🦄 Lovable hits $1.8B, Substack grabs $100M & Astronomer gets kiss-cammed...
Inside/VC Weekly #26
Good morning!
Welcome to another Inside/VC edition. This issue takes 5 minutes to read.
Only got 20 secs? Here’s what matters most this week:Lovable hits unicorn status just 8 months post-launch (🇸🇪)
Redstone cracks open VC access: €1K gets you into 200+ startups (🇩🇪)
Astronomer CEO quits after Coldplay kiss cam meltdown (🇺🇸)
Substack raises $100M to double down on writers and reach (🇺🇸)
Ex-Sequoia partner Matt Miller raises $355M for new fund Evantic (🇺🇸)
Let’s get into it.
Weekly Spotlight:
Lovable hits unicorn status just 8 months post-launch (🇸🇪)
Lovable just raised $200 million at a $1.8 billion valuation. The Swedish "vibe coding" startup launched eight months ago and already has over 10 million projects built on the platform.
It lets anyone create apps and websites using natural language. So far, it’s pulled in $75 million in ARR, with 180,000 paying users and a team of just 45. Most users aren’t even developers — think early-stage prototypes, not production code. Klarna and HubSpot are also already on board.
Accel led the round, joined by angels from Slack, Remote and HubSpot. The cap table reads like a SaaS hall of fame. Probably Webflow just got a new reason to refresh its roadmap.
Inside/VC Shorts
🚀 Startup Shorts:
Redstone cracks open VC access: €1K gets you into 200+ startups (🇩🇪)
Redstone and NAO just launched a retail-friendly VC fund that lets anyone invest in over 200 startups for as little as €1,000. Real venture exposure, no family office required.
The fund spans AI, fintech, health, and more. It’s app-based via NAO, skips double fees, and claims IRRs of up to 40 percent. Institutional structure, consumer access.
Is it true VC for the people or just smart packaging? Doesn’t matter. It’s clean, it’s live, and it might actually work. The only problem: Due to liquidity efficiency, the money is frozen for eight years. Read more
💡 Interesting Read: Redstone also just launched the ultimate university startup Report. 150+ pages of great, free content... -> Read NOW. 💡
Astronomer CEO quits after Coldplay kiss cam meltdown (🇺🇸)
You’ve definitely seen it. Astronomer’s CEO got caught on a kiss cam at a Coldplay concert, with his chief people officer — not his wife. The clip went viral within hours. Chris Martin cracked a joke, Twitter exploded, and now he’s out. Kicked out.
Co-founder Pete DeJoy steps in as interim CEO, probably the biggest winner here aside from whoever made the best meme. Cabot is on leave. And that $93 million Series D? Now mostly known for going viral in the worst possible way. Read more
FlixBus goes Down Under launches in Australia (🇦🇺)
FlixBus is entering the Australian market, adding a fifth continent to its network. Launch is planned for the upcoming summer season, with longtime exec Yvan Lefranc-Morin building the team out of Sydney.
The plan is familiar: compete with legacy coach lines and domestic airlines by offering a digital-first, low-cost booking experience. Flix has already served over 500 million passengers and now connects 6,800 destinations worldwide.
The Aussies should be pleased. Kangaroos, koalas, and now a full fleet of bright green buses. Read more
China puts delivery robots on the subway (🇨🇳)
Shenzhen just deployed 41 delivery robots that ride the metro to restock over 100 7-Eleven stores across the city. No joke, the robots use elevators, navigate platforms, and quietly roll into convenience stores with snacks on board.
Each bot is about a meter tall, carries locked cargo, and crosses train gaps using custom suspension systems. The project is run by Vanke, partly owned by Shenzhen Metro, and aims to replace human couriers who used to drag deliveries down escalators.
It’s the world’s first subway-based robot delivery network. For now, passengers are taking selfies with them. By 2027, they will probably just ignore them like any other commuter. Read more
💸 Fundraising Shorts:
Substack raises $100M to double down on writers and reach (🇺🇸)
Substack just locked in a $100 million Series C, led by BOND and The Chernin Group. Andreessen Horowitz, Klutch Sports CEO Rich Paul, and Skims co-founder Jens Grede also joined the round. Valuation? $1.1 billion — up nearly 70 percent from 2021.
The platform now has over 5 million paid subscriptions (if you’re not one yet, now’s a great time to join 😉) and says the new cash will go toward better tools, wider reach, and deeper support for writers. Also, yes, more app features.
Newsletter bros (and yeah, I might be one of them) your indirect cap table just went full Hollywood. Read More
Ex-Sequoia partner Matt Miller raises $355M for new fund Evantic (🇺🇸)
Matt Miller, formerly a longtime partner at Sequoia, just raised $355 million for his new firm Evantic. The fund will focus on B2B investments across Europe and the US, operating out of London. Sequoia is in as an LP.
The timing is interesting. Miller left after a failed boardroom power move at Klarna, but seems to have landed on his feet. He’s still a venture partner at Sequoia and holds multiple board seats. Read More
Chainsmokers’ Mantis VC closes $100M third fund (🇺🇸)
Mantis VC, the fund run by the Chainsmokers, just raised $100 million for Fund III — a 25 percent step up from their last. Not bad in a market where even top firms are downsizing.
Unlike most celebrity VCs chasing consumer hype, they’re backing B2B startups like Chainguard and Rogo. Still, their fame helps: private gigs for Fortune 500 execs = warm intros.
Who needs pitch decks when you’ve got backstage passes? Read More
🥗 Extra: What it’s really like to be a female founder in 2025
Women-founded startups still get just 2.3% of global VC funding — despite delivering strong results. A new deep dive by my good friend
breaks down the data, sector gaps, and structural biases female founders face today.It dives into round sizes, sector skew (AI and cybersecurity remain male-dominated), investor bias, and the structural hurdles women face from Seed to Series C+. Even in “female” sectors like beauty or healthcare, funding still lags far behind.
If you're building, hiring, or investing, it's a must-read.
Get the full breakdown → HERE
🧑💻 Career Corner: Hot VC Internships (US + EU)Internships
🇩🇪 Simon Capital - Venture Capital Internship (Dusseldorf) ➤ Job desc.
🇫🇷 ⚡ SUPER CAPITAL ⚡ - VC Intern (Paris) ➤ Job desc.
🇫🇷 Partech - Investor Relations Intern (Paris) ➤ Job desc.
🇮🇳 CS Ventures Official - Investment Associate Intern (Mumbai) ➤ Job desc.
🇫🇮 OpenOcean - Part-Time Finance Intern (Helsinki) ➤ Job desc
🇺🇸 LvlUp Ventures - Fall Associate (New York) ➤ Job desc
🇺🇸 Pegasus Angel Accelerator - VC Fellow (Los Angeles) ➤ Job desc
🇩🇪 Ananda Impact - VC Analyst Intern (Munich/Berlin) ➤ Job desc.
Appreciate you reading.
If you found it useful, feel free to share it with friends or colleagues — and hit that like. It helps more than you think.
See you next week.
Cheers 🥂
Shoutout to Synaptic – they helped me pull data on 10.000+ VCs for the lists. If you’re sourcing, tracking, or just curious about who’s deploying capital in Europe, their platform’s worth a look.
nice cover