The Venture Codex

Participated · Seed · Apr 2026

Patent Watch builds tools to help patent holders monetize and protect their patent portfolios and recently launched Patent Watch 2.0, which adds custom workflows, improved modules, and a refreshed user interface. The company is part of Y Combinator’s F25 batch and is led publicly by Alex Stroe alongside co-founder Andy. It raised $2.8M in a seed round and has now raised $3.2M in total capital. The product update and fundraising were announced together, indicating concurrent focus on product development and growth. The announcement highlights investor support from Y Combinator, FundersClub, Transpose Platform, Blast Club, MyAsiaVC, Asymmetry Ventures, Team Ignite Ventures, No Talking Capital and multiple angels. No revenue, user, or valuation figures were disclosed in the announcement.

Participated · Equity · Dec 2025

Enlightra is a deep-tech startup building patented multi-colour comb-laser platforms intended to replace power-hungry copper links in AI clusters and data centres with energy-efficient optical communication. Its integrated lasers consolidate many discrete sources into a single chip, with each wavelength acting as an independent data channel, dramatically shrinking power consumption, cost, and physical footprint. Built on industry-standard silicon-photonics processes, the company has already demonstrated 8- and 16-channel devices that achieve error-free data transmission at target speeds and power levels. Enlightra plans pilot production for 2027 and ultimately envisions its technology scaling from GPU-to-GPU links to whole-data-centre networks, subsea cables, and even quantum or space communications. By enabling fibre networks to run closer to full capacity, the platform aims to decouple performance growth from energy and cost increases in AI infrastructure. The fresh capital will fund continued R&D to boost data-transfer rates and efficiency while preparing the lasers for large-scale manufacturing.

Participated · Seed · Oct 2025

Founded in 2020 by Zain Zaidi and Ali Zaheer, TransCrypts offers a centralized, blockchain-enabled SaaS platform for background checks and employment verification, returning ownership of verified records to users while streamlining compliance for employers. The company already serves more than 4 million users and over 450 enterprise customers, including Fortune 100 and Fortune 500 firms. Its technology leverages cryptography and distributed ledgers to combat fraud, deepfakes, and data breaches in identity management. With co-headquarters in Toronto and San Francisco, TransCrypts plans to broaden its product suite from employment credentials into health and educational records. Proceeds from its latest financing will also support scaling of its customer base, compliance with additional privacy and security standards, and team expansion—particularly at the new Toronto office. The company positions itself at the intersection of digital identity, blockchain infrastructure, and credential verification SaaS. To date it has secured $15 million in outside capital, enabling continued growth in a market increasingly focused on secure, user-controlled identity solutions.

Participated · Series A · May 2025

Persist AI offers an AI-driven robotics platform and Cloud Lab that lets pharmaceutical scientists remotely predict, build, and test formulations using miniaturized, automated laboratory facilities. Its AI models generate formulation recipes and the robotic systems execute high-throughput experiments, dramatically reducing material use and timelines. In a recent engagement, Persist identified an optimal long-acting injectable in two months by building and testing 700 formulations, versus an industry standard of roughly 10–15 formulations per month. The Cloud Lab supports modalities including peptides, small molecules, antibodies, and antisense oligonucleotides, and serves multiple top-10 pharmaceutical clients as well as smaller biotechs. Persist plans to expand its robotic lab, broaden the range of formulations its models can predict and test, and build comprehensive datasets to improve its AI. The company is Y Combinator–backed (graduated 2023) and recently closed a $12 million Series A to fund these efforts. Persist AI is an AI-driven drug formulation company based in Woodland, CA. The company has developed robotics that enable automated development of long-acting injectable formulations. Coupled with AI models, their technology rapidly predicts which formulations will release drugs in the body for an extended period and reduce the number of injections patients need. Led by CEO Karthik Raman, Persist AI completed YCombinator and subsequently raised $4M in seed financing. The round was led by 2048 Ventures with participation from Innospark Ventures, Fellows Fund, YCombinator, Pioneer Fund and others. Persist AI intends to use the funds to expand operations and further its development efforts.

Participated · Series A · Mar 2025

Coreshell Technologies develops metallurgical silicon anode materials intended for use in battery anodes. The company has been selected as a recipient of a $50 million DOE award to expand its manufacturing capacity for that material. This award is part of a larger $500 million DOE program aimed at strengthening domestic energy supply chains and supporting startups. The program emphasizes goals such as reducing dependence on foreign sources, enhancing national security, and advancing U.S. energy leadership, with defense demand highlighted as an important market signal. The company’s near-term plan, as reflected in the award, centers on scaling production capability. The article did not provide revenue, user, founding year, location, or prior financing details.