Eyal Cohen got the news that VC firm Eclipse Capital had signed on to a seed funding round for his fledgling startup, Humble Robotics, while he was in Europe.

On the flight back to San Francisco, he thought about the talented people he’d crossed paths with during stints at startups and tech giants over the course of two decades in the Bay Area.

“I remember sitting on this plane ride, just writing out names of people I’ve loved from 20 years ago, 15 years ago, 10 years ago, and then I got home and I just got on the phone and started calling everybody,” Cohen, Humble’s founder and CEO, told Morning Brew.

His pitch to them was that it was a big project, one that could transform the trucking industry. Humble, which emerged from stealth in April with $24 million in seed funding, is developing a cab-less, autonomous, electric hauler for freight transportation. The seed round was led by Eclipse, with participation from Energy Impact Partners and others.

Within six months, Cohen brought on about 20 people with previous experience at companies like Uber, Waymo, and AV trucking startup Waabi. Humble’s Head of Autonomy, Drew Gray, for example, previously led Tesla’s Autopilot program and worked on autonomy at numerous companies, including Uber.

Cohen credits the team with keeping him motivated and joyful throughout long work days and big challenges.

“It really, really matters who you bring along for the journey,” he said.

Read More.—JG

As power prices skyrocket, people may feel like they have no choice but to fork over more and more cash for their ever-increasing utility bills. That’s where Gatby, an energy marketplace platform that empowers consumers to compare power prices across multiple providers, comes into play.

Founded by Ben Thomas, Gatby informs ratepayers of potentially lower-cost utilities that they can switch to, without any termination fees. Thomas told Morning Brew that he was inspired to start the company after working in energy investment banking and discovering substantial literacy and affordability gaps in the power industry.

“The idea is we’re trying to take a confusing, unsexy category of people’s monthly bills and demystify it,” Thomas said, “and then find them better rates.”

But as many founders know, explaining to consumers how your product can save them money can feel like a Herculean task, especially with power providers; consumers often go with a default and can be unaware that other options are available to them. Gatby has been able to do so through prioritizing consumer education, embracing new technologies, and partnering with large property management companies.

Read More.—TC

Elijah Khasabo started Vidovo from his bedroom while enrolled full-time at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. Khasabo graduates in the spring. His sights are set on continuing to grow his creator and influencer marketing platform, which connects more than 22,000 brands and creators to generate revenue through subscriptions and marketplace fees, is cash flow positive, approaching a $3 million run rate this year, a financial metric to forecast future performance for Vidovo, according to Khasabo.

In 2024, Khasabo turned down three separate VC offers. A fourth came in 2025. Each time, he and his co-founder, Channing Defoe, talked it through and landed in the same place: no.

Read more.—JH

Banking-for-startups startup Mercury raised a $200 million Series D led by TCV, with existing backers Sequoia, Andreessen Horowitz, and Coatue also participating. (CNBC)

Industrial parts manufacturer SendCutSend founder Jim Belosic bootstrapped the company for nearly a decade. Now he’s raised $110 million in a round led by Sequoia, Paradigm, and John and Patrick Collison, the co-founders of Stripe. (the Wall Street Journal)

AI search startup Exa Labs raised $250 million in a round led by Andreessen Horowitz. (Bloomberg)