📡 ⬛️ Blackstone Launches $1.75B Data Center REIT

Dear {{First_Name|Friend}},

As we enter the third week of May, physical AI accelerates as WIRobotics closes a $68 million Series B to commercialize its ALLEX humanoid platform and Vbot raises $73.5 million to quintuple robotic dog production in Beijing. Data centers scale dramatically, led by Blackstone's $1.75 billion REIT IPO targeting hyperscaler-leased U.S. assets and Nscale securing $790 million from a Nordic bank consortium to build Norway's largest-ever AI campus in Narvik.

Mobility heats up with Rapido raising $240 million to challenge Uber across India's Tier 2+ cities and Quantum Systems in advanced talks for a €600 ($699) million round backed by Airbus and Blackstone. Energy transition moves in parallel as GridCARE closes an oversubscribed $64 million to slash data center grid interconnection timelines and Mantle8 secures $36 million to launch the world's first commercial-scale natural hydrogen drilling campaign.

Stay sharp,

Uncharted Dynamics Bags Seed Funding for Robot Physics Layer
Montréal startup Uncharted Dynamics secured seed funding from Beijing's K2VC to build physics "ground truth" infrastructure powering next-generation robot world models. (Read more)

WIRobotics Closes $68M Series B for Humanoid Expansion
South Korean robotics firm WIRobotics raised $68 million to commercialize its ALLEX humanoid platform, backed by eight institutional investors including SBVA and NH Investment & Securities.
 (Read more)

Xpanner Raises $18M Series B to Automate Construction Sites
Profitable construction automation startup Xpanner closed $18 million at over 80% gross margin, targeting $60 million in annual recurring revenue for 2026. (Read more)

Vbot Raises $73.5M Pre-A to Mass-Produce Robot Dogs
Beijing-based Vbot raised $73.5 million to scale robotic dog production fivefold and develop a full-size humanoid platform with AI world models. (Read more)

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Nscale Closes $790M Nordic Bank Debt for Narvik AI Campus
Five Nordic banks financed Nscale's $790 million Narvik data center, Norway's largest-ever AI infrastructure investment, with an option to expand by a further 115MW. (Read more)

Argentum AI Signs $2.5B European AI Data Center Deal
Argentum AI partnered with Boosteroid and DL Invest Group to deploy a $2.5 billion, 300MW GPU campus — one of Europe's largest independent AI compute projects. (Read more)

Blackstone Raises $1.75B in Data Center REIT IPO
Blackstone listed its new data center REIT on the NYSE under BXDC, raising $1.75 billion targeting stabilized hyperscaler-leased assets across five U.S. markets. (Read more)

Iceotope Raises $26M Series B for Precision Liquid Cooling
Sheffield-based Iceotope closed $26 million to scale chassis-level liquid cooling for AI data centers running above 200kW per rack. (Read more)

Mind Robotics Bags $400M Just Weeks After $500M Series A
Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe's factory-robot spinoff surpassed $1 billion in total funding, with Volkswagen Ventures deepening a vertically integrated EV manufacturing bet. (Read more)

Airbus and Blackstone Eye €600M ($699M) Bet on Quantum Drones
German UAV maker Quantum Systems is in advanced talks for a €600 million round that would nearly triple its valuation to €7 billion in six months. (Read more)

Arkeus Raises $18M Series A for Drone AI Sensing
Defense startup Arkeus closed $18 million led by Queensland Government-backed QIC Ventures to scale its hyperspectral radar across U.S., Australian, and European military contracts. (Read more)

Rapido Raises $240M at $3B to Challenge Uber in India
India's motorbike ride-hailing challenger Rapido raised $240 million led by Prosus, targeting Tier 2+ cities where Uber and Ola have no meaningful presence. (Read more)

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Ethiopia's Dodai Raises $13M to Build Battery-Swap EV Grid
Addis Ababa-based Dodai closed $13 million to deploy thirty battery-swapping stations locally before expanding to Abidjan, Accra, and Kinshasa. (Read more)

GridCARE Raises $64M to Speed Up AI Data Center Grid Access
Stanford spinout GridCARE closed an oversubscribed $64 million to compress data center grid interconnection timelines from years to months using AI simulation. (Read more)

Mantle8 Raises $36M Series A for Natural Hydrogen Drilling
French startup Mantle8 secured $36 million to launch the world's first large-scale geologic hydrogen drilling campaign, targeting production costs as low as €0.8 per kg. (Read more)

HSBC Launches $4B Cleantech Credit Line for Chinese Firms
HSBC unveiled a $4 billion sustainability credit facility to help Chinese solar, battery, wind, and EV companies expand into global markets. (Read more)