The venture capital landscape has witnessed a seismic shift in 2025. At Rise N Shine we see how seed funding rounds, once modest affairs designed to validate concepts and build initial prototypes, have transformed into massive capital deployments that rival traditional Series A and B rounds. This evolution reflects a fundamental change in how investors and entrepreneurs approach early-stage innovation.
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Three groundbreaking companies have emerged as the poster children of this new paradigm. Thinking Machines Lab has raised close to $2 billion at a valuation of $10 billion, shattering every seed funding record in history. Meanwhile, Orasio secured €16 million for its sovereign AI video intelligence platform, and Kyron.bio closed a €5.5 million round to revolutionize drug safety through glycan engineering. These companies represent more than just large funding rounds. They signal a new era where visionary technology concepts can attract unprecedented early-stage investment.
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The implications extend far beyond these individual deals. Seed stage startups now command valuations that historically required years of product development and market validation. This shift has profound consequences for entrepreneurs, investors, and the broader innovation ecosystem.
The $2 Billion Seed Round That Broke All Records
Thinking Machines Lab, founded in February 2025 by former OpenAI CTO Mira Murati, closed a $2 billion seed round this week, led by Andreessen Horowitz, at a $10 billion valuation. The company has no product demos, no announced customers, and no revenue. Yet it commands the attention of Silicon Valley's most sophisticated investors.
Murati's reputation precedes her. As the former CTO of OpenAI, she was instrumental in developing ChatGPT and DALL-E, two of the most transformative AI products of recent years. The startup has attracted a roster of prominent AI researchers, with several ex-OpenAI employees joining the founding team.
The funding round represents more than capital allocation. It reflects investor confidence in a different approach to AI development. While competitors pursue larger models and autonomous superintelligence, Thinking Machines Lab focuses on human-AI collaboration and transparency. This philosophical difference, backed by unprecedented funding, could reshape how AI systems are designed and deployed.
The Strategic Implications
The deal quickly doubled its original $1 billion funding target, underscoring strong investor demand and confidence in Murati's capabilities. This funding level provides several strategic advantages. The company can attract top talent in an increasingly competitive market. It can invest in expensive computational infrastructure without diluting equity in future rounds. Most importantly, it can focus on long-term research without immediate pressure for commercial outcomes.
The record-breaking round also sends a signal to the broader AI community. Investors are willing to make massive bets on teams with proven track records, even without traditional validation metrics. This could accelerate innovation cycles and enable more ambitious research projects.
European Sovereignty Meets AI Innovation
While Thinking Machines Lab captures headlines with its unprecedented funding, Orasio represents a different but equally significant trend. The Paris-based startup, founded by PayFit co-founder Florian Fournier, raised €16 million to build sovereign AI video intelligence solutions.
The company's positioning as a "sovereign" alternative to U.S. and Israeli surveillance technology reflects growing European concerns about technological independence. Orasio turns video feeds into easily actionable information for cities, homeland security forces, and businesses, while ensuring compliance with GDPR and the EU AI Act.
This approach addresses a critical market need. European governments and enterprises increasingly demand data sovereignty and regulatory compliance that foreign providers cannot guarantee. Orasio's on-premise and edge deployment capabilities ensure sensitive data never leaves European control.
Market Timing and Regulatory Advantage
The regulatory environment in Europe has become increasingly favorable for sovereign technology solutions. The EU AI Act and GDPR create compliance requirements that benefit local providers. Due to the growing demand for smarter security solutions, Orasio has already landed €14 million in funding (with recent reports showing €16 million total).
The company's founding team combines technical expertise with regulatory knowledge. COO Fabio Gennari, a senior civil servant in the French government, brings deep understanding of European security requirements. This combination of technical innovation and regulatory insight positions Orasio to capture market share from international competitors.
Biotech Innovation Tackles Drug Safety Crisis
The third company reshaping seed funding expectations operates in an entirely different domain. Kyron.bio, a Paris-based biotech startup, has announced a €5.5 million ($6.2 million) seed funding round to advance its breakthrough glycan-engineering platform.
The company addresses a critical problem in modern medicine. Antibody therapeutics, used to treat cancers and autoimmune diseases, often trigger dangerous immune responses. One of the major problems with antibody therapeutics is the patient's immune system recognising the treatment as foreign and attacking it.
Kyron.bio's solution involves precisely controlling glycosylation, the process that attaches sugar molecules to therapeutic proteins. The seed funding round was led by HCVC, with the participation of Verve Ventures, Entrepreneurs First and other investors who recognize the platform's potential.
Scientific Breakthrough with Commercial Potential
The glycan engineering platform represents a fundamental advance in drug development. Traditional biomanufacturing produces inconsistent glycan structures that can trigger immune responses. Kyron.bio's technology transforms this unpredictable variable into a precise design tool.
These problems are particularly acute in chronic and complex conditions where patients require long-term, consistent treatment. The company's solution could rescue promising drugs that fail in clinical trials due to immunogenicity issues. It could also improve existing therapies for millions of patients worldwide.
The funding from HCVC, a firm specializing in frontier science commercialization, validates the platform's potential. Kyron.bio is also awarded a €2.5M EIC Transition grant, a highly competitive European grant awarded to technologies that are ready to make the leap from the lab to the market.
