest check in a round of venture funding, they usually want to shout it from the rooftops. Not so for Nvidia in its latest investment.The chip giant caused a stir last week when it objected to being called the lead investor in a $2 billion round of funding for Reflection, a one-year-old company developing open-source... When somebody writes the biggest check in a round of venture funding, they usually want to shout...
Venture capitalist Ben Horowitz and Vercel CEO Guillermo Rauch. Photos via Getty and YouTube
Dealmaker

Ben Horowitz Hires His ‘Jensen’; Vercel Starts a Venture Fund

By Natasha Mascarenhas · Oct 9, 2025 2:30pm PDT
Andreessen Horowitz co-founder Ben Horowitz says only a small subset of AI companies, such as portfolio companies Safe Superintelligence Inc. and Thinking Machines Labs, need massive compute contracts. But many AI startups still need help getting access to bottlenecked resources, like chips to train their models.The venture firm said Thursday it... Andreessen Horowitz co-founder Ben Horowitz says only a small subset of AI companies, such as...
Dealmaker Newsletter
Reporters Cory Weinberg and Katie Roof tell you what’s coming next, who’s winning—and who’s losing—in the high-stakes world of startup investing.
By providing your email, you agree to The Information’s Privacy Policy
Peter Thiel. Photo via Getty
Dealmaker

Why I’m Covering Defense Tech; Founders Fund’s Concentrated Bets

By Cory Weinberg · Oct 7, 2025 1:47pm PDT
Greetings from Los Angeles, where I’ve taken up a new residence after a cross-country road trip from New York. During a tour of a defunct U.S. Steel mill in Pittsburgh and a visit to the uranium boom-and-bust town of Moab, Utah, I spent time thinking about the technology that has reshaped national security, industrialization, energy and... Greetings from Los Angeles, where I’ve taken up a new residence after a cross-country road trip...
Paige and Leura Craig. Photo courtesy of Outlander VC.
How an Early Scale AI Investor Picks Founders
By Cory Weinberg · Oct 2, 2025 1:52pm PDT
Paige and Leura Craig. Photo courtesy of Outlander VC.
Dealmaker

How an Early Scale AI Investor Picks Founders

By Cory Weinberg · Oct 2, 2025 1:52pm PDT
How do early-stage venture capitalists pick which unproven founders to back? Most don’t overcomplicate things. Backing a Stanford University computer science grad or an early OpenAI employee often seems like a good bet. Some VCs even use AI to score early startups based on their technical expertise or past successes.Paige and Leura Craig, the... How do early-stage venture capitalists pick which unproven founders to back? Most don’t...
Cyberstarts Founder Gili Raanan. Photo provided by Unlmtdpartners.
Dealmaker

Cyberstarts’ New Fund Is a Bet on Cybersecurity M&A

By Natasha Mascarenhas · Sep 30, 2025 11:33am PDT
Venture capitalist Gili Raanan is best known for his first investments in cloud security startups Wiz and Cyera. But as startups stay private for longer, his Israel-based venture firm Cyberstarts is now also investing in later rounds. It now has another $380 million for those more mature investments, thanks to a new fund raised this week to... Venture capitalist Gili Raanan is best known for his first investments in cloud security startups...
Jennifer Siebel Newsom. Photo via Getty
Dealmaker

All-Male AI Boards; General Catalyst’s AI Head Count Savings

By Natasha Mascarenhas · Sep 25, 2025 2:04pm PDT
The topic of whether startup boards have enough women on them has been muted lately. Not only has President Donald Trump’s administration targeted diversity mandates, but federal courts have overturned related laws, such as those passed in California requiring a certain number of women and underrepresented minorities on public company... The topic of whether startup boards have enough women on them has been muted lately. Not only has...
President Donald Trump signs an executive order introducing a $100,000 fee for H-1B visas. Photo via Getty.
Dealmaker

