Funding
NeuralFlow Closes $67M Series B Led by Sequoia Capital
San Francisco-based NeuralFlow has secured $67 million in Series B funding, led by Sequoia Capital with participation from Accel and existing investors. The AI-powered analytics platform, founded by Maya Chen and David Rodriguez in 2021, has grown to serve over 300 enterprise clients including Salesforce, Adobe, and Shopify.
The company's proprietary machine learning algorithms process billions of data points in real-time, helping businesses make faster, more informed decisions. With this new capital, NeuralFlow plans to expand its engineering team by 80 people and accelerate product development across predictive analytics and automated insights.
Chen, who previously led AI initiatives at Google, stated that the funding validates their vision of democratizing advanced analytics for mid-market companies. The platform has achieved 400% year-over-year growth and maintains a 98% customer retention rate.
Unicorn
PayStream Achieves Unicorn Status with $2.1B Valuation
Austin-based PayStream has joined the unicorn club following a $180 million Series C round that values the company at $2.1 billion. The embedded payments platform, co-founded by Jennifer Martinez and Robert Thompson, has revolutionized how software companies monetize payment processing.
PayStream's API-first approach allows SaaS platforms to integrate payment functionality in hours rather than months. The company now processes over $4.2 billion in monthly transaction volume across 12,000 merchants, with particular strength in vertical SaaS markets like property management, healthcare, and professional services.
Tiger Global led the round with participation from Stripe, Ribbit Capital, and Bessemer Venture Partners. Martinez, formerly a payments executive at Square, emphasized that embedded finance is still in its early innings, with massive opportunity ahead as more software companies realize payments can become their largest revenue stream.
Expansion
EcoGrid Expands Solar Network to 15 States, Reaches 45,000 Homes
Denver-based EcoGrid has announced a major expansion of its residential solar network, now operating across 15 states and serving 45,000 households. The clean energy startup, founded by Sarah Williams in 2020, has pioneered an innovative financing model that eliminates upfront costs for homeowners.
EcoGrid's subscription-based approach allows families to access solar power for less than their current utility bills, with no installation fees or long-term contracts. The company handles all equipment, installation, maintenance, and monitoring, making solar adoption as simple as switching internet providers.
The expansion comes after a $95 million Series B round led by Breakthrough Energy Ventures. Williams, a former Tesla energy executive, reports that EcoGrid's model has reduced carbon emissions by an estimated 120,000 tons annually while saving customers an average of $1,200 per year on energy costs.
Acquisition
Shopify Acquires Inventory Management Startup StockFlow for $340M
E-commerce giant Shopify has acquired StockFlow, a Seattle-based inventory management platform, for $340 million in cash and stock. The acquisition strengthens Shopify's fulfillment capabilities and brings advanced inventory optimization tools to its merchant ecosystem.
StockFlow, founded by Michael Chang and Lisa Anderson in 2019, uses predictive algorithms to help retailers optimize stock levels, reduce waste, and improve cash flow. The platform serves over 5,000 merchants and has prevented an estimated $200 million in inventory write-offs through its demand forecasting technology.
Chang will join Shopify as VP of Fulfillment Technology, while Anderson takes on the role of Director of Inventory Intelligence. The StockFlow team of 85 employees will integrate into Shopify's logistics division, with the platform becoming available to all Shopify Plus merchants by Q3.
Product Launch
HealthBridge Launches AI-Powered Hospital Logistics Platform
Boston-based HealthBridge has unveiled its next-generation hospital logistics platform, powered by artificial intelligence and real-time tracking technology. The system, now deployed in 200+ hospitals, optimizes the movement of equipment, supplies, and staff throughout medical facilities.
Founder Jessica Park, who built the company from her garage to $50 million in annual recurring revenue, explained that hospitals waste an estimated 30% of staff time searching for equipment and supplies. HealthBridge's platform uses IoT sensors and machine learning to predict needs, automate reordering, and guide staff to resources instantly.
Early adopters report 40% reductions in equipment search time and 25% improvements in supply chain efficiency. The platform has processed over 50 million logistics events and is expanding into surgical scheduling and patient flow optimization.
Partnership
Microsoft Partners with CodeMentor AI for Developer Tools Integration
Microsoft has announced a strategic partnership with CodeMentor AI, a Y Combinator-backed startup that recently raised $6.5 million in seed funding. The collaboration will integrate CodeMentor's AI-powered coding assistant directly into Visual Studio Code and GitHub Copilot.
CodeMentor AI, founded by former Meta engineers Kevin Park and Amanda Foster, specializes in context-aware code suggestions that understand entire codebases rather than just individual files. The technology has been adopted by over 50,000 developers and supports 25 programming languages.
The partnership gives Microsoft access to CodeMentor's advanced language models while providing the startup with distribution to millions of developers worldwide. Financial terms were not disclosed, but sources indicate Microsoft took a minority equity stake as part of the agreement.