Accel is a Silicon Valley venture capital firm. Recent coverage shows it led Modal Labs' $750M round at a $15.75B valuation, joined Simplismart's $14M Series B and Ema's $77M Series B, and invested in AI-agent messaging startup Ando. Partner Matt Weigand said the AI opportunity is shifting toward applications.
Nvidia backs Simplismart in $14M Series B roundIndian startup Simplismart raised a $14M all-primary Series B led by Dallas Venture Capital, with Nvidia, Accel, Shastra VC and Micromax participating, valuing it at about $100M. Its software optimizes model deployment so companies run AI with fewer GPUs and lower cost; annualized revenue grew 14-fold in six months, with the U.S. contributing over half.
Modal Labs tops week's US funding with $750MUS megadeals slowed this week, with only two rounds in the hundreds of millions. AI infrastructure provider Modal Labs raised $750M in a Series D led by Accel at a $15.75B valuation and said it passed a $1B annual revenue run rate; construction automation firm Icon followed with $200M. Biotech, insurance and AI also drew larger rounds.
Modal Labs nears $750M round at $15.75B valuationAI inference infrastructure provider Modal Labs is nearing a $750M round led by Accel at a $15.75B valuation, more than tripling its $4.65B valuation from a $355M raise just four months ago. Demand for inference services is surging, with peers like Baseten also seeking higher-valued rounds, though high compute costs keep margins thin.
Accel sees AI opportunity shifting to applicationsAccel partner Matt Weigand calls the AI boom Silicon Valley's biggest tech cycle, with investors watching where returns will land as billions flow into models, chips and data centers. He says open-source AI can grow alongside frontier labs like Anthropic and OpenAI, and trust and safety are becoming key factors in backing AI founders.
Ando launches team messaging app for humans and AI agentsAndo emerged from stealth with a team messaging platform that lets AI agents join conversations with their own identities, billing itself as a Slack replacement. The startup has raised $20 million in pre-seed and seed funding from investors including Accel, Index Ventures and Emergence.
Ema raises $77M Series BAI agents startup Ema raised $77M in Series B led by Creaegis with Accel, Section 32 and Prosus participating, bringing total funding to $140M. Its AI employees automate HR, IT and finance processes for over 50 enterprise customers including Google and Microsoft.
The A.I. Daily