Friday Founders: Issue #6 | Highlights from 25 – 31 July 2025

Hi Founders,

It’s Friday, 1 August 2025, and deal-makers clearly didn’t take a summer holiday. From Figma’s return to the public markets to a near-billion-dollar CX AI buy-out, here are the ten stories you’ll want on your radar before the weekend.

1. 🖌️ Figma IPO Raises $1.2 B at a $19.3 B Valuation

TL; DR: Two years after Adobe’s blocked takeover, Figma hit Nasdaq at $33 a share, netting one of 2025’s few billion-dollar tech IPOs and nearly matching Adobe’s scrapped $20 B offer.

Why you should care: A clean debut re-opens the late-stage exit window for product-dev SaaS. If you sell into the design or collaboration stack, Figma’s S-1 KPIs (48 % YoY growth, 88 % gross margin) just became your new comp set.

Read more → Axios

2. 📈 Anaconda Snags $150 M Series C, Valued at $1.5 B

TL; DR: Insight Partners and Mubadala led the round to scale the Python-AI toolbox, bankroll tuck-in M&A, and fund a new Databricks partnership.

Why you should care: The open-source data-science layer is monetising fast. If your startup builds on Conda packages or notebook infra, expect richer plug-in marketplaces and stiffer competition for enterprise wallets.

Read more → Reuters

3. 💳 Ramp Raises $500 M, Soars to a $22.5 B Valuation

TL; DR: ICONIQ and Tiger re-upped the spend-management unicorn barely one month after its previous round, marking a 41 % valuation jump.

Why you should care: ROI-clear fintech isn’t slowing. Selling cost-savers remains the shortest path to mega-rounds while rates stay elevated.

Read more → Reuters

4. 🤝 NICE Buys Cognigy for $955 M

TL; DR: The Hoboken-based CX giant is folding Cognigy’s agentic AI into CXone to automate complex contact-center workflows.

Why you should care: Conversational-AI pure-plays are ripe for consolidation into suite platforms. If your product sits in the support stack, prepare integration hooks or an exit deck.

Read more → SiliconANGLE

5. 🪐 OpenAI Plots ‘Stargate’ Data Center in Norway

TL; DR: A new partnership will build OpenAI’s first European hyperscale site, tapping cheap hydro power and cold climate for cooling.

Why you should care: Sovereign data-residency demands are rising. Startups serving EU clients may soon route inference to Nordic clusters for privacy compliance and lower energy cost.

Read more → Wall Street Journal

6. 🔄 OpenAI & Microsoft Renegotiate Six-Year Partnership

TL; DR: Axios says both firms want to loosen mutual dependency as OpenAI eyes a full for-profit pivot, but neither plans to split.

Why you should care: Any tweak to exclusivity or pricing ripples through your Azure/OpenAI cost stack. Keep an eye on API terms before locking multi-year commitments.

Read more → Axios

7. 📊 Surge AI in Talks to Raise $1 B at a $25 B Valuation

TL; DR: Bloomberg reports Scale AI’s arch-rival may pull off a first-ever round north of $1 B to fund “next-gen” data-labeling automation.

Why you should care: The data-labeling wars are accelerating. Founders needing bespoke datasets should secure contracts now prices could spike once the raise closes.

Read more → Bloomberg

8. 👁️ Topcon Acquires IRIS, Boosting AI Retinal Screening

TL;DR: The ophthalmology-hardware leader snapped up Intelligent Retinal Imaging Systems to embed AI diagnostics in its cameras.

Why you should care: Edge-diagnostic AI with regulatory clearance is hot M&A bait across med-device verticals. If you hold FDA 510(k) or CE marks, expect inbound calls.

Read more → Ophthalmology Times

9. 🍏 EU Accepts Apple App-Store Tweaks, Shelves Daily Fines

TL; DR: Reuters sources say Brussels will halt looming DMA penalties after Apple added third-party payment links and revamped fee structures.

Why you should care: The truce sets a template for app-store compliance. Mobile-first startups can re-run EU unit-economics with lower Apple tax but should prepare for rival marketplaces, too.

Read more → Reuters

10. 🧰 Ramp-Up in AI Tool Deals Spurs $69.9 B Q3 VC Surge

TL;DR: PitchBook tallied nearly $70 B deployed into U.S. startups last quarter, the biggest since ChatGPT’s launch, led by AI infrastructure and fintech.

Why you should care: Dry-powder fears are fading. If you’re planning a raise, strike while AI hype and secondary-sale liquidity remain frothy.

Read more → Reuters