Syndication and co-investment for institutional venture capital.

Italy-based traveltech startup Smartness has secured €47 million in Series B funding to accelerate its expansion across European hospitality markets. The round highlights strong investor confidence in digital infrastructure platforms transforming hotel pricing, distribution, and revenue management. The funding round was led by Partech, with participation from existing investors Iris Capital and Indaco Venture Partners, alongside new investor DVR Capital. The mix of returning and new investors reflects continued belief in Smartness’s growth trajectory and market positioning. Founded by Giuseppe Donvito and Davide Dattoli, Smartness offers a Revenue Management System (RMS) that helps hotels optimize pricing, increase occupancy, and maximize profitability through data-driven insights. Its platform leverages automation and analytics to simplify complex pricing decisions for hospitality operators. The company is already working with thousands of hotels across Europe, helping them compete more effectively in a fragmented and highly competitive market. As travel demand rebounds and hotels prioritize digital transformation, Smartness is positioned as a key technology partner for the hospitality sector. The newly raised capital will be used to expand into new European markets, enhance product capabilities, and scale sales and customer success teams. The company is also expected to invest in AI-driven features to further improve pricing optimization and demand forecasting. Smartness’s latest funding round reflects broader momentum in traveltech, where startups are building intelligent infrastructure to modernize operations, increase efficiency, and improve revenue performance across the hospitality industry.

Palo Alto-based AI infrastructure startup Parallel Web Systems, founded by former Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal, has secured $100 million in Series B funding, pushing its valuation to $2 billion. The round highlights surging investor interest in infrastructure powering autonomous AI agents rather than just end-user AI applications. The funding round was led by Sequoia Capital, with participation from existing investors including Kleiner Perkins, Index Ventures, and Khosla Ventures. The company has now raised approximately $230 million in total funding within a short time span, signaling rapid momentum in the AI infrastructure space. Founded in 2025, Parallel Web Systems is building a “parallel web” infrastructure layer designed specifically for AI agents. Unlike traditional search engines built for humans, the platform enables autonomous AI systems to search, retrieve, and process web data efficiently for complex tasks. The company’s APIs allow AI agents to access structured, real-time web data, improving accuracy and reducing hallucinations in AI outputs. This makes the platform particularly useful for enterprise use cases such as legal research, financial analysis, and software development. Parallel already reports strong early traction, with over 100,000 developers using its platform and enterprise customers adopting its infrastructure for AI-driven workflows. The fresh capital will be used to expand R&D, sales, and enterprise adoption, as the company aims to become a foundational layer for the next generation of AI systems. With AI agents expected to become primary users of the web, Parallel is positioning itself at the center of this paradigm shift. As venture capital increasingly shifts toward deep AI infrastructure, Parallel Web Systems’ rapid rise reflects a broader trend: the race is no longer just about AI models but about the systems that power them.

Tokyo-based AI startup Qureka has secured pre-seed funding to develop its generative AI-powered book Q&A platform, marking its entry into the growing market of AI-driven knowledge access tools. The funding round underscores increasing investor interest in startups transforming how users interact with long-form content such as books and research materials. The round was led by ON&BOARD Co., Ltd., signaling early institutional backing for Qureka’s vision of making books more interactive and searchable through AI. Qureka is building a platform that allows users to query books using natural language, enabling faster access to key insights, summaries, and contextual answers. This approach aligns with the broader shift toward AI-powered knowledge interfaces, where static content is converted into dynamic, conversational formats. The company operates in an emerging category at the intersection of generative AI, edtech, and knowledge infrastructure, where startups are reimagining how information is consumed and understood. As AI assistants evolve, tools that can structure and retrieve information from trusted sources like books are becoming increasingly valuable. The newly raised capital will likely be used to enhance product development, refine AI models, and expand platform capabilities as Qureka prepares for early user adoption and market validation. With growing demand for AI-native learning and research tools, Qureka is positioning itself within a high-potential segment of the global AI ecosystem.

Anello Photonics Raises Additional $25 Million in Series B-2 to Scale Navigation Tech for Autonomous Systems Santa Clara-based photonics startup Anello Photonics has secured an additional $25 million in Series B-2 funding, strengthening its position in the high-precision navigation market for autonomous and defense applications. The extension round builds on its earlier Series B and reflects continued investor confidence in next-generation inertial navigation systems. Anello Photonics develops Silicon Photonic Optical Gyroscope technology, enabling accurate navigation in GPS-denied environments - a critical requirement for autonomous vehicles, drones, robotics, and defense systems. The company’s integrated photonics approach significantly reduces size, cost, and power consumption compared to traditional fiber-optic gyroscopes while maintaining high precision. The broader Series B round was previously co-led by Lockheed Martin, Catapult Ventures, and One Madison Group, with participation from a wide syndicate including New Legacy, Build Collective, Trousdale Ventures, In-Q-Tel (IQT), K2 Access Fund, Purdue Strategic Ventures, Santuri Ventures, Handshake Ventures, Irongate Capital, and Mana Ventures. The newly raised capital will be used to scale manufacturing, accelerate product development, and expand commercialization efforts, particularly in sectors where GPS signals are unreliable or compromised. This includes aerospace, defense, industrial automation, and autonomous mobility. As global concerns around GPS jamming and spoofing increase, Anello’s technology is becoming increasingly strategic for both commercial and national security use cases. The company is positioning itself as a key player in the future of resilient navigation infrastructure.

We’re in a new phase - companies at the top are both competing and owning each other: Alphabet aka Google is competing with Gemini and at the same time - owning approximately 14% of Anthropic - And holding approximately 6% stake in SpaceX, which now owns xAI This is an inevitable result of value getting concentrated at the top wherein a small number of companies are capturing a disproportionate share of value. -> Build internally to compete -> Invest externally to participate Some call it strategy, one may call it hedging - but increasingly, cross-investing isn’t optional anymore. https://www.marketwatch.com/story/google-is-now-a-glorified-venture-capital-fund-thanks-to-its-spacex-and-anthropic-stakes-b13f3d56 #venturecapital #startups #ai #google #spacex #anthropic

Legora, a legal AI startup, has reached a $5.6 billion valuation following new investment, including backing from Nvidia’s venture arm. The company focuses on automating legal workflows such as research, drafting, and contract analysis for law firms. The development highlights increasing competition in the legal AI space, particularly with U.S.-based Harvey, as both companies scale rapidly and expand their customer base. The category is seeing strong adoption from law firms due to clear efficiency gains and measurable return on investment. The broader trend indicates that legal services are becoming a commercially viable and high-growth application area for AI, with a small number of players emerging as category leaders. https://techcrunch.com/2026/04/30/legal-ai-startup-legora-hits-5-6-valuation-and-its-battle-with-harvey-just-got-hotter/