Lion Herald Newsroom updates on Thursday September 10th 2026

Cognition, a San Francisco artificial-intelligence coding startup, has raised $2 billion in a Series E round at a $48 billion valuation. New investors Andreessen Horowitz and Accel led the deal, joined by existing backers including Peter Thiel’s Founders Fund, General Catalyst and Avenir. Altimeter and Bain Capital Ventures also took part.

The round almost doubles the company’s worth from $26 billion in May, when it raised more than $1 billion. Cognition’s main product is Devin, which it calls an AI software engineer that can write computer code on its own. The company launched Devin in 2024 and has grown quickly since then.

It said annualized revenue has climbed to nearly $900 million from $492 million in May. Cognition said customers are using Devin more as it becomes part of how they build software. It named Nvidia for chip design, GE Aerospace for aviation, Citi for financial services, Mercedes-Benz for cars and Modal for AI infrastructure. Earlier this year the firm said it planned to expand across Asia-Pacific, including Australia, New Zealand, India and South Korea. The company described Devin as working with leading engineering teams.

HelmGuard has raised $7.3 million in seed funding to develop AI agents that directly address compliance risks. Infinity Ventures and Frontline Ventures co-led the round, joined by FinTech Collective, Stage 2 Capital, Entrepreneur First and angel investors.

The London company was founded by John Daley, a former Palantir lawyer and compliance leader, and Jack Miller, an AI researcher. They met through a technology programme run by Entrepreneur First co-founder Matt Clifford, who became HelmGuard’s first investor.

Unlike traditional compliance platforms that rely on checklists and documents, HelmGuard brings company risks, employees, suppliers and AI systems into one platform. Its agents provide confidence scores, link decisions to sources and request human review for serious risks.

HelmGuard assessed 1,250 suppliers for a US insurer in under a week. The team has grown from three to ten people in two months and plans to raise Series A funding within 12 to 18 months.

CloudNC has raised $20 million in a round led by investor Nimble Ventures. LM Ventures, Lockheed Martin’s investment arm, joined, alongside Calculus Venture Capital and Entrepreneur First.

The London company was founded in 2015 by Theo Saville and Chris Emery. They wanted to remove slow manual work needed to program CNC machines, which cut materials into precise parts.

Its main product, CAM Assist, creates machining plans and toolpaths in seconds instead of hours. The software works with CAM systems and is now used in more than 1,000 machine shops worldwide, including hundreds in the US. Lockheed Martin is both a customer and an investor.

CloudNC will use the funding to enter more markets and launch Quote Agent later in 2026. This AI tool will help shops price jobs faster and more accurately. The company is also seeking FedRAMP certification so it can sell CAM Assist directly to US defence agencies.