Los Angeles-based Slips has raised $3.5 million in a Series Seed round as it pushes deeper into peer-to-peer betting. The company says demand is rising for social betting that does not rely on a traditional sportsbook.

The round was led by Las Olas Capital and Sunset Bay Capital. Angel investor Andrew Schwartzberg, co-owner of the Charlotte Hornets and Leeds United, also joined the round, along with other backers.

Slips runs a betting platform where users play against each other instead of a house. Bets are matched between players, so one side always wins. The company offers products like one-on-one bets, pools, group formats, and prediction markets created inside the app.

Founder and CEO Jess Richman said the idea came from wanting betting to feel more open and social. He said players like knowing they are competing with real people and not fixed odds. The company says usage has grown more than five times year-on-year. Richman added that many users do not return to traditional betting once they try the peer-to-peer model.

Slips is also moving betting into physical spaces. Users can place bets inside bars, stadiums, and private clubs. The platform also supports local sports groups such as pickleball, padel, and golf communities. Players at the same venue can see who is active, place bets, and cash out within the app.

The new funding will be used to build product features, hire across engineering and growth, and bring in more users across the US. The company recently added ACH payouts, which it says helped drive a sharp jump in paid memberships.

Co-founder and CTO Gurminder Singh said the money will help the team move faster on payments, infrastructure, and real-world use cases.

InfiniteWatch raised EUR 3.4 million in a pre-seed round. The deal was led by Base10 Partners. Sequoia, a16z scouts, Kfund, Kibo, and LifeX also invested. InfiniteWatch is a startup based in Madrid. It was founded in 2025. The company operates in Spain.

Blinq Mobility raised INR 4.3 crore in a pre-seed round. The deal was led by 8i Ventures. IIMA Ventures, AIC Banasthali Vidyapith, Pharos Ventures, and Operators Studio took part. A group of angel investors also joined, including Neil Shroff, Arun Kumar Mahala, and Sarita Ahlawat.

The cash will go toward product development and vehicle engineering. It will also help build battery systems and swapping stations. Some will fund pilot programs with ride-hailing partners. The Blinq team said the best way to handle EV power is to swap batteries fast instead of charging.

Blinq Mobility builds electric vehicles with battery swapping for city use. The setup targets high-use fleets like logistics and ride-hailing to cut costs and downtime. The company works in India with support from places like ARAI.

Zipline, the autonomous drone delivery company, raised USD 600 million in new funding. This round values the business at USD 7.6 billion. Investors include Fidelity Management & Research Company, Baillie Gifford, Valor Equity Partners, and Tiger Global, among others both new and returning.

The funds will support expansion across at least four U.S. states this year. Zipline plans to start operations in Houston and Phoenix soon, then move into more areas. This builds on recent growth where the company has seen U.S. deliveries rise about 15% week-over-week for the past seven months.

Zipline will keep improving its platform. It uses smaller Platform 2 drones for home deliveries of food and retail items up to eight pounds within 10 miles. Larger Platform 1 drones handle longer trips for bigger clients. The company already works with partners like Walmart, Panera, Chipotle, and others in places such as Arkansas and the Dallas-Fort Worth area, with Seattle coming next.

Zipline builds and runs an autonomous drone system for fast, emission-free delivery. It started by delivering medical supplies like blood in places such as Rwanda back in 2016. Now it serves customers in Africa, Japan, and the United States with food, retail goods, agriculture items, and health products. The company focuses on making delivery quicker, cleaner, and more reliable for everyday needs and enterprise clients.

Enerzolve Smart Technologies has closed a USD 5.1 million seed round. Jungle Ventures and Kae Capital co-led the deal. Several startup founders also took part.

The company will put the capital into stronger manufacturing and further product development for smart grid and energy storage lines. It plans to grow pilot manufacturing and get key certifications for its hardware. The engineering team will expand for testing, validation, and bigger deployments. Part of the money will build deeper own tech in embedded systems, firmware, and silicon work.

Enerzolve develops embedded and power electronics solutions for smart grids, renewable energy integration, and battery storage. Its products include protection relays, smart meters, analyzers, grid monitors, batteries, management systems, converters, and inverters. The company serves industrial and commercial customers in India.

WanderOn has closed a INR 54 crore Series A round. The company calls it one of the largest institutional raises in India’s experiential travel space. DSG Consumer Partners and Client Associates Alternate Fund led the round together.

The capital will go toward expanding globally and creating new kinds of experience-led trips. The team also plans to improve technology and community features to make trip planning simpler and more connected.

Investors from DSG Consumer Partners said the WanderOn team understands how consumers now prefer experiences over material things. The community approach has driven steady growth, and they are happy to back the next steps in global reach and product work.

From Client Associates Alternate Fund, they noted that WanderOn has built a standout platform focused on authentic travel and real connections. The strong growth and active community put it in a good spot to shape experiential travel in India.

Govind Gaur, CEO, said young people are choosing to spend on genuine experiences rather than flashy items. For many, travel has become a regular part of life. The announcement comes directly from the company on their blog.

WanderOn organizes group trips built around shared experiences and community. It serves young travelers who want authentic connections on their journeys. The company is based in Gurugram and runs trips to over 40 domestic and international destinations.

San Francisco-based Higgsfield announced an $80 million Series A extension, bringing its total Series A funding to over $130 million. The round included participation from Accel, AI Capital Partners, Menlo Ventures, and other investors, valuing the company above $1.3 billion.

The funding follows rapid growth for Higgsfield. Since launching in April 2025, the platform has gained over 15 million users and now generates 4.5 million videos per day. Its content has reached more than 3 billion social media impressions, making it one of the top GenAI platforms for reach.

Most of Higgsfield’s usage comes from social media marketers, with 80% of that segment producing commercial content. The platform is increasingly used as a full production tool, letting teams handle ideation, storyboarding, animation, editing, and publishing all in one system. Some customers are already spending over $200,000 annually on the platform.

CEO Alex Mashrabov said traditional video production can’t keep up with modern marketing needs. He explained that Higgsfield lets creators iterate quickly, giving smaller teams or individuals a chance to outperform large studios online.

Board member Jeff Herbst noted the platform is moving from pilot projects to daily production use across enterprises, signaling real adoption. Antoine Blondeau of Alpha Intelligence Capital said the company has turned speed into a major advantage, letting teams build, ship, and iterate in days instead of weeks.

Higgsfield plans to use the new funding to expand internationally, grow its enterprise offerings, enhance AI models for commercial video, and continue R&D. The company is also improving its API and marketing automation tools for high-volume video production workflows.

Source: Higgsfield ai