---
title: "August 25–26 VC News: Emerald AI $1.05B, Gatik $200M, Stability $76M"
description: "Aug 25–26, 2026: Emerald AI $150M at $1.05B, Gatik $200M Series D (no valuation), Stability AI $76M Series B (not the 2022 dump). Alice $140M, Gamma×Lica, MotherDuck×Tower, Unitree’s post-IPO slide, Ventures Platform $84M. Generalist $3B remains sources."
date: 2026-08-26T00:00:00.000Z
tags: ["2026-vc-news", "startup-funding", "venture-capital", "market-analysis", "mergers-acquisitions", "climate-tech", "robotics"]
source: https://venturecapitaltracker.com/2026-august-25-26-investment-news-grid-freight-media
---

# August 25–26 VC News: Emerald AI $1.05B, Gatik $200M, Stability $76M

> Aug 25–26, 2026: Emerald AI $150M at $1.05B, Gatik $200M Series D (no valuation), Stability AI $76M Series B (not the 2022 dump). Alice $140M, Gamma×Lica, MotherDuck×Tower, Unitree’s post-IPO slide, Ventures Platform $84M. Generalist $3B remains sources.

**August 25–26, 2026 is the power-and-freight tape.** [Emerald AI](/startup/emerald-ai) printed **$1.05B**. [Gatik](/startup/gatik) added **$200M** with **no valuation**. [Stability AI](/startup/stability-ai) raised **$76M** — not the 2022 dump. For the month map, use [August 2026 VC news](/2026-august-vc-news). Last verified **August 26, 2026**.

## Snapshot table

| Company / firm | Amount | Stage | Key capital | Job |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| [Emerald AI](/2026-emerald-ai-150m-series-a-1-05b) | $150M @ **$1.05B** | Series A | Energize + DCVC; NVIDIA; [GC](/fund/general-catalyst) scout | Grid-flexible AI load |
| [Gatik](/2026-gatik-200m-series-d-autonomous-freight) | $200M *(no valuation)* | Series D | QIA + Koch | Driverless middle-mile |
| [Stability AI](/2026-stability-ai-76m-series-b-entertainment) | $76M *(no valuation)* | Series B | EA, UMG, Sony, Warner; [Coatue](/fund/coatue) returning | Licensed creative tools |
| Alice (ex-ActiveFence) | $140M | Unlabeled (press: D) | Apax Digital; [CRV](/fund/crv), [Norwest](/fund/norwest-venture-partners) returning | AI trust & safety |
| [Gamma](/startup/gammaapp) → Lica | Undisclosed | Acquisition | Accel on both sides (TC exclusive) | Design research lab |
| [MotherDuck](/startup/motherduck) → Tower | Undisclosed | Acquisition | First deal in four years (company) | Pipeline runtime |
| Ventures Platform | **$84M** | Fund II | Pan-African VC | Pre-seed / seed, now beyond Nigeria |

Amounts from company posts or named press. Generalist is **not** in this closed table.

## Theme 1 — Power is the Series A unicorn

**[Emerald AI](/2026-emerald-ai-150m-series-a-1-05b)** closed **$150 million at $1.05 billion** (Business Wire, Aug 25). Energize Capital and DCVC co-led. NVIDIA is on the list. The **100 GW** line is a **company estimate**. Revenue was not disclosed. That is the same bottleneck [Starcloud](/startup/starcloud) tried to leave the planet to solve on Aug 21, and [Form Energy](/2026-form-energy-750m-series-g-sequoia-coatue) tried to store on Aug 12.

## Theme 2 — $200 million does not mean Series A

**[Gatik](/2026-gatik-200m-series-d-autonomous-freight)** printed **$200 million Series D** the same day [Gravis](/startup/gravis-robotics) printed **$200 million Series A** last week. Gatik: **>$600 million contracted revenue** (company backlog claim), **85,000** driverless orders. **No valuation.** QIA and Koch led.

## Smaller verified items

**Stability AI** — **$76 million Series B**, Aug 25 ([company](https://stability.ai/news-updates/stability-ai-latest-funding-backed-by-entertainment-industry-biggest-names)). EA, UMG, Sony, Warner, AMD Ventures, Pacific Alliance Ventures. [Coatue](/fund/coatue) and [Greycroft](/fund/greycroft) returning; Thomas Laffont to the board. Company total **$232 million under Akkaraju** (equity + notes). **No valuation.** Full memo: [Stability $76M](/2026-stability-ai-76m-series-b-entertainment).

