In partnership with

🚀The Infra Boom: Recalibration, Not a Reset.

Despite a growing chorus of concerns about overbuilding in the AI infrastructure sector, leading indicators suggest the market is not collapsing—but evolving. As global demand for AI-ready compute continues to rise, capital is concentrating around infrastructure that can scale responsibly and sustainably.

Rewiring the Digital Economy

Recent project delays and IPO volatility—including Microsoft's infrastructure recalibrations and CoreWeave's rocky public debut—have raised fears of a potential "bubble" in the sector. However, global investment trends tell a more nuanced story. Meta’s projected $200 billion infrastructure spend, Nvidia’s $100 billion fund focused on AI ecosystems, and Europe’s multibillion-euro AI initiatives suggest that strategic capital is moving from broad speculation to targeted deployment.

Rather than a retreat, the market is experiencing a recalibration: a shift from unchecked expansion toward efficiency, optionality, and long-term value creation.

Supply Chain Bottlenecks Signal Accelerating Demand

Constraints across the energy grid, semiconductor supply chains, and construction timelines are slowing data center buildouts worldwide. Yet these friction points highlight demand exceeding capacity, not a decline in underlying need. AI training racks are now pushing beyond 200kW per rack. Lead times for power access have stretched beyond three years in many regions.

In this context, delays are not evidence of overinvestment—they are symptoms of an industry sprinting to keep pace with the next wave of compute-heavy AI workloads, from agentic models to multimodal deployments.

A Strategic Reset, Not a Collapse

The current phase mirrors the aftermath of the dot-com crash, where market excesses were corrected but foundational technologies accelerated. Analysts project that AI workloads will drive 70% of new data center demand by 2030. Enterprises and governments are already shifting digital transformation strategies around AI-native infrastructure, hybrid clouds, and sovereign compute models.

Instead of an implosion, the sector is undergoing a critical strategic reset, redefining how infrastructure is built, financed, and deployed at a global scale.

Infrastructure Becomes the Battleground for AI Leadership

Infrastructure is no longer a back-end consideration; it is becoming the defining competitive lever for AI leadership. Enterprises that can scale AI systems sustainably—across energy, orchestration, security, and cost efficiency—will command market advantage.

At AI INFRA SUMMIT, speakers from Microsoft, AMD, Supermicro, Weka, BP, Zscaler, Nutanix, and others will examine the technologies and strategies reshaping the deployment layer for AI systems. Key themes include energy optimization, token economics, multicloud orchestration, and sustainable infrastructure at scale.

Conclusion

The question is not whether the AI economy will continue to grow. It’s whether today’s infrastructure players can build the foundations smartly, sustainably, and ahead of demand. As investment flows shift from expansion-at-all-costs to intentional scalability, the winners will be those who adapt fastest to a world where infrastructure is the new currency of innovation.

🎙️ AI INFRA SUMMIT: Can’t-Miss Sessions

The future of AI infrastructure is being built in real time—and in just a few days, you’ll be at the center of it all.

At AI INFRA SUMMIT, it's not just keynotes and panels. We've packed the day with exclusive, high-impact sessions that put you shoulder-to-shoulder with the boldest leaders shaping what’s next:

• Women in AI Breakfast: Kick off the day with a powerhouse gathering of founders, executives, and engineers leading the charge. Real conversations. Real connections. Real leadership.

• AI Executive Think Tank: This is not a panel. It’s a strategy room. Enterprise tech leaders from Walmart, Mondelez, Toyota, Microsoft, NVIDIA, and more will join forces to align on the realities of scaling AI infrastructure—from deployment gaps to geopolitical risks.

• Investing in infrastructure panels: Our Investor and VC panels bring together top minds from firms like Celesta Capital, Scale VP, BlackRock, and Aurum Partners to break down where the smart money is heading. From sovereign cloud plays to sustainable data center bets, these panels will unpack the biggest opportunities, risks, and global trends shaping the future of AI infrastructure investment.

And that’s just the beginning. From Inflection AI’s vision of seamless infrastructure to Supermicro’s 200kW racks to BP’s liquid cooling breakthroughs, the insights at AI INFRA will move faster—and go deeper—than anything you’ll hear this year.

Final passes are almost gone. 🎟️ https://lu.ma/aiinfra3
Secure yours now and step into the next era of intelligent infrastructure.

// LLAMA LOUNGE ROCKS - AGAIN

As always, Llama Lounge delivered. Now in its 17th edition—and set against the iconic backdrop of the Jensen Huang Building at Stanford—the event once again proved why it’s one of the most vibrant and enduring gatherings in the tech community. Few formats create the same magic: real conversations, deep connections, and an unmatched sense of momentum.

The energy was felt. Jeremiah Owyang and Chris Yeh lit up the stage with sharp insights and bold ideas, setting a powerful tone for the night. And the startups? They brought the fire, showcasing new ideas that's rewriting the future of AI and work. Llama Lounge continues to be more than an event—it’s a movement we’re proud to be part of.