$100,000 H-1B Fee’s Inflationary Effect on Startups

By Natasha Mascarenhas · Sep 23, 2025 12:37pm PDT
The Trump administration’s announcement that it would start charging $100,000 for foreign workers applying for new H-1B visas sent a shock wave through the ranks of startups and their investors over the weekend. Y Combinator CEO Garry Tan and Menlo Ventures’ Deedy Das have warned the fees will give large tech companies an even bigger advantage... The Trump administration’s announcement that it would start charging $100,000 for foreign workers...
Dealmaker Newsletter
Reporters Cory Weinberg and Katie Roof tell you what’s coming next, who’s winning—and who’s losing—in the high-stakes world of startup investing.
By providing your email, you agree to The Information’s Privacy Policy
Anjney Midha, General Partner, Andreessen Horowitz. Image via Getty.
How Andreessen Horowitz’s ‘Compute Whisperer’ Wins AI Deals
By Natasha Mascarenhas · Sep 18, 2025 1:14pm PDT
Anjney Midha, General Partner, Andreessen Horowitz. Image via Getty.
Dealmaker

How Andreessen Horowitz’s ‘Compute Whisperer’ Wins AI Deals

By Natasha Mascarenhas · Sep 18, 2025 1:14pm PDT
Andreessen Horowitz general partner Anjney Midha’s main job is to lead investments in AI startups such as France’s Mistral AI and Germany’s Black Forest Labs. But behind the scenes, he’s also functioned as what he calls the firm’s “compute whisperer,” setting up and managing a group of thousands of Nvidia chips that the firm then rents to... Andreessen Horowitz general partner Anjney Midha’s main job is to lead investments in AI startups...
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman Images via Getty
Dealmaker

Who Will Own the New OpenAI, in One Chart

By Sri Muppidi · Sep 16, 2025 2:45pm PDT
One question has loomed over OpenAI investors for years: How would they generate a return on their investment? The ChatGPT maker is a nonprofit that capped the potential returns of early backers in its for-profit arm, such as Khosla Ventures and Microsoft, and would prevent the newer investors including Thrive Capital and SoftBank from reaping... One question has loomed over OpenAI investors for years: How would they generate a return on...
Photo via Getty
Dealmaker

The AI Haves and Have Nots at Goldman's Big Tech Event

By Valida Pau · Sep 11, 2025 2:31pm PDT
At the historic Palace Hotel in San Francisco, Goldman Sachs is wrapping up three and half days of its annual Goldman Sachs Communacopia + Technology Conference.Attendees were mostly in a buoyant mood, but not because this week is on track to be the biggest of the year for initial public offerings. Instead, the biggest pop during the conference... At the historic Palace Hotel in San Francisco, Goldman Sachs is wrapping up three and half days...
Art by Shane Burke
Dealmaker

The $115 Billion Reason OpenAI Will Raise More Money

By Sri Muppidi · Sep 9, 2025 12:00pm PDT
Last week, I reported on how OpenAI updated its financial forecasts for investors. The company expects to spend nearly $115 billion between 2025 and 2029. That’s $80 billion more than it forecast in the first quarter. As the chart shows, the startup—recently valued at $500 billion in a sale of employee shares—has been able to handily raise... Last week, I reported on how OpenAI updated its financial forecasts for investors. The company...
Mercor CEO Brendan Foody. Screenshot via YouTube/First Block.
Mercor Fields $10 Billion-Valuation Offers in ‘Pre-emptive’ Onslaught
By Katie Roof · Sep 4, 2025 4:15pm PDT
Mercor CEO Brendan Foody. Screenshot via YouTube/First Block.
Dealmaker

Mercor Fields $10 Billion-Valuation Offers in ‘Pre-emptive’ Onslaught

By Katie Roof · Sep 4, 2025 4:15pm PDT
The frothiness of the artificial intelligence boom is starting to look like 1999…or 2021. Startups are again receiving unsolicited investment interest months or even weeks after announcing a fundraising, sometimes at prices that would more than double their valuation. The latest is Mercor, a startup that helps OpenAI and other AI developers find... The frothiness of the artificial intelligence boom is starting to look like 1999…or 2021....