Would you give $5B to live longer?
Sep 11, 2025
Kaley Ubellacker
Happy Wednesday!
Happy Wednesday! If you’re new here, welcome to Necessary Nuggets, your one-stop pre-seed shop. We deliver updates from Necessary Ventures and helpful tidbits on our little corner of the world. Every edition is also on our blog.
What's happening at Necessary Ventures:
Neeka Mashouf, CEO and Co-founder of portfolio company Rubi Laboratories, was selected for the MIT Tech Review "35 Under 35 List."
Good Reads 📖
For the rushed reader …
Silicon Valley investors have poured over $5 billion into longevity startups over the past 25 years.
Researchers from the U.S. and China developed a novel propulsion system for millimeter-scale robots using bubbles.
Global venture funding hit its lowest monthly total since 2017 in August 2025, dropping to $17 billion, a 12% year-over-year decline and a 44% fall from July.
For the less rushed reader …
Time is money
This technology is young at heart … and portfolio. Silicon Valley investors have poured over $5 billion into longevity startups over the past 25 years. Startups are targeting three main strategies, including reprogramming cells to reverse aging (Altos, Retro Biosciences, Juvenescence), developing drugs for age-related diseases (BioAge, Insilico Medicine), and health optimization products consumers can use today (wearables, supplements, cosmetics). Prominent backers include Peter Thiel, Sam Altman, Vinod Khosla, and Marc Andreessen, with motivations ranging from personal loss to belief in AI and biotech as tools to extend human lifespan past 100 years. Funding rounds are growing: NewLimit raised $130M in May, BioAge raised $559M, and Altos launched with $3B. To further put it into perspective, average rounds have grown 20% over the last decade, now near $43M, signaling rapid investor appetite despite the scientific and regulatory uncertainties in the field. You could say longevity tech cells.
Hate to burst your bubble
Medicine is getting a jumpstart. Researchers from the U.S. and China developed a novel propulsion system for millimeter-scale robots using bubbles. To be more precise, it uses cavitation, the sudden collapse of bubbles in liquid, which allows jumper bubbles to leap up to five feet or swim at speeds over 25 mph. Inspired by ferns and Archerfish, the team generated bubbles with laser-heated materials, and carefully controlled the laser to direct jumps, slides, or swimming. While still in proof-of-concept stages, this approach could revolutionize drug delivery and medical procedures by replacing needles, enabling minimally invasive and targeted injections. It could also be used for exploring confined or hard-to-reach environments. The current challenges are controlling cavitation safely in the body, defining laser penetration limits, and finding biocompatible materials. One small step for man, one giant leap for bubble kind.
To seed or not to seed
Capital raised took a late summer dip. Global venture funding hit its lowest monthly total since 2017 in August 2025, dropping to $17 billion, a 12% year-over-year decline and a 44% fall from July. Both early- and late-stage investments cooled, but late-stage deals were hit harder. Early-stage deals showed modest month-over-month declines, and seed rounds nearly halved from July, signaling tighter capital availability for first-time founders. Series B rounds held up better, highlighting that investors are still backing startups with some traction. For early-stage founders, this environment underscores the importance of demonstrating clear product-market fit, preparing for longer fundraising cycles, and targeting sectors like AI, healthcare, and biotech, which continued to attract the largest allocations despite the overall pullback. Funding may be cooling, but the pressure on startups is heating up.
Market Stirrings 🚩
Here's what the week looked like in pre-seed:
$19.5M
20
Data aggregated from proprietary research and Crunchbase; valuation estimate based on 10-20% ownership stake.
DILUTION SOLUTION
The larger the SAFE round, the greater the dilution. Based on Carta’s Q2 2025 State of Pre-Seed report, in H1 2025, early-stage startups raising SAFE rounds over $1 million experienced significant dilution, with approximately 40% of such rounds resulting in over 20% dilution for founders.
AI
CyberHope AI - Skill or be skilled.
CyberHope AI raised $500k. CyberHope is creating a platform that replaces résumés with SkillDNA™ profiles, using AI to verify skills and match talent to opportunities.
AI
LineWise - Wise beyond its lines.
LineWise raised $1.1 million led by A2D Ventures. LineWise is building an AI-powered “virtual engineer” that helps manufacturers cut downtime and defect-driven yield loss by fixing production issues in real time.
AI
Flax Health - Checking all the boxes.
Flax Health raised $3.3 million from Pear VC and Sorenson Capital. Flax is developing a platform that automates admissions, intake, and claims for skilled nursing, so staff save hours on paperwork and facilities capture more revenue.
JOBORTUNITIES
| Hardware Test Engineer | - Copper:
Rethinking the induction stove and making kitchen electrification more accessible than ever. Picture a fossil-free future, without sacrificing aesthetics.| Full Stack Software Engineer | - OneImaging:
Envisioning the future of transportation beyond cars and into the realm of personal electric vehicles. Its first product, P1, is the ultimate tool for city navigation.
Outro🚪
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