October Prime Day is nearly here, and new early deals are popping up every day. Amazon uses October Prime Day to kickstart the holiday shopping season — even if you haven’t even thought about the holidays yet, you should give the latest Prime Day Lego deals a look. A number of Lego sets from the Super Mario, Star Wars and Harry Potter collections are already on sale for up to 41 percent off. There are even steeper savings on general Lego sets as well.

On the Star Wars side of things, this Spider Tank set is 36 percent off and down to only $32, which is the lowest it’s ever been. It includes 526 pieces that replicate the spider tank from season three of The Mandalorian, plus three minifigures: Din Djarin, Bo-Katan Kryze and Grogu. Once built, the spider tank has grabbing claws, flexible legs and a little cockpit in which one of the figures can sit. Also on sale is this Boarding The Tantive IV set in which you recreate the iconic scene from Star Wars: A New Hope. That will set you back $44, which represents a 20-percent discount.

In the Mario space, this Dixie Kong’s Jungle Jam expansion set has the biggest discount: 41 percent off and down to $16. It has 174 pieces along with buildable Dixie Kong and Squawks figures that both come with musical accessories. Mario fans who are old enough to have a work-from-home setup might appreciate this displayable Piranha Plant set that would look great in the background of any video conference call. It’s 20 percent off and down to $48.

Rounding things out with Harry Potter sets, this Hogwarts Castle and Grounds set is down to $136 and has never been cheaper. It includes 2,660 pieces that create a final product that’s over eight inches high, 13 inches wide and 10 inches deep. Plus, it comes with a cute, golden Hogwarts architect statue minifigure.

If you’re looking for more general Lego sets, two of the best deals we found are on the Classic Medium Creative Brick Box, down to $19, and the Lego City 2024 advent calendar, down to $26. The former includes 484 pieces in all different sizes and colors, and would make a great gift for anyone who just likes to build with Lego without following a set of instructions. As for the latter, you probably know someone who loves a good advent calendar this time of year, and this Lego one has 24 surprise gifts that include seasonal minifigures, mini builds and more.

Best Prime Day Lego deals

Follow @EngadgetDeals on Twitter for the latest tech deals and buying advice, and stay tuned to Engadget.com for all of the best tech deals coming out of October Prime Day 2024.

With so many technological advances around, it’s hard to believe that some industries still use outdated manual processes to carry out crucial and sometimes life-dependent tasks such as transporting temperature-sensitive items.

Consider this: Traditional refrigeration and cooling systems rely heavily on compressors and chlorofluorocarbons (CFC) gases. These systems are energy-intensive and pose significant environmental challenges, contributing to greenhouse gas emissions. Not to mention, they are not easily portable, which leaves the cold chain industry relying on ice packs and gel-based insulation boxes to transport temperature-sensitive drugs.

So what is the solution? Invensify, led by founder and CEO Faizan Ahmed, has developed an alternative. Instead of using these traditional methods, their product, Insuridge, uses semiconductor technology to keep things cool. This means more reliable temperature control, less waste and a greener way to transport medicine and other essentials.

“If you’ve ever looked at the back of a traditional fridge, you’ll see compressors, CFC gas and coils – a lot of mechanics and fluids working together. What we’ve done is miniaturize all of that into a single chip, simplifying the cooling process. No more CFC gas, compressors or coils; it’s now just one solid-state chip cooling the fridge,” explains Ahmed.

By moving away from compressor-dependent models, Invensify significantly reduces energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions, aligning with global efforts to combat climate change. Its product is not only quieter but also more durable and versatile, opening up possibilities for use in applications where traditional cooling methods are impractical or too cumbersome.

Invensify’s journey began with a personal problem. While traveling with his diabetic father, Faizan saw firsthand how difficult it was to maintain a stable, cool temperature for insulin using traditional ice packs. With a background in electrical engineering and solid-state physics, Faizan decided to create a more reliable and portable refrigeration solution. He recalls, “I started thinking, why is there no reliable solution to transport temperature-sensitive materials? Why are we still relying on ice? That led me to focus my attention on developing a portable system that could be used for transporting drugs and other materials. That led to Invensify.”

One of the standout features of Invensify’s technology is its energy efficiency. Operating on a compact 30Wh internal battery, Insuridge can maintain a consistent temperature for up to five days without requiring an external power source.

“These portable refrigeration systems are essentially plug-and-play. Simply plug them into a wall outlet, and they begin cooling the payload. Within five hours, the temperature drops to 2°C. Once unplugged, the unit maintains temperatures between 2°C and 8°C for up to 5 days using the internal battery,” explains Ahmed.

