Issue #53October 19, 202613 links

Seven companies join a16z speedrun's SR007 batch

Seven companies disclosed they joined a16z speedrun's SR007 batch, including Mecone (perpetual futures infrastructure for exchanges), KIRA (industrial wastewater turned into clean water for data centers) and Coop (independent benchmarks and evals for robotics models). Circularity Fuels raised $8.8M toward a $10.2M offering per an SEC Form D, and Marklo raised a $5.0M Seed.

Interesting

dataforprogress.org

Americans’ Social Activity Has Steeply Declined in the Past 30 Years

Economics

Dev Tools

rtrvr.ai

rtrvr.ai: Retrieve, Research, Robotize the Web with AI

Navigate the web with AI, automate tasks, and extract data effortlessly.

Design Inspiration Browser Agents

pancake.ai

Pancake

Pancake’s AI agents monitor buying signals, find warm leads, grow your AI search visibility, and learn from every interaction.

GTM Design Inspiration

Cool Company Raises

speedrun SR007

Mecone joins a16z speedrun (SR007)

We are building the financial infrastructure to let exchanges offer Perpetual Futures ("Perps") on any underlying asset.

Fintech Blockchain-Crypto a16z speedrun

speedrun SR007

Reelful joins a16z speedrun (SR007)

Personal video-editing agent turning raw footage into ready-to-share content, saving 90% of editing time

Consumer Media-Entertainment-Creator-Economy AI-Generative-Media a16z speedrun

speedrun SR007

KIRA joins a16z speedrun (SR007)

We transform industrial wastewater into clean water for data centers: we enable critical infrastructure.

Infra Hardware Manufacturing-Industrials a16z speedrun

speedrun SR007

Coop joins a16z speedrun (SR007)

Independent, industry-specific benchmarks and evals for robotics models.

Robotics Hardware AI-Models-Research a16z speedrun

YC F26

Praxis launches at YC (Fall 2026)

Praxis builds AI agents that run law-firm operations from first inquiry to paid invoice — intake, onboarding, admin and billing — with a lawyer approving each step. Live with US law firms. Founded by Diana Khramina (ex-Gorgias AI Agent GTM lead, McKinsey) and Maxence Guegnolle--Santi (ex-SightCall, BlaBlaCar, Uber). Fall 2026 Y Combinator company.

Artificial-Intelligence Legal Legaltech YC B2B

$5.0M

Marklo raises a $5.0M Seed round

Marklo is a provider of an agentic marketing platform specifically designed for brands operating on Shopify. The platform intelligently analyzes sales, marketing activities, inventory, and market trends to identify revenue opportunities and automate campaign processes. Marklo connects various tools like Shopify, Klaviyo, and Google to streamline marketing efforts for DTC brands. It offers insights and automation that help brands enhance their marketing strategies and operational efficiency.

Advertising SAAS Analytics Freestyle Capital Forerunner $1M++4 more

$8.8M

Circularity Fuels raises a $8.8M round

Circularity Fuels builds AI-controlled, mass-manufacturable reactors that turn waste carbon and cheap renewable power into drop-in hydrocarbon fuels and chemicals. Its October 2026 SEC Form D reports $8.79M raised toward a $10.2M offering.

Energy $1M+

speedrun SR007

Colmez joins a16z speedrun (SR007)

Agentic platform for the $248bn hazardous waste industry

Enterprise-SAAS Climate-Energy Manufacturing-Industrials a16z speedrun

speedrun SR007

Baro joins a16z speedrun (SR007)

Building the AI General Manager for Consumer Brands.

Commerce-Marketplaces AI-Agents a16z speedrun

speedrun SR007

Switchfrog joins a16z speedrun (SR007)

Turn every web product into an app for agents

Cybersecurity AI-Agents AI-Infra a16z speedrun

Was this forwarded to you?

One brief each weekday morning. One-click unsubscribe.