The New Seed Funding Paradigm
These three companies illustrate a fundamental shift in early-stage venture capital. Seed rounds are no longer just about validating product-market fit. They're about enabling ambitious research and development programs that were previously reserved for later funding stages.
Several factors drive this evolution. First, the success of previous mega-rounds has proven that exceptional teams can deploy large amounts of capital effectively. Second, competition for top talent requires offering significant equity packages and resources. Third, certain technological breakthroughs require substantial upfront investment in infrastructure and research.
Implications for Entrepreneurs and Investors
This new paradigm creates both opportunities and challenges. Exceptional founding teams with proven track records can access unprecedented resources. However, the bar for securing such funding has correspondingly increased. Investors expect deeper technical expertise, clearer competitive advantages, and more ambitious market opportunities.
The trend also reflects changing investor psychology. Per Crunchbase data, investors have poured around $700 million so far this year into seed rounds for artificial intelligence companies. This appetite for early-stage AI investment suggests sustained confidence in the sector's potential.
For entrepreneurs, the message is clear. Ambitious projects with exceptional teams can attract substantial early-stage funding. However, this requires demonstrating technical depth, market understanding, and execution capability from day one.
Market Dynamics and Future Trends
The seed funding revolution reflects broader changes in technology markets. AI development requires significant computational resources and top-tier talent. Biotech innovation demands sophisticated laboratory infrastructure and lengthy development cycles. European regulatory requirements create opportunities for compliant, sovereign solutions.
These dynamics suggest that mega-seed rounds will become more common, particularly in AI, biotech, and strategic technology sectors. Investors are essentially making Series A or B-sized bets at seed stage, reflecting confidence in exceptional teams and transformative technologies.
Competitive Landscape Evolution
The availability of large seed rounds could accelerate innovation cycles across multiple sectors. Companies can move from concept to market-ready solutions more rapidly when properly capitalized. This could intensify competition and reduce the time available for incumbents to respond to disruptive technologies.
However, it also raises the stakes for execution. Companies receiving mega-seed rounds face enormous expectations from investors and the broader market. They must demonstrate progress commensurate with their funding levels and valuations.
Investment Strategy and Risk Management
The emergence of mega-seed rounds requires sophisticated risk management from investors. Traditional seed-stage due diligence may be insufficient for such large commitments. Investors must evaluate technical capabilities, market opportunities, and execution risks more thoroughly.
For portfolio construction, these large seed investments require different approaches. They consume significant fund resources and require longer timeframes for returns. However, successful investments could generate exceptional returns given the early-stage entry points and large market opportunities.
The trend also influences later-stage funding dynamics. Companies with successful mega-seed rounds may require less traditional Series A or B funding, or they may pursue these rounds at higher valuations.
Funding Comparison: Three Paradigm-Shifting Seed Rounds
Company
Focus
Seed Funding
Lead Investor(s)
Disruptive Angle
Thinking Machines Lab
Foundational AI Models
$2 Billion
Andreessen Horowitz
Rethinking AI development with human-AI collaboration and transparency, backed by a record-shattering seed round
Orasio
AI-Powered Video Intelligence
€16 Million
Frst, Global Founders Capital, Expeditions Fund
Building a "sovereign" European alternative in defense and security tech, compliant with GDPR and the AI Act
Kyron.bio
Synthetic Biology / Drug Development
€5.5 Million
HCVC
Engineering the sugar coating on antibody drugs to prevent immune system rejection and create safer, more effective therapies
Company
Focus
Seed Funding
Lead Investor(s)
Disruptive Angle
Thinking Machines Lab
Foundational AI Models
$2 Billion
Andreessen Horowitz
Rethinking AI development with human-AI collaboration and transparency, backed by a record-shattering seed round
Orasio
AI-Powered Video Intelligence
€16 Million
Frst, Global Founders Capital, Expeditions Fund
Building a "sovereign" European alternative in defense and security tech, compliant with GDPR and the AI Act
Kyron.bio
Synthetic Biology / Drug Development
€5.5 Million
HCVC
Engineering the sugar coating on antibody drugs to prevent immune system rejection and create safer, more effective therapies
Conclusion: The Dawn of a New Era
The seed funding revolution exemplified by Thinking Machines Lab, Orasio, and Kyron.bio represents more than just larger check sizes. It reflects a fundamental reimagining of how breakthrough technologies can be funded and developed.
These companies demonstrate that exceptional teams with transformative visions can access unprecedented resources at the earliest stages of company building. This shift could accelerate innovation across AI, biotech, and other critical technology sectors.
For entrepreneurs, the message is both inspiring and daunting. The resources available for ambitious projects have never been greater. However, the expectations for technical depth, market understanding, and execution capability have correspondingly increased.
The venture capital ecosystem continues to evolve in response to technological change and market opportunities. The seed stage revolution may just be the beginning of even more fundamental transformations in how innovation is funded and scaled.
What do you think about this shift toward mega-seed rounds? Are we witnessing a sustainable evolution in venture capital, or a temporary bubble? Share your thoughts in the comments below, and don't forget to subscribe for more insights on the future of technology funding.
