Felicis vs Rebel Fund

Emergent: 29 Seed-Stage AI Startups Nominated by Founders

Newcomer, in partnership with Felicis, published its inaugural Emergent list, identifying 29 early-stage startups nominated by prominent AI founders as potentially generational companies. The list focuses on seed-stage or earlier companies that have not raised beyond a seed round. Key themes include agent infrastructure and control, hardware, open-source commitment, and AI-native services. Examples include Agentcard (agent payments), Arrakis (agent security), Martian (model routing), Mirai (on-device inference), and Peak (cloud for CI). Felicis provided its own analysis highlighting agent-infrastructure and healthcare/bio/creator tools. The startups will be showcased at the upcoming Cerebral Valley AI Summit on November 12 in San Francisco.

• Newcomer and Felicis published the Emergent list of 29 seed-stage AI startups.
• The list is based on nominations from current and former founder speakers at Newcomer summits.
• Eligibility required that companies have raised no more than a seed round.

Magentic Raises $18M for AI Industrial Automation

Magentic, a startup providing AI-powered digital workers for industrial companies, has secured $18 million in Series A funding, one year after its launch. The round was led by Felicis, with participation from existing investors Sequoia Capital and The Westly Group. Magentic's AI agents automate procurement and operational workflows for large manufacturers, handling tasks such as buy-versus-build assessments, supplier selection, contract negotiation, order management, and invoice processing. The platform supports both indirect procurement and direct spend on raw materials. The company targets industrial and procurement teams facing increased workloads due to manufacturing demand, trade disruption, and budget pressures. The funding will accelerate development of the AI agents, extend the platform to additional supply chain workflows, and support research into AI systems for complex optimization problems in industrial operations.

• Magentic raised $18 million in Series A funding.
• The round was led by Felicis, with participation from Sequoia Capital and The Westly Group.
• Magentic develops AI agents to automate procurement and operational workflows for industrial companies.

Rebel Fund Portfolio News: Venn Acquires Zuma, VideoGen Raises $3.3M, PayNearMe Acquires Marr Labs

Venn, a New York-based AI platform for real estate, has acquired Zuma, an Andreessen Horowitz-backed developer of AI agents for multifamily property operators, for $50 million. The acquisition expands Venn's capabilities in leasing, renewals, and rent collection while supporting its goal of managing over one million units by the end of 2026. Zuma's technology and co-founders are being integrated into Venn's Company Brain platform, with Kendrick Bradley as General Manager of Venn Leasing and Shiv Gettu as Chief Partnerships Officer. Venn also reported that its contracted revenue has more than quadrupled over the past year.

• Venn acquired Zuma for $50 million in a completed transaction.
• Zuma was founded in 2021 and backed by Andreessen Horowitz, Y Combinator, and King River Capital.
• Venn serves more than 270 property owners and operators and expects its platform to manage over 1 million units by the end of 2026.

Rebel Fund Portfolio News: VideoGen Raises $3.3M, PayNearMe Acquires Marr Labs

Rebel Fund's portfolio news section has been updated with two new announcements: VideoGen raises $3.3M in seed funding and PayNearMe acquires Marr Labs to accelerate AI innovation in payments.