Can I interest you in a robot today?

Top News

• Hugging Face wants to sell you a robot: Quick on the heels of buying Pollen Robotics, open-source AI model hub Hugging Face intends to start shipping two bots this year. HopeJR is a humanoid robot that can walk at a cost of around $3,000 — which sounds like a pittance — while the smaller Reachy Mini is desktop bound. The goal appears to be catalyzing robotic advancement in an AI context, which will boost demand for AI models — and guess who is in the very center of that market? At the same time, seeing Hugging Face dive headfirst into robotics from its software roots is just downright cool.

• Snorkel raises $100M: From roots as a programmatic data labeling shop, Snorkel AI is flush with new funds and is tacking toward building “evaluation systems and datasets [for companies to] test their AI models and adjust them accordingly,” Forbes reports. Honestly? That sounds like a super good idea, and one that sits higher up the value food-chain than data labeling work. Addition led the new round at a $1.3 billion price tag, up about 30% from its last private funding.

• Chime could list at $11 billion: Great news: we’re on track for a decacorn exit! The bad news, per The Information, is that Chime’s expected IPO worth of around $11 billion is a but a fraction of its old, private-market valuation, set in 2021 when the neobank was valued at nearly $26 billion. No matter, the early backers of Chime will likely make a mint and that means capital flowing back to liquidity-parched LPs. Good times, even if the last money into Chime had best have negotiated downside protection, or risk more than a haircut.

TWiST500

Welcome to New Companies Friday. After I put the finishing touches on this newsletter, it’s back to the TWiST500 mines with me. That means new companies — probably around 15 if I can get the work done.

So, who is joining our vaunted list of the best private-market companies in the world? Here’s a little teaser:

• EnduroSat: We’re big on spacetech here at TWiST, so when Founders Fund led a round into EnduroSat, we dug in a little. The Bulgarian startup — which raised small venture rounds, and debt financing from the European Investment Bank — builds satellites and other pieces of space tech. But unlike most makers of our artificial fliers, EnduroSat users simpler tech. That means it can build cheaper satellites, faster. And even more fun, its pricing page is public. We need more satellites, and cheaper satellites. EnduroSat wants to get to the point when it can make 60 a month. Hell yeah. Let’s add a zero.

• Notion and Airtable: We sometimes have additions to the TWiST500 that I file under the ‘gimmie’ bucket. OpenAI. Stripe. Companies of that nature. Cue my surprise when I realized that both Notion and Airtable had slipped through the cracks. Today, we correct the error. The moment in time when the two companies were hotter than lava is behind us, but Airtable has found its late-stage growth rhythm (and ability to generate cash), while Notion is also in the nine-figure revenue realm and growing well. Apart from historical and continued growth, why do the two companies make good TWiST500 members? Because they both are great tools for doing more work, more quickly. Breaking down traditional barriers between application categories — loosely, the Microsoft Office stack — is a great way to get a lot more done. And I am writing this draft for you in Notion, where I effectively live here at Launch. It’s good software.

• Chalk and ClickHouse: You can see my full notes in the shelved docket we published today, but the reason why Chalk (get data into your AI app in real-time), and ClickHouse (real-time analytics) are going on the TWiST500 is their work to rip revenue from the stomachs of industry stalwarts like Databricks and Snowflake. Either they pull off their goals, and become something huge that rivals their elders, or they get bought by them. Either way, with fresh capital and big goals, the pair of startups are reason to believe that even before Databricks gets public, startups are coming for it and Snowflake’s shared lunch.

And more to come when I get them uploaded. Chat Monday! — Alex

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This Week in Startups

E2132: Jason’s busying himself in Singapore this week, so Alex is flying solo on today’s new TWiST, and chatting it up with two fascinating founders who are working on cool new AI innovations. First, from Athena HQ, Andrew Yan explains Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) and how it will help brands rank better in AI-powered search engines. Then, Magnus Müller from Browser Use tells us how he’s making AI agents even smarter.

E2131: Jason’s in Singapore but he refuses to miss an episode, so we’re still doing TWiST. Along with Alex and Lon in the US, he check out Google’s new “Stitch” AI design took, examines Salesforce’s acquisition of Informatica and what it means for the wider world of M&A, and hypes up Circle’s IPO and the future of stablecoins. PLUS why Jason is bullish on Joby, Trump’s “golden share” of US steel, and much more.

E2130: On Friday’s pre-holiday TWiST, Jason, Alex and Lon talk about President Trump’s latest tariff announcement and its potential impact on Apple and iPhones. Plus, Claude gets a fresh upgrade, OnlyFans may be for sale, and the crew debates whether or not we really need “smart” toilets. PLUS the final round of the Founder Friday city competition! See who wins!

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The TWiST500 newsletter is the new, updated, and improved TWiST Ticker.