// Weekly. 25 Oct 2026

Coverage period: 18–25 October 2026 For information only

This week in brief

Visa is reported to be in late-stage talks to acquire Fireblocks for about $2.5bn. Fireblocks has denied the report.
NASA set out a revised Artemis lunar plan. The crewed Blue Moon landing would use four New Glenn launches.
Tenstorrent raised $1.5bn at a $6.2bn valuation, and Robinhood Ventures Fund I disclosed a $30m investment in Erebor.

Defence

Anduril

Per press reports, an employee tender offer at $94.80 per share (about $90bn) remains open until 9 November. It is capped at about $1.3bn and open to current and former staff in 16 countries. Anduril has not published a valuation. (CNBC (opens in a new tab), Anduril News (opens in a new tab))

The Army is testing Anduril’s Lattice software for its NGC2 command-and-control programme. In an exercise with the 25th Infantry Division, Lattice had trouble integrating with older radios. Army officials called this normal growing pains, and Lockheed Martin, the integrator, said fixes are under way. (Breaking Defense, 19 Oct (opens in a new tab))

Australia revealed new payload options for the Ghost Shark uncrewed submarine, including a loitering munition, drone launch and mine-laying. (Anduril News, 19–20 Oct (opens in a new tab))

Warhound

Palmer Luckey and Colossal’s Ben Lamm launched a military working-dog company with a $200m seed round, reportedly at a $1.2bn valuation. Backers include Sequoia, In-Q-Tel and ARK. Anduril is expected to supply equipment. (TFN (opens in a new tab), HotAir/TechCrunch, 22 Oct (opens in a new tab))

Mach Industries

It appointed Zach Kirkman as CFO. He was previously Deputy CFO at General Motors. (PR Newswire, 20 Oct (opens in a new tab))

Space

Blue Origin

NASA’s revised plan uses four New Glenn launches to assemble the Blue Moon Mk2 lander and three propulsion stages in low Earth orbit. NASA will pick Blue Origin or SpaceX for a 2028 crewed landing based on readiness, after an uncrewed demonstration. (New Space Economy, 24 Oct (opens in a new tab))

The FAA held a public meeting on Blue Origin’s request to raise New Glenn launches from LC-36 from 12 to 50 a year. Written comments are open until 30 October. (ClickOrlando, 22 Oct (opens in a new tab))

Xona Space Systems

The satellite navigation company raised a $250m Series D at a reported $2.45bn valuation, led by Future Ventures. (Tech Startups, 23 Oct (opens in a new tab))

Robotics & autonomy

Applied Intuition

The US Navy awarded a $25m contract to deploy its AI sensor-fusion system on five Arleigh Burke-class destroyers. (Breaking Defense, 22 Oct (opens in a new tab))

Apptronik

Google DeepMind showed its Gemini 4 Argon model teaching Apptronik’s Apollo humanoid new skills from video. (Robotics & Automation News, 22 Oct (opens in a new tab))

Eka Robotics

It raised $150m at a $1.45bn valuation for its force-sensing robot hands. (SiliconANGLE, 20 Oct (opens in a new tab))

Tractian

The industrial AI company raised a $130m Series D at a $1.4bn valuation. (Tech Startups, 23 Oct (opens in a new tab))

AI & compute

Tenstorrent

It raised a $1.5bn Series E at a $6.2bn valuation, up from $2.6bn in late 2024. Trace Capital and Innovation X led the round, with Fidelity and T. Rowe Price also taking part. (TechCrunch, 19 Oct (opens in a new tab))

Groq

It is reportedly evaluating 3D-stacked DRAM for its next-generation inference chip. (TrendForce, 22 Oct (opens in a new tab))

Cohere

It signed a letter of intent to acquire Aisle, a company that uses AI to find software security flaws, and plans to form a Cohere Cyber unit. (The Logic, 15 Oct (opens in a new tab))

Advanced manufacturing

Arda

CNBC profiled the AI-for-manufacturing startup, founded by a former OpenAI executive and reportedly valued at $1.5bn. (CNBC, 20 Oct (opens in a new tab))

Financial infrastructure

Fireblocks

Axios reported that Visa is in late-stage talks to acquire it for about $2.5bn. A Fireblocks spokesperson said the report was “not true at present time”, and Coinbase denied any involvement. Fireblocks last raised at an $8bn valuation in 2022. (Axios (opens in a new tab), CoinDesk, 22 Oct (opens in a new tab))

Erebor

Robinhood Ventures Fund I (NYSE: RVI) bought $30m of Erebor preferred stock. Terms were not disclosed. Erebor reports more than $7bn in deposits. (FX News Group, 21 Oct (opens in a new tab))

Anchorage Digital

It partnered with Securitize so that stablecoins can be issued directly through Anchorage Digital Bank. (Crypto Times, 20 Oct (opens in a new tab))

Polymarket

Bloomberg reported that it is considering an IPO and/or a native token. No filing has been announced. (The Paypers, 13 Oct (opens in a new tab))

IPO & listings

No new IPO filings this week by the companies tracked here.

Sierra Space’s CFO departed in mid-October (Bloomberg). Lambda has said it is targeting a 2027 listing. (Bloomberg (opens in a new tab))

Policy & budgets

United States

The government is operating under a continuing resolution to 11 December. Until a full-year bill passes, the Pentagon cannot start new programmes. (Breaking Defense (opens in a new tab))

United Kingdom

The Autumn Budget is scheduled for 28 October.

Important information

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References to companies do not imply that NEOPRIME holds an investment in them, or that such companies are affiliated with or endorse NEOPRIME. Reported valuations and transaction information may be unverified, incomplete or inaccurate and should not be confused with NEOPRIME’s NAV or subscription price.

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