Tootfinder

Shield AI has emerged as a lead contender in the increasingly crowded race against competitors like Anduril and AeroVironment
to outfit the U.S. military with killer drones.
The $5 billion-valued startup, founded in 2015 by brothers Ryan and Brandon Tseng,
sells a suite of hardware and products, including autonomous piloting software that has been used to fly fighter jets.
In March, it raised $240 million in a funding round led by Korean conglomerate Hanwha and Amer…

How A Grisly Injury Threw $5 Billion Drone Startup Shield AI Off Course
Shield AI executives overlooked its V-BAT drone’s safety hazards. With sales falling short and the CEO stepping down, the company is trying to win back military customers.

Landbase, whose GPT-4o-based AI tool automates outreach marketing, raised a $30M Series A co-led by Ashton Kutcher's Sound Ventures and Picus Capital (Julie Bort/TechCrunch)
https://techcrunch.com/2025/06/12/how-

How AI sales startup Landbase nabbed Ashton Kutcher’s Sound Ventures to lead its $30M Series A | TechCrunch
A concept Landbase's CEO calls "digital trust" led nearly 130 VCs to pursue the "vibe GTM" startup.

Tel Aviv-based Tastewise, which uses gen AI to automate sales and marketing for food and beverage companies, raised a $50M Series B led by Telus Global Ventures (Ryan Barwick/Axios)
https://www.axios.com/pro/enterprise-software-de…

Exclusive: Tastewise raises $50 million Series B
Specialized, category-specific AI tools are raising money, even in an uncertain market.

A look at Walmart's use of automation to grow sales without adding staff, as analysts say its efforts raise questions about the future of US retail labor (Gregory Meyer/Financial Times)
https://www.ft.com/content/5be70b28-018d-42d7-af8d-ea5a4bed4d44

Walmart is supercharging revenue — but with fewer workers
Growth in ecommerce and automation sparks questions about future of retail sector’s labour force