Weekend Funding Roundup:
Mar 23, 2026
Prediction markets entered a new era. Kalshi raised $1B at a $22B valuation, doubling its December price in three months on the back of $10B+ monthly trading volume. Healthcare AI and European deep-tech both drew serious capital: Doctronic raised $40M for prescription automation, and Norwegian startup Lace raised $40M from Atomico for atomic-level chipmaking. Palo Alto Networks continued cybersecurity's M&A wave with a $3.35B acquisition of Chronosphere. Meanwhile, Crunchbase data confirmed what the market has been whispering: March funding is slowing as AI megarounds cool.
Rounds
Prediction market platform Kalshi raised another $1B at a $22B valuation, doubling its December price tag. February trading volume exceeded $10B and annualized revenue hit $1.5B. The regulated exchange lets users trade contracts on real-world events, from elections to weather to economic data. Founded in 2018 by Tarek Mansour and Luana Lopes Lara, Kalshi has raised $2.5B+ total. The round underscores how prediction markets have evolved from niche crypto experiments to institutional-grade financial infrastructure. At $22B, Kalshi is now more valuable than most traditional exchanges.
AI-driven healthcare platform Doctronic raised $40M to automate medication refill approvals, prescription renewals, and 24/7 telemedicine consultations. Founded in 2023 by Matt Pavelle and Adam Oskowitz, the company addresses one of healthcare's most frustrating bottlenecks: the administrative friction between patients needing prescriptions and providers who are overloaded with renewal requests. Total raised: $65M.
Norwegian deep-tech startup Lace raised $40M to build atomic-level chipmaking technology using helium atom lithography. While the semiconductor industry pushes EUV lithography to its limits, Lace is betting on a fundamentally different approach: using helium atoms for sub-nanometer precision fabrication. Atomico leading with Microsoft's M12 participating signals serious conviction in a European hardware bet at a time when semiconductor sovereignty is a geopolitical priority.
Also Noted
Japanese startup building laser-based propulsion thrusters for small satellites. Led by parent company SKY Perfect JSAT. The technology enables precise orbital maneuverability without chemical propellants, potentially transforming satellite operations.
London-based enterprise AI startup raised $16.5M led by DN Capital with Bek Ventures and Air Street Capital. Deploys AI workflow agents that extract tacit knowledge from organizational communications, capturing institutional knowledge that usually lives in emails and chat.
Israeli developer security startup raised $16.5M led by Maverick Ventures with Ten Eleven Ventures. Provides just-in-time permissions for developer identities across CI/CD pipelines and cloud infrastructure.
Digital comics publishing platform raised $13M led by SBI US Gateway Fund and Point72 Ventures. Founded in 2017, GlobalComix provides creators and independent publishers with tools for distribution and monetization in the digital comics market. Total raised: $19.7M.
Montreal-based semiconductor company raised CAD $17M led by Idealist Ventures and Real Ventures. Develops ultra-low-power, ultra-wideband wireless transceiver chips for IoT location tracking with sub-nanosecond latency.
AI personal recall assistant raised $11M seed led by Lotus Studio, with angel backing from Lenny Rachitsky, Scott Belsky, Gokul Rajaram, and Justin Rosenstein. Captures and retrieves on-screen content to help users resurface information they've previously seen.
Acquisitions
Cybersecurity giant Palo Alto Networks is acquiring cloud-native observability platform Chronosphere for $3.35B. Founded in 2019 by former Uber engineers Martin Mao and Rob Skillington (who built Uber's M3 observability stack), Chronosphere had raised $277M at a $1.6B valuation. The acquisition extends Palo Alto's strategy of buying best-in-class monitoring tools to complement its security platform, following its pattern of aggressive M&A.
News & Signals
US startup funding slowing in March as AI megarounds cool
Crunchbase data shows March 2026 is on track for significantly less venture funding than January or February, driven by a decline in AI megarounds. The numbers suggest the AI funding boom is becoming more selective rather than ending: capital is still flowing, but fewer $500M+ rounds are closing. This tracks with what VCs have been saying privately, that the market is bifurcating between foundation model companies (which can still raise at any price) and everyone else (which increasingly cannot).
Prediction markets hit institutional-grade scale
Kalshi's $1B raise at $22B comes alongside February trading volume exceeding $10B. For context, the Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE) was valued at roughly $13B when it went public. Prediction markets are no longer a novelty: they are becoming real financial infrastructure. The regulatory clarity that Kalshi fought for (and won in court against the CFTC) created a moat that traditional exchanges are now trying to compete against. CME Group and Robinhood have both launched event contracts, validating the category Kalshi pioneered.
European deep-tech has a strong week
Lace ($40M, Norway), SPARK Microsystems (CAD $17M, Canada), and Interloom ($16.5M, UK) join a broader trend: 55+ European tech deals worth over 504M euros closed this week, according to Tech.eu. The semiconductor sovereignty theme is driving capital into European hardware startups. Lace's helium atom lithography and SPARK's UWB chips represent genuine technical differentiation, not just geographic diversification. Atomico and Microsoft's M12 co-investing in a Norwegian chip startup would have been unthinkable five years ago.
Palo Alto Networks continues cybersecurity's M&A consolidation wave
The $3.35B Chronosphere acquisition is Palo Alto Networks' latest move in a multi-year buying spree that has reshaped enterprise cybersecurity. The playbook: acquire best-in-class point solutions and integrate them into a unified platform. With Chronosphere, Palo Alto adds cloud-native observability to its security stack, blurring the line between monitoring and security. Combined with IBM's $11B Confluent acquisition and Mastercard's $1.8B BVNK deal, March 2026 is shaping up as one of the most active M&A months in enterprise tech history.
VC Mood on X
The Sunday mood was introspective. The Crunchbase data point, that March funding is tracking well below January and February, triggered a debate about whether the AI boom is maturing or merely pausing. The bulls argued that Q1 is always front-loaded (companies close rounds before fiscal year planning) and that the pipeline for Q2 remains strong. The bears pointed to a more structural concern: as foundation model companies consolidate into a handful of winners (OpenAI, Anthropic, xAI, Google), the "AI application layer" startups are struggling to raise because investors question their defensibility against the platforms themselves.
Kalshi's $22B valuation at $1B raised drew admiration and skepticism in equal measure. The admiration: building a regulated exchange from scratch, winning a landmark CFTC court case, and reaching $10B monthly volume in under seven years is genuinely impressive. The skepticism: prediction market volumes are highly correlated with election cycles and novelty events, and it is unclear whether $10B monthly volume is a steady state or a peak. Several traders noted that Kalshi's volumes dropped significantly in Q1 2026 vs the November 2025 election peak, which raises questions about the sustainability of the revenue base supporting a $22B price tag.
The Chronosphere acquisition at $3.35B (roughly 2x its last private valuation) added to the growing consensus that the best exit path for enterprise infrastructure startups in 2026 is acquisition, not IPO. With Confluent ($11B to IBM), BVNK ($1.8B to Mastercard), and now Chronosphere ($3.35B to Palo Alto Networks), the message is clear: large platforms are buying growth rather than building it, and VCs are accepting strategic premiums over the uncertainty of public markets. The IPO window remains technically open but practically narrow.
Rounds and signals sourced from SEC filings, press releases, and verified news reports. "Also Noted" covers smaller or less-documented deals. All amounts in USD unless noted. Reporting reflects information available at time of publication.