**Alice** (formerly ActiveFence) — **$140 million**, Apax Digital lead, Aug 25 ([company](https://alice.io/blog/alice-raises-140m)). Total **$280 million**. Company: **8 of 10** top AI labs, **>$3 billion** people protected (company wording), approaching **$100 million ARR**, AI business **>500%** over two years. [CRV](/fund/crv) and [Norwest](/fund/norwest-venture-partners) returning. **Valuation is not in the company post.** Globes: **$800 million** (sources). Ctech: **$700–800 million**. Do not freeze a mark.

**Gamma × Lica** — [Gamma](/startup/gammaapp) acquired Accel-backed Lica (TechCrunch exclusive, Aug 25). **No price.** Lica: **$4 million** in 2024 (Accel, South Park Commons, Village Global). Co-founders lead a new design research lab. Gamma last mark: **$68 million / $2.1 billion** (Nov 2025). Accel has no `/fund/` page here.

**MotherDuck × Tower** — [MotherDuck](/startup/motherduck) acquired Tower Computing ([company](https://motherduck.com/blog/motherduck-acquires-tower/)). **No price.** First acquisition. Tower already powered Flights (sandboxing, scheduling, observability). [a16z](/fund/andreessen-horowitz) is on the directory cap table from the 2022 A.

**Ventures Platform Fund II** — **$84 million**, oversubscribed, Aug 26 (TechCrunch). Fund I was **$46 million** (2022). Checks up to **$3 million**. Already deployed to five companies in Kenya, South Africa, and Egypt. No `/fund/` page here.

**QuantumLight Fund II** — **€432 million**, Aug 25 (VCWire). London firm co-founded by Revolut’s Nik Storonsky. Portfolio names in that write-up include Together AI and Function Health. No `/fund/` page here.

**Hypercubic** — **$5.3 million seed**, CIV lead, Aug 19 (Finsmes). [YC](/fund/y-combinator) in. Mainframe-modernization / digital-twin lane. Missed by the Aug 19–20 morning pass. Roundup only.

**Gamgee** — **$4 million seed**, [Founders Fund](/fund/founders-fund) lead. YC Summer 2026; public launch Aug 17. AI-designed mRNA cancer vaccines for dogs. Dealroom / Finsmes-era coverage. Roundup only.

**Liner** — **$36.1 million Series C**, LB Investment lead, Aug 25. Same Korean house that extended [Point2](/startup/point2-technology)’s Series B on Aug 10. Seoul + SF AI search. Roundup only.

**Unitree follow-up** — Shares **steadied Aug 25** after three down sessions, about **45%** below the debut pop (Straits Times / Reuters). Yicai: Aug 24 close **603.08 yuan**, **-10.3%**, cap about **CNY 243.9 billion**. The **845 yuan** BBC close is **day-one**, not live. Updated memo: [Unitree IPO](/2026-unitree-shanghai-ipo-humanoid-robots).

**W4 Games** — **$18 million Series B**, Tencent lead, Aug 25. Godot commercialization. Roundup only.

## Talks — do not paste as closed

- **Generalist ~$200 million / $3 billion** — TechCrunch (Aug 25), two people plus a **regulatory filing** for the dollars. Extension of June’s **$400 million B at $2 billion** (Radical). [8VC](/fund/8vc) led the add-on, people said. Company and 8VC **did not comment**. Last **company** mark remains the June B. [USV](/fund/union-square-ventures) is an early name in that TC recap.
- **Hugging Face ~$13B**, **Perplexity >$30B**, **General Intuition ~$6B** — still talks (see [Aug 21–25 tape](/2026-august-21-25-investment-news-orbital-ai-yc)).
- **Temporal $12B** and **EliseAI $3.7B** remain talks.

## Do not add as this week’s news

- Stability **$101 million / Coatue / Oct 2022** rows on aggregator sheets.
- OpenAI × NextSlide — disclosed **Aug 8**, closed **earlier in 2026** (founder: “a few months late”). Context for Gamma, not Aug 25 tape.
- Higgsfield **$400M / $5.4B** reprints.
- Blackbird **$1.05B** — already on the Aug 21–25 roundup; **not** [/startup/blackbird](/startup/blackbird).

## Where to go next

Diligence memos: [Emerald AI $1.05B](/2026-emerald-ai-150m-series-a-1-05b), [Gatik $200M](/2026-gatik-200m-series-d-autonomous-freight), [Stability $76M](/2026-stability-ai-76m-series-b-entertainment). Prior tape: [Aug 21–25](/2026-august-21-25-investment-news-orbital-ai-yc). Directory: [/directory](/directory).

**By:** [Venture Capital Tracker](https://venturecapitaltracker.com/editorial-policy)
**Last updated:** August 26, 2026

**Editorial note:** AI tools assisted with research, structure, or drafting. Venture Capital Tracker retains human editorial responsibility for factual accuracy, relevance, and source quality before publication.