💵Bay Area Startups Collectively Secured $895M This Week

$895M in fundings went to Bay Area startups this week, taking the April-to-date total to $8.97B. It was a slow week for megadeals – only two, Supabase ($200M) and ManyChat ($140M). And for the first time in quite a while, there were no megadeals for the AI sector.

On exits: There were seven acquisitions this week. Six of the seven were local companies acquiring out-of-state firms and all seven transactions were for undisclosed amounts. And the absence of IPO activity continued; we're now waiting on Figma as the most likely candidate to take the plunge.

AI power & cost climb: A study done by Epoch AI found that the computational performance of leading AI supercomputers has doubled every 9 months. And their power requirements and hardware costs have doubled every year. The result is that as of March 2025, the highest performing AI supercomputer, xAI’s Colossus, had an estimated hardware cost of $7B and required about 300 megawatts of power—as much as 250,000 households. More...

Aging Dry Powder: Per Pitchbook and Cambridge Associates, private equity and venture capital funds are sitting on ~$1.7 trillion of dry powder (that is, capital that's been committed but not yet invested). Of note is that this includes ~$140B raised in 2019 - 2020, plus another $200M from 2021. More...

Follow us on LinkedIn to stay on top of what's happening in 2025 in startup fundings, M&A and IPOs, VC fundraising plus new executive hires & investor moves.

Early Stage:

• Astro Mechanica closed a $27.1M Series A, reinventing supersonic aircraft by innovating on engine, airframe, and systems that industry hasn’t in over 50 years.

• Listen Labs closed a $27M Series A, an autonomous market researcher, our AI handles everything - designing the interviews, finding the right participants, and analyzing responses.

• Reducto closed a $24.5M Series A, is the most accurate solution for turning complex documents into AI-ready inputs.

• Lace AI closed a $14M Seed, uses AI to analyze 100% of phone calls to detect lost revenue opportunities, empowering CSRs and agents to book more jobs and maximize revenue.

• Amplifier Security closed a $5.6M Seed, provides the first Autonomous User Security platform using AI to automate user engagement, drive remediation, and close security gaps in real time.

Growth Stage:

• ManyChat closed a $140M Series B, a global leader in conversational AI and automation across social and messaging platforms, helping businesses and creators engage their audiences through intelligent, automated conversations.

• Endor Labs closed a $93M Series B, building the application security platform for open source to AI-generated code that helps teams identify, prioritize, and fix the vulnerabilities that actually matter—faster.

• Windfall closed a $65M Series B, a people intelligence and AI company that gives go-to-market teams actionable insights.

• Alpaca closed a $52M Series C, a US-headquartered self-clearing broker-dealer and brokerage infrastructure for stocks, ETFs, options, and crypto– raising over USD170 million in funding.

• Overture Life closed a $20.6M Series B, our mission is to automate assisted reproductive processes to improve IVF pregnancy outcomes through process automation and non-invasive embryo selection.

Data Phoenix Joins AI INFRA SUMMIT to Power Industry Conversations

We’re also excited to spotlight Data Phoenix—our partner hosting a special Expo Roundtable at AI INFRA SUMMIT.

Data Phoenix is a San Francisco Bay Area-based media and education platform dedicated to advancing the AI and Data community. As a trusted voice for professionals and organizations, they deliver essential news, insights, and practical knowledge that helps turn ideas into action and drive real innovation. Beyond media, Data Phoenix empowers companies to be heard through strategic marketing initiatives, interviews, educational materials, and collaborations with leading AI communities around the globe.

We’re proud to have them at AI INFRA SUMMIT, bringing even more opportunity for deep engagement and fresh perspective to the conversations that will shape the future of infrastructure.

Your Feedback Matters!

Our mission is to provide an insider's view of Silicon Valley's undercurrents – insights often overlooked by mainstream sources. While many newsletters offer broad market overviews, we focus on delivering a unique, in-depth understanding of the local ecosystem. We share behind-the-scenes conversations, introduce key players we meet at events, and offer exclusive insights.

Your feedback is crucial in helping us refine our content and maintain the newsletter's value for you and your fellow readers. We welcome your suggestions on how we can improve our offering. [email protected] 

Logan Lemery
Head of Content // Team Ignite

Apple’s Starlink Update Sparks Huge Earning Opportunity

Apple just secretly added Starlink satellite support to iPhones through iOS 18.3.

One of the biggest potential winners? Mode Mobile.

Mode’s EarnPhone already reaches +45M users that have earned over $325M, and that’s before global satellite coverage. With SpaceX eliminating "dead zones" worldwide, Mode's earning technology can now reach billions more.

Mode is now gearing up for a possible Nasdaq listing (ticker: MODE) but you can still invest in their pre-IPO offering at $0.30/share before their share price changes.

Earn up to 100% bonus shares by investing at $0.30/share now.

_{*An intent to IPO is no guarantee that an actual IPO will occur. Please read the offering circular and related risks at invest.modemobile.com.
*The Deloitte rankings are based on submitted applications and public company database research.}