General Catalyst vs M13

Standard Bots Raises $200M for AI-Native Industrial Robots

Standard Bots, an AI-native industrial robot manufacturer, raised $200 million in a Series C round at a $1 billion valuation. The round was led by General Catalyst and RoboStrategy. The company's customers include NASA, Amazon, and Lockheed Martin. CEO Evan Beard and Head of AI Leif Jentoft discussed their AI stack: a shared base model fine-tuned for specific tasks, a zero-shot perception system for machine tending, and on-premise inference for factory reliability. They emphasize data quality over volume and use conventional programming for motion control while AI handles perception. Standard Bots plans to expand its developer platform, StandardOS, with APIs and SDKs, allowing external developers to integrate their own models like NVIDIA Cosmos.

• Standard Bots raised $200 million in a Series C round at a $1 billion valuation.
• The round was led by General Catalyst and RoboStrategy.
• Standard Bots customers include NASA, Amazon, and Lockheed Martin.

Sol Emerges with $4M for Proactive AI Email Assistant

Sol Foundry Inc. has emerged from stealth with $4 million in funding to launch Sol, an AI assistant that proactively identifies and executes commitments made in Gmail. The product scans emails for promises like sending analysis, creating documents, or scheduling meetings, then performs the underlying work autonomously, presenting completed tasks for user approval. It operates in its own computer environment and uses a library of over 100 specialist skills to handle complex workflows. The funding round was led by General Catalyst, with participation from Nexus Venture Partners, DeVC, Peercheque, and Kunal Shah. Sol targets professionals such as founders, executives, and those in sales, marketing, consulting, and recruiting, aiming to eliminate the need for manual follow-ups.

• Sol Foundry Inc. emerged from stealth with $4 million in funding.
• The funding round was led by General Catalyst, with participation from Nexus Venture Partners, DeVC, Peercheque, and Kunal Shah.
• Sol is an AI assistant that finds commitments in Gmail and performs related tasks like research, document creation, and scheduling.

Pulley Cap Table Platform Shuts Down, Partners with Carta

Pulley, a cap table management platform and rival to Carta, announced it is shutting down, with final operations ending December 8. The company, founded by Yin Wu in 2020, raised over $50 million from investors including General Catalyst, Stripe, and Founders Fund. Pulley will partner with Carta to transfer customers and redirect prospective clients. No official reason was given, but a former employee speculated that competition from spreadsheets and AI tools for maintaining them reduced Pulley's market need. Founder Yin Wu expressed gratitude to the team and backers, indicating the team may pursue new ventures.

• Pulley announced shutdown with final day of operations on December 8.
• Pulley partnered with rival Carta to offload existing customers.
• Pulley raised over $50 million from General Catalyst, Stripe, and Founders Fund.

What Is Agentic Identity? Meet Baselayer, the Identity Infrastructure for AI Agents

M13 announces fundraising for Baselayer, an identity infrastructure for AI agents, with a dedicated article published on September 22, 2026.

Investors Are Betting on AI Agents That Shop for You

Venture capitalists are increasingly funding startups building AI agents that can shop on behalf of consumers and handle payments. The article maps the emerging market for "agentic commerce," covering personal assistants like Instinct and Town, shopping search tools like Daydream, payment infrastructure startups like Catena Labs and Basis Theory, and marketing tech such as Profound. Major platforms are also moving: OpenAI and Stripe launched the Agentic Commerce Protocol, Google operates the Agent Payments Protocol, and Visa and Mastercard introduced Trusted Agent Protocol and Agent Pay. However, the space faces trust and fraud challenges, illustrated by Phia's cookie-stuffing scandal and an Instinct agent error that cost a user around $300. Investor interest remains strong, with millions raised across the sector, even as enterprise adoption lags due to compliance and security concerns.

• Adobe Analytics reported that 41% of respondents used AI for online shopping in June 2026.
• OpenAI and Stripe launched the Agentic Commerce Protocol (ACP), while Google operates the Agent Payments Protocol.
• Profound raised $96 million in Series C funding led by Lightspeed Venture Partners.