In addition to its power efficiency, Insuridge is also connected to the Internet, providing real-time tracking capabilities. Each unit is equipped with GPS and LTE connectivity, allowing users to monitor temperature conditions remotely via a cloud-based platform.

Invensify has strategically positioned itself to cater to both business-to-business (B2B) and consumer markets. Initially, the company focused on B2B clients, establishing partnerships with pharmaceutical and logistics companies. Looking forward, the company plans to enter the consumer market within the next six months by introducing a smaller, portable unit. This unit, designed for individual use, will enable consumers to safely store medications like insulin while traveling, directly addressing the personal struggle that inspired Faizan to start the company.

Invensify’s vision extends far beyond the pharmaceutical cold chain. Faizan envisions a future where their solid-state technology can cool AI chips. As artificial intelligence processors generate tremendous heat, Invensify’s compressor-free system could replace the current water-cooling methods.

The company also sees opportunities in the electric vehicle (EV) market. Currently, EV batteries are prone to overheating, which can limit their charge capacity and longevity. By integrating Invensify’s solid-state cooling technology, EV manufacturers could improve charging speeds and battery life, addressing some of the key concerns surrounding these vehicles.

“Our vision for the future is very simple. We’re in the business of creating power-efficient cooling systems,” says Ahmed. “We want to create a paradigm shift and become a company that is going to reshape how cooling is going to be done in the future.”

Invensify is on a mission to modernize the cooling industry, creating solutions that benefit industries and consumers alike. The company’s focus on developing power-efficient, compressor-free cooling systems is already changing industries such as logistics and healthcare – and it’s only the beginning. To learn more about Invensify, visit www.invensify.com.

VentureBeat newsroom and editorial staff were not involved in the creation of this content. 

Welcome to Startups Weekly — your weekly recap of everything you can’t miss from the world of startups. Want it in your inbox every Friday? Sign up here.

This week once again brought us AI funding news, as well as some warnings: Some categories and stages are showing signs of overheating. Luckily, we also spotted some cool startups — literally.

Most interesting startup stories from the week

It may seem hard to believe, but OpenAI is still a startup, hence its recurring top spot here. There were other interesting stories this week, though.

BillionAI: OpenAI raised $6.6 billion at a $157 billion post-money valuation, in addition to securing a $4 billion revolving line of credit and launching a new interface. The company reportedly asked investors not to back rivals such as Anthropic and xAI, but OpenAI didn’t confirm. Meanwhile, Anthropic hired OpenAI co-founder Durk Kingma in a remote role.

Attack of the clones: Y Combinator faced criticism for backing AI code editor PearAI, whose CEO apologized for cloning another YC-backed, open source project without proper attribution and with a “flubbed” license.

Livestreamed shopping: Livestream shopping app Whatnot said its annual gross merchandise volume (GMV) surpassed $2 billion this year, a sign that there’s still hope for the live commerce business in the U.S.

Most interesting fundraises this week

Some companies prefer to raise funding under the radar; others even operate underwater.

Deep end: AI coding startup Poolside raised a $500 million Series B round of funding led by Bain Capital Ventures, with participation from eBay and Nvidia. This allowed Poolside to bring 10,000 Nvidia GPUs online to train future models, CEO Jason Warner said.

Cool water: Barcelona-based immersion cooling startup Submer raised $55.5 million to get more customers for its solution, which is already used by hyperscalers, telecom companies, and other large corporations.

11x meets a16z: 11x.ai, a startup that develops AI sales bots, secured a Series B round of funding of approximately $50 million led by Andreessen Horowitz, TechCrunch learned.

Stealthy funding: Cloud backup startup Eon came out of stealth and revealed it already reached a $750 million post-money valuation after raising three rounds of funding, including a $77 million Series B.

More stealthy funding: Series, a generative AI game-development platform, quietly raised a $28 million Series A round of funding from Netflix, Dell, a16z, and others.

Most interesting VC and fund news this week

Trim season: Veteran venture firm CRV returned $275 million from its $500 million late-stage Select fund to investors, citing overvaluation of mature startups. This follows a similar move by India’s Peak XV, which reduced its fund size and fees amid signs of overheating.

Launching: Former Y Combinator managing director and Twitter executive Ali Rowghani is launching Maxq, a new venture firm targeting $250 million for its debut fund.

NY bullish: Index Ventures is looking to hire another New York-based investor with plans to add three or four new people to its local team within the next year, partner Shardul Shah told TechCrunch.

Last but not least

Talking to TechCrunch global managing editor Matt Rosoff ahead of this year’s Startup Battlefield 200 at TechCrunch Disrupt, New York tech investor and serial entrepreneur Kevin Ryan shared some thoughts on when and whether founders should sell their company. His conviction: More of them should.