September 11, 2025

Testing, testing

Hi there,

Here is this week's Hot or Not.

Hot: Agent infrastructure

Baseten just raised $150M at a $2.2B valuation, more than double its valuation from just 7 months ago.

The model deployment startup's trajectory reflects the AI agent infrastructure gold rush.

Infrastructure is becoming the new battleground, with emerging startups to cloud giants racing to own AI agent development. 

See all 135+ startups across 17 infrastructure markets shaping autonomous AI's future in CB Insights' AI agent tech stack market map.

Not: Rushed exits

Tech companies are staying private for longer, with a 16-year average to IPO versus 12 in 2015.

With more private market funding available than ever, companies can postpone going public for even longer. 

Download our State of Tech Exits report to learn more about how private funding is reshaping traditional exit timelines.

Hot: AI product testing & development

Last week we highlighted OpenAI's $1.1B acquisition of product development platform Statsig. 

The deal signals OpenAI’s focus on speeding up AI application development.

Databricks and DataDog made similar moves in the broader product testing & development space this year, acquiring feature store company Tecton and A/B testing company Eppo, respectively.

As companies look to ship AI products faster, see CB Insights' product testing acquisition radar, where we mapped startups that could get scooped up next.

Not: GLP-1 market leadership

This week, Novo Nordisk announced it will cut 11% of its workforce after nearly doubling headcount from 2019 to 2023. 

The cuts reflect intensifying competition from Eli Lilly, whose Zepbound has gained market share against Wegovy.

Despite investing $33B in manufacturing and running 21 active obesity trials (nearly double Lilly's 12), Novo's shares have fallen 46% this year, giving way for competitors to overtake its market dominance in the GLP-1 industry.

See Novo Nordisk's full strategic response in CB Insights' strategy map tracking the company's manufacturing push. 

The +1

Source: u/realGilgongo via Reddit

Cambridge can’t chart. Two people killed the scale.

I love you.

Anand

@asanwal 

Co-Founder & Exec Chair

P.S. Want to know which VCs are outperforming? Check out our Smart Money 2025 list of the world's 25 best-performing venture capital firms.

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