OpenAI’s Codex, Anthropic’s Claude Code, GitHub Copilot, and Cognition’s Devin are all competing for attention from developers. Robinhood’s venture arm now has money riding on two of the companies behind them.

Robinhood Ventures has cut Cognition a check for $10 million, the company exclusively told Fortune, which follows a $75 million investment in OpenAI back in April.

Sarah Pinto, head of Robinhood Ventures, has no issue with backing rivals. “It’s not a winner-take-all market,” she said. Robinhood’s own engineers use multiple AI coding tools, she noted, adding that within its consumer business, Robinhood lets customers choose between different AI models to run its trading agents.

The Cognition investment was part of the startup’s Series E funding round in September, which raised more than $2 billion at a $48 billion valuation. Robinhood is disclosing its participation for the first time, joining high-profile backers including Andreessen Horowitz, Accel, and Founders Fund. Cognition said in September that its annualized revenue run rate had reached almost $900 million, up from $492 million in May. 

But it wasn’t just the market opportunity or Cognition’s rapid growth that sold Pinto. She first met cofounder and CEO Scott Wu in 2024, before she joined Robinhood, and was struck by his conviction about where AI was heading.

Even as the technology and the market evolved, Wu’s “vision really never changed,” she said, something she described as “pretty extraordinary.” She added, “It’s all about who are the leaders of these companies and do we think that they are these legendary A-plus teams that can bend the future to their will. Scott is very much that.” Cognition’s cofounders also include Steven Hao, Walden Yan, and Russell Kaplan.

The new investment is held through Robinhood Ventures Fund I, a publicly traded closed-end fund that began trading in March and gives everyday investors exposure to red-hot private companies. The holdings include Databricks, Revolut, and ElevenLabs, among others. Investors can buy and sell shares of the fund on the stock exchange, rather than having to secure a direct stake in those businesses. 

Robinhood also told Fortune that the fund’s net asset value (NAV), which is the estimated value of its investments, minus liabilities, jumped about 17% for the quarter ended September 30. That’s its biggest quarterly increase to date. 

Getting exposure to private assets can be difficult even for accredited investors, Pinto said. It often depends on connections, who can cut the largest checks, and a willingness to tie up money for years. “That just doesn’t work for most people, which means that most people have to completely give up on the idea of essentially owning a piece of the most innovative companies and where a lot of the wealth creation is happening,” she said.

See you Monday,

Morgan Chittum
X: @morgan_chittum
Email: morgan.chittum@fortune.com

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Joey Abrams curated the deals section of today’s newsletter.

VENTURE DEALS

- Xona, a Burlingame, Calif.-based developer of satellite-based navigation infrastructure, raised $250 million in Series D funding. Future Ventures led the round.

- Warp Sciences, a San Francisco-based provider of AI- and robotics-powered chemistry research services for biotech and pharmaceutical companies, raised $215 million in funding. Lightspeed led the round and was joined by Premji Invest, Mayfield, IVP, Lux, Conviction, and others.

- Tractian, an Atlanta-based provider of AI-powered industrial equipment monitoring and maintenance technology, raised $130 million in Series D funding. Sapphire Ventures and M&G’s Catalyst led the round and were joined by N47, General Catalyst, Bosch Ventures, and others.

- Enact Intelligence, a Zurich, Switzerland-based developer of robots with force and touch sensing, raised $30 million in pre-seed funding from redalpine, Notion Capital, firstminute capital, and others.

- Maxinsights, a Santa Clara, Calif.-based provider of real-world training data for robotics and AI models, raised $30 million in seed funding. Peak XV led the round and was joined by Tola Capital, South Park Commons, INCE Capital, and Alumni Ventures.

- Slingshot Insurance, a Minneapolis, Minn.-based provider of AI-powered infrastructure for embedded insurance, raised $27 million in seed funding. Rally Ventures and Skyward Group led the round.

- PreScalar, a San Francisco-based provider of a test and data platform for advanced manufacturing, raised $7 million in seed funding. Dynamo Ventures and BMW i Ventures led the round, joined by Blue Wire Capital, Uplift Ventures, and Antler.

- Cambridge Heavy Industries, a Cambridge, Mass.-based developer of compact, laser-driven fusion systems, raised $6.2 million in seed funding from Azolla Ventures and others.

- Mave, a Tel Aviv-based developer of AI-powered security operations software, raised $28 million in Series A funding. Red Dot Capital Partners led the round and was joined by Lumir Growth Partners.

- Pythag Tech, a New York-based developer of AI technology to optimize cultivated meat production, raised $4.25 million in seed funding. Azolla Ventures led the round and was joined by Endurance28 and others.

PRIVATE EQUITY

- Hoffmann Family of Companies acquired Champion Coach, a Greenville, S.C.-based provider of charter transportation for sports teams, corporations, and other groups. Financial terms weren’t disclosed.

- TFP Fertility Group, backed by Amulet Capital Partners, acquired Manchester Fertility Group, a Cheadle, U.K.-based provider of fertility treatments, preservation, and donor services. Financial terms weren’t disclosed.

EXITS

- LSEG agreed to acquire Octus, a provider of credit intelligence, data, and workflow software, from Permira in an all-cash deal valuing the company at $3.535 billion. Permira acquired Octus in 2022.

- Oakley Capital acquired Global Loan Agency Services, a London-based provider of loan agency and trustee services, from LLCP. Financial terms weren’t disclosed.

- Stord acquired AMS Fulfillment, a Valencia, Calif.-based provider of direct-to-consumer and B2B fulfillment and freight management services, from Fort Point Capital. Financial terms weren’t disclosed.