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Welcome to the latest issue of RVL
A weekly digest uncovering how design, technology, and capital are shaping the next generation of companies.
This week: AI is flooding into the biggest rounds venture has ever seen, while also quietly reshaping how companies hire, build, and operate. We dig into where capital is flowing, which startup models are under pressure, and what's working inside RNO1.
ON THE RADAR
What's making waves right now
Jack Dorsey just cut half of Block's workforce, and says your company is next.
Block is cutting more than 4,000 employees, taking it from over 10,000 workers down to just under 6,000. Investors responded by sending the stock up more than 24% in after-hours trading.
The reasoning wasn't financial distress, it was AI. Dorsey predicts most companies will arrive at the same place within 12 months. The question for founders isn't if this restructuring comes. It's whether you get ahead of it.
STARTUP SPOTLIGHT
Funding news that matters this week
OpenAI: Raised $110B in one of the largest private funding rounds in history (now at a $840B Valuation), backed by Amazon, Nvidia, and SoftBank. The round remains open with more investors expected to join.
Wayve: AV startup raised $1.2B Series D led by Mercedes-Benz, Stellantis, Nissan, and Uber. Lookout for Uber robotaxi rollouts in your city in 2026.
World Labs: Fei-Fei Li's spatial AI startup pulled in $1B to build foundational models that generate and interact with the 3D world.
SambaNova Systems: Closed a $350M round led by Vista Equity Partners, with SoftBank first in line to deploy its new SN50 chips in Japanese AI data centers.
Waymo: Secured $16B led by Dragoneer, DST Global, and Sequoia, valuing the company at ~$126B post-money.
Basis: AI accounting platform raised $100M Series B at a $1.15B valuation, as vertical AI continues eating legacy finance workflows.
🔗 More early-stage movers: RLWRLD ($26M Seed 2), Third Way Health ($15M Series A), and Callosum ($10.25M Seed), spanning robotics foundation models, healthtech, and AI chip orchestration.
VC/PE WATCH
Where capital is flowing and what that means for founders
PE is betting on AI operators, not just AI companies. PE firms are prioritizing AI initiatives directly driving EBITDA growth - predictive pricing, supply chain optimization, customer analytics - and creating repeatable AI playbooks to deploy across multiple portfolio companies. The edge in 2026 isn't which sector you're in. It's how fast you can operationalize AI inside it.
Google's warning to founders. Google's VP of Global Startups says LLM wrappers and AI aggregators have their "check engine light" on. Founders need "deep, wide moats", either horizontally differentiated or specific to a vertical to survive.
The VC market is splitting in two. The US accounts for 85% of global AI funding, but the hyperfocus on AI has tightened purse strings everywhere else — only companies with the strongest fundamentals are attracting capital outside of AI.
🔗 Trend for founders: Proprietary data, vertical depth, and real distribution are the new moats — everything else is on borrowed time.
RNO1 CASE STUDY
Challenge: Figure, a VC-backed HR platform built to simplify compensation management, needed a brand and digital experience that could make a complex, often opaque topic feel human, clear, and approachable for both employers and employees.
RNO1's Solution: RNO1 partnered with Figure as their Design and Digital Experience Partner, developing a visual design language, UX/UI system, and web experience built around a human-first philosophy. Modern minimalist design, clean illustration, and a considered balance of color and typography brought Figure's compensation platform to life in a way that felt simple and trustworthy.
Result: A cohesive brand and digital platform that positions Figure to scale — putting people at the center of how compensation is communicated, from interactive offers to a full compensation management system.
Which topic would you like to see more of next issue?
