---
title: "September 16–18 Investment News: Mazama $135M, Ridgeline $1.425B, Matter $450M"
description: "Mazama announced $135 million of new capital including Series B (Axios: funding and grants). Ridgeline closed $250 million Series E at $1.425 billion, Duffield-led. Matter closed Fund II at $450 million. Roundup: Activate $105M, Raindrop Series A (amount undisclosed, $50M total), dtcpay $25M Series A completion."
date: 2026-09-18T00:00:00.000Z
source: https://venturecapitaltracker.com/2026-september-16-18-investment-news-mazama-ridgeline-matter
---

# September 16–18 Investment News: Mazama $135M, Ridgeline $1.425B, Matter $450M

> Mazama announced $135 million of new capital including Series B (Axios: funding and grants). Ridgeline closed $250 million Series E at $1.425 billion, Duffield-led. Matter closed Fund II at $450 million. Roundup: Activate $105M, Raindrop Series A (amount undisclosed, $50M total), dtcpay $25M Series A completion.

September 16–18 adds three prints that were not on the [September month hub](/2026-september-vc-news) through the 12th: **[Mazama Energy](/startup/mazama-energy)**’s **$135 million** of **new capital** (Series B **inside** the bag), **[Ridgeline](/startup/ridgeline)**’s **$250 million** Series E at **$1.425 billion**, and **Matter Venture Partners**’ **$450 million** Fund II. Dated snapshot through **September 18, 2026**. Not a live deal feed.

## Headlines

| Date | Entity | Amount | Type | What is actually known | Follow-up |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Sep 17 | [Mazama Energy](/startup/mazama-energy) | **$135M new capital** | Series B **included** | Centaurus + Doerr. Axios: **funding and grants**. **No valuation.** [Khosla](/fund/khosla-ventures) returning. | [Mazama memo](/2026-mazama-energy-135m-series-b-superhot-geothermal) |
| Sep 16 | [Ridgeline](/startup/ridgeline) | **$250M** at **$1.425B** | Series E | Duffield led. Bloomberg **$1.4B**. **Not** [Ridgeline Ventures](/fund/ridgeline-ventures). **No ARR.** | [Ridgeline memo](/2026-ridgeline-250m-series-e-1-425b-duffield) |
| Sep 16 | Matter Venture Partners | **$450M** | Fund II close | ASML, TSMC, [Kleiner Perkins](/fund/kleiner-perkins) among LPs. [Eridu](/startup/eridu) overlap. ** | [Matter memo](/2026-matter-venture-partners-450m-fund-ii) |

## Roundup

**Activate — $105 million maiden fund (Sep 16).** [Inc42](https://inc42.com/buzz/aakrit-vaishs-activate-closes-maiden-vc-fund-at-105-mn-to-back-ai-startups/): **$85 million** early-stage vehicle plus **$20 million** through growth vehicles. First close was **$75 million** in December 2025. Founders Aakrit Vaish and Pratyush Choudhury. Ten investments named including Sarvam AI, ElevenLabs, and Wispr Flow; seven Inception bets remain stealth. Dealroom’s **$110 million** hed is wrong — the body is **$105 million**. **₹1,000 Cr** is Inc42’s conversion of the same close, not extra capital.

**Raindrop — Series A led by [CRV](/fund/crv); $50 million total (Sep 17).** [TMCnet](https://www.tmcnet.com/usubmit/2026/09/17/10447992.htm) and follow-on wires: CRV led; [Lightspeed](/fund/lightspeed-venture-partners-nyc) and [Y Combinator](/fund/y-combinator) participated. **The Series A amount was not disclosed.** Prior company print: **$15 million** from Lightspeed in December 2025. Named users include Vercel, Framer, and [Clay](/startup/clay). Company blog had not published a Series A post when we checked. Simulations is a research preview, not a revenue print. 

**dtcpay — $25 million Series A completed (Sep 18).** [PR Newswire](https://www.prnewswire.com/apac/news-releases/dtcpay-welcomes-sbi-group-as-strategic-investor-extending-series-a-to-us25m-302881922.html): Vertex Ventures Southeast Asia & India led the earlier tranche (**$10 million**, April/March 2026 depending on outlet). SBI Group joins via SBI Ventures Asset and the SBI-NTU-Kyobo Digital Innovation Fund. Genedant Capital and Kwee Liong Tek participated. CoinDesk: **valuation and revenue undisclosed**. Singapore Major Payment Institution. Do not call the September print a new $25 million on top of the $10 million — it **completes** the Series A.

## Why these three, not a fourth standalone

Mazama is the climate tape next to [Fervo](/startup/fervo-energy) and [Form Energy](/startup/form-energy). Ridgeline is a **$1.425 billion** software mark with a founder lead — easy to confuse with the Memphis fund we already list. Matter is a **$450 million** HardTech close whose LP list (ASML/TSMC) is the story, and it already sits on [Eridu](/startup/eridu). Activate, Raindrop, and dtcpay are real and sourced; they do not clear a standalone bar once the missing splits (growth sleeve, Series A amount, extension vs new money) are honored.

## What we skipped, and why

| Item | Reader reason |
| --- | --- |
| Larger Sep 16–18 AI infra / agent / space prints | Covered separately on their own dated pages. Not re-listed here. |
| Treble $18M A-2 / syte €9M | Sub-standalone. Mixed FX lifetime headlines. |
| TesterArmy $1.2M / Expanse $5.3M / Hypercubic $5.3M | YC-adjacent seeds below this index’s bar. |
| CodeRabbit $60M Series B | **16 Sep 2025** reprint risk. |

August comparison remains [August 2026 VC news](/2026-august-vc-news). Month hub: [September 2026 VC news](/2026-september-vc-news).

### Sources

1. [Mazama — GlobeNewswire](https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2026/09/17/3364060/0/en/mazama-energy-raises-135-million-to-scale-the-world-s-hottest-engineered-geothermal-system.html)
2. [Ridgeline — company](https://ridgeline.ai/company/news/ridgeline-raises-250m-series-e-valuing-ai-native-fintech-at-1-425-billion)
3. [Matter — Business Wire](https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/2026091659635/en/)
4. [Activate — Inc42](https://inc42.com/buzz/aakrit-vaishs-activate-closes-maiden-vc-fund-at-105-mn-to-back-ai-startups/)
5. [Raindrop — TMCnet](https://www.tmcnet.com/usubmit/2026/09/17/10447992.htm)
6. [dtcpay — PR Newswire](https://www.prnewswire.com/apac/news-releases/dtcpay-welcomes-sbi-group-as-strategic-investor-extending-series-a-to-us25m-302881922.html)

**By:** [Venture Capital Tracker](https://venturecapitaltracker.com/editorial-policy)

**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.