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Bellatrix Aerospace Raises $20M to Scale Satellite Propulsion

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Bellatrix Aerospace has secured $20 million in a pre-Series B funding round, aiming to expand production of its satellite propulsion systems amid rising global demand.

The round was led by Cactus Partners, with participation from several new and existing investors. The Bengaluru-based company plans to use the funds to scale manufacturing capacity and accelerate delivery timelines for both domestic and international clients.

CEO Rohan Ganapathy stated that the investment will enable a significant increase in annual production, particularly as satellite constellations continue to expand worldwide.

Founded in 2015, Bellatrix focuses on advanced propulsion technologies for satellites and has established operations in the United States. The company is positioning itself to benefit from growing demand in the commercial space sector.

The funding comes as India continues to open its space industry to private players beyond Indian Space Research Organisation, alongside government initiatives to support startups through dedicated funding programs.

Replit Raises $250 Million at $3 Billion Valuation as AI Code-Gen Market Heats Up

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Replit, the San Francisco-based AI software development platform, announced Wednesday it has raised $250 million in new funding, pushing its valuation to $3 billion. The round underscores booming investor interest in AI code-generation startups, which aim to help both developers and non-technical teams write software.

The financing was led by Prysm Capital, with participation from Google’s AI Futures Fund and Amex Ventures. Existing investors including Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) and Coatue also increased their commitments.

Replit’s growth has been dramatic: the company was valued at just over $1 billion in 2023 after raising $97.4 million. Its annualized revenue surged from $2.8 million to $150 million in under a year, reflecting accelerating adoption.

Competitive Landscape

The code-gen sector is attracting major capital. Rival Cognition raised $400 million at a $10.2 billion valuation earlier this week, while Cursor raised $900 million at a $10 billion valuation in May.

Replit CEO Amjad Masad said what sets Replit apart is its “vibe-coding” tools aimed at non-technical enterprise users, enabling departments from sales and HR to operations to accelerate product development.

Customers and New Tools

Companies such as Duolingo and Zillow already use Replit to build applications. On Wednesday, the company also launched Agent 3, an autonomous AI tool designed to test and fix code, as well as build custom agents and workflows.

Strategic Focus

Replit plans to invest the new capital in R&D, sales, and marketing, as it competes with well-funded rivals in the fast-evolving AI software development space.

Perplexity Secures $200 Million at $20 Billion Valuation, Report Says

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AI startup Perplexity has finalized commitments for $200 million in new funding, giving the company a valuation of $20 billion, according to The Information. The report, citing a source familiar with the matter, has not been independently confirmed by Reuters, and Perplexity did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Led by CEO Aravind Srinivas, Perplexity has been rapidly positioning itself as a challenger in the AI space. The company, backed by Nvidia, has developed Comet, an AI-powered browser capable of performing tasks on behalf of users.

In August, Perplexity made headlines with a bold but unsuccessful $34.5 billion unsolicited cash bid for Alphabet’s Chrome browser — an offer nearly double its current valuation. If accepted, the deal would have given Perplexity access to Chrome’s three billion users worldwide, dramatically expanding its reach and strengthening its position against competitors such as OpenAI, which is also building an AI-first browser.

The new funding round signals strong investor confidence in Perplexity’s strategy, even as the company looks to scale up amid intensifying competition in AI-driven consumer technology.