The pitch trick that helped an eSports startup raise $20M when VCs only wanted AI

techcrunch.com May 25, 2026

The pitch trick that helped an eSports startup raise $20M when VCs only wanted AI

Curated by Shubham · TechCapsules · May 25, 2026

AI-summarised brief · reviewed before publication

Lucra Sports, an eSports startup, raised $20 million in a Series B funding round led by Cathie Wood's ARK Invest Venture Fund. Despite ARK's previous loss on a similar eSports company, Skillz, and the current focus on AI investments, Lucra's founder and CEO Dylan Robbins secured the investment. Robbins attributed his success to being friendly and open to conversations, which led to an introduction to ARK's investment team. He also adjusted his pitch to discuss AI, highlighting how his business could benefit from its growth or serve as a diversification opportunity. Lucra offers white-label interactive gaming competitions as a loyalty program for businesses, with customers including Five Iron Golf and Dave & Buster's. The funding will fuel growth and new ideas, such as adding mini-games to its offerings.

💡 Why It Matters

· Lucra's successful fundraising despite not being an AI-focused company shows that entrepreneurs can still secure investments by highlighting their unique value proposition and adapting to the current market trends.
· By pivoting his pitch to address the AI hype, Robbins demonstrated the importance of flexibility and creative storytelling in securing investments.

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Embodied AI Robotics Startup Astrall Dynamics Gains Investment from SAIC and Others

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💡 The investment and partnership signify a growing recognition of the potential for embodied AI in China's robotics industry, with Astrall Dynamics poised to play a key role in driving innovation and adoption.

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Governor Josh Shapiro announced a $30 million investment from Nokia to expand its photonic semiconductor operations in Lehigh County, creating over 250 new jobs and retaining 308 positions. The project will nearly double Nokia's Pennsylvania workforce and generate a $500 million economic impact over five years. The Commonwealth is investing over $3 million in the project, which will expand Nokia's existing operations by up to ten times. This growth reinforces Pennsylvania's role as a hub for advanced semiconductor production, used in broadband networks and fiber optic systems. Nokia's investment is crucial in growing the Lehigh Valley's role in global supply chains.

💡 Nokia's investment fills a critical gap in US semiconductor production, where less than two percent of global capacity is currently located. Pennsylvania's supportive business climate is helping the state compete on a global scale in innovation and advanced manufacturing.

spacenews.com · Jun 17

Dawn Aerospace raises $25 million

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💡 This investment will accelerate Dawn Aerospace's growth in emerging markets, including hypersonics testing and in-space mobility. By delivering reusable, responsive access across the air and space domain, Dawn can unlock the economic potential of space and solve critical national security challenges.

techcrunch.com · Jun 17

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Critical Energy, a startup founded by SpaceX alum Spencer Jackson, has raised $22 million to develop modular turbines for geothermal power plants. The company aims to fill a gap in the market by providing turbines tailored to geothermal power plants, with the funds earmarked to build its first 2.5 megawatt project. Geothermal energy has significant potential, with at least 42 terawatts of capacity available worldwide, and Critical Energy hopes to play a key role in its development. The startup's modular turbines are designed to be built in a factory, reducing assembly time and costs. The first power plant using Critical Energy's turbines is scheduled for completion by 2027.

💡 Geothermal energy could beat nuclear fission and fusion to commercial deployment, with Critical Energy's modular turbines potentially enabling gigawatt-scale power plants by the early 2030s. Advanced geothermal could also power nearly two-thirds of new data centers by 2030, addressing the tech industry's growing energy needs.

techcrunch.com · Jun 17

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💡 By codifying rules and regulations into executable code, Pramaana Labs can provide stronger protections against AI errors and hallucinations. This deterministic approach can ensure that AI decisions are reliable and trustworthy, especially in high-stakes domains.

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Atom Computing has surpassed $300 million in cumulative capital to accelerate the commercial manufacturing and field deployment of its fault-tolerant computing platforms. The milestone is driven by a finalized $100 million Series C equity investment round and a signed Letter of Intent from the U.S. Department of Commerce outlining an additional $100 million federal capital allocation. Atom Computing has successfully demonstrated full quantum error correction protocols on operational hardware, establishing it as the first to validate functional logical qubits within an optically trapped neutral-atom architecture.

💡 The $300 million funding milestone solidifies Atom Computing's position as a leader in neutral-atom quantum hardware, enabling the company to expand its on-premises hardware delivery and go-to-market teams for enterprise and national security sectors.