A new digest revealing how design, technology, and capital are shaping the next generation of companies.

Each issue will spotlight founders, ventures, and stories at the intersection of growth and creativity—plus what’s working inside RNO1 as we help build them.

Y-Combinator-backed Magic Patterns (with Co-Founders Alexander Danilowicz and Teddy Ni) helps product teams turn ideas into production-ready interfaces faster using AI-powered UI generation.

Previously, designing software meant dragging and dropping rectangles, but today, 1,500+ product teams use Magic Patterns to go from idea to production, prompting features to life with their existing styles.

After partnering with RNO1 on a full rebrand, visual language and design system, Magic Patterns announced a successful Series A of $6M (led by Dalton Caldwell at Standard Capital with participation from Essence VC, Y Combinator, and angels from OpenAI).

LMArena – Generative AI benchmarking platform raised $150M and now sits at a $1.7B valuation, as investors double down on real-world model evaluation tools.

Swap – This unified e-commerce operations platform closed a $100M Series C to scale solutions around shipping, returns, tax, and compliance — tackling a major pain point for global merchants.

Corsera Health – Clinical biotech focusing on RNAi medicines and cardiovascular predictive tools raised $80M Series A, spotlighting the convergence of AI and biotech.

Lyte – Robotics perception & physical AI co. emerges from stealth with $107M in backing, underscoring growth in AI for real-world interaction.

Blackbird.AI ($58M) – Cyber resilience & risk platform accelerated funding to protect enterprise systems from threats and misinformation.

🔗 More early-stage movers: Array Labs Series A, GSME Series B, Interos.ai funding, and Enable Injections rounds point to broad sector confidence across AI, govtech, and embedded systems.

Antler’s Big Play in Early Stage — Global venture firm Antler is moving aggressively with a $160M U.S.-focused fund after completing over 400 investments last year. It plans to back roughly 500 startups in 2026, especially in AI and tech sectors, highlighting continued commitment to early bets despite broader market headwinds.

Fundraising Slowdown in the U.S. — Venture-capital fundraising in the U.S. fell 35% in 2025, the most pronounced drop in six years, as firms stay private longer and few IPOs return capital to investors. This tightening environment favors established firms and sectors with strong exits (like AI), while emerging managers face greater challenges.

ByteDance Continuation Fund Moves Valuation — Private markets activity around mature tech also matters: HSG (formerly Sequoia Capital China) is raising a continuation fund tied to ByteDance shares valued up to $370B — an example of how PE and VC play can intertwine at scale.

🔗 Trend to watch: Although capital raising is down overall, concentrated allocations into AI and proven strategies continue to shape where new deals get done.

Challenge: Reach Talent needed a stronger brand and user experience to support its fast-growing SaaS platform for flexible workforces. Their visual identity and product flow didn’t yet reflect the sophistication of their vision.

RNO1’s Solution: RNO1 delivered a complete transformation—aligning brand strategy, visual identity, UX/UI, and content into one cohesive experience. The team designed a refined interface and seamless onboarding process, turning complex interactions into a simple, human-centered journey.

Result: A premium digital brand built to scale, strengthen user trust, and connect top talent with leading teams.