ACQUISITIONS

• Novartis pays $2B for stealth allergy biotech Excellergy, five years after founding
• Shield AI raises $2B at $12.7B valuation and acquires simulation leader Echelon Technologies to accelerate AI pilots

FUNDRAISING ANNOUNCEMENTS

• Normal Computing raises $50M from Samsung to build thermodynamic AI chips targeting the data center energy crisis
• Overmatch Ventures closes $250M debut fund to back deep tech, defense, and space startups with 25-company concentrated portfolio
• Moda raises $7.5M from General Catalyst to build AI design agent with fully editable canvas — not 'AI slop'

GUEST INTERVIEWS

• AI video director Billy Boman on making Super Bowl ads, directing AI commercials for Taylor Swift and Lewis Capaldi, and having his own Hollywood-scale sign
• Fundrise CEO Benjamin Miller on listing VCX on NYSE — a public venture fund with 100K investors up 85% in three years

NEWS

• Novartis pays $2B for stealth allergy biotech Excellergy, five years after founding
• Anthropic's leaked 'Mythos' model described as step-change in AI capabilities, pricing hints at 10x cost increase
• OpenAI's ChatGPT ads pilot hits $100M annualized run rate six weeks after launch, expanding to self-serve in April