Tesla's Autopilot performance, Facebook employees' newest directive, and another tech giant gives up its SF HQ

The Federal Reserve today approved the largest interest-rate increase since 1994 and signaled it would continue lifting rates this year at the most rapid pace in decades to fight inflation that is running at a 40-year high.

The sell-off in cryptocurrencies deepened even further today, with bitcoin sinking very close to $20,000.

What’s a smart investment when the Fed raises rates? With a recession on the horizon, smart investors are diversifying with alternative assets like art to prepare for the storm. Experts even called the high-end art market “bulletproof.” Literally, on the same day as Lehman Brothers collapsed in 2008, the art market began to boom, according to the Financial Times. And now with this award-winning platform, you can diversify your portfolio with art in minutes. Unlock the power of this bulletproof market here.

Brad Feld, a venture capitalist of 25 years an author of several books, has just republished a book that first came out in 2013 and to which Feld, with the help of coauthors Matt Blumberg and Mahendra Ramsinghani, has added quite a bit for this new, second edition.

Called Startup Boards:A Field Guide to Building and Leading an Effective Board of Directors, its timing couldn’t be better. With the public — and now startup — markets in turmoil, board members who may have gotten along swimmingly in the longest bull market in history may suddenly find themselves at odds with the management teams they’ve funded, as well as their fellow board members. After all, hard decisions are being made right now, and faced with very different financial pressures, many VCs are discovering their jobs just became a lot more challenging, too.

We talked with Feld last week about the book and the challenges currently facing startup boards, and we touched on a wide number of issues, from the importance (or not) of having an odd number of directors to avoid gridlock, and why every startup board should have independent directors from nearly the get-go. You can listen to our conversation here; meanwhile, we hope you’ll find the excerpts below, edited for length and clarity, helpful.

Why rework and republish this book? Why do startups need it?

One reason is until recently, we’ve had this incredible, positive market for entrepreneurship and venture specifically where there’s been huge value created [notwithstanding a] handful of cases where there’s been really bad governance that resulted in the cataclysmic failures of companies. At the same time, there’s been this narrative, especially amongst companies, that they don’t really need boards, [with] more entrepreneurs not taking advantage of the benefit of a board — especially outside board members.

This whole notion of what role a board really plays and how it can be helpful to a fast-growing company wasn’t just lost but in a lot of ways was being ignored.

Isn’t that also the fault of VCs who’ve been writing more checks, faster, and investing less in their board roles?

More here.

AlphaSense, an 11-year-old New York-based market intelligence and search platform, raised $225 million in Series D equity and debt funding (it isn't breaking how much of each it raised). Earlier backers Goldman Sachs and Viking Global co-led the equity piece while BlackRock provided the debt. The company had closed on $180 million in Series C funding last fall from Viking, GS and others. TechCrunch has more here.

DataStax, a 12-year-old, Santa Clara, Ca.-based outfit that has transformed itself from a layer that sits on top of Apache Cassandra databases to a real-time data offering for application developers that removes database restrictions, has raised $115 million in fresh funding led by Goldman Sachs's growth equity business. Other participants in the round include RCM Private Markets, EDB Investments, and earlier backers Crosslink Capital, Meritech Capital Partners, OnePrime Capital and other unnamed investors. DataStax has now raised $340 million altogether and says investors are valuing the company at $1.6 billion. TechCrunch has more here.

DealHub, an 8.5-year-old, Israel-based company that helps sales teams better manage communication with their customers throughout the sales process in what it calls “Digital DealRooms," has raised $60 million led by Alpha Wave. http://axios.link/Cy2W

Dren Bio, a three-year-old, San Carlos, Ca.-based developer of protein-engineering technologies, raised $65 million in Series B funding co-led by Aisling Capital and HBM Healthcare Investments. The company has now raised $156 million altogether. FierceBiotech has more here. 

Flip, a seven-year-old, Jakarta-based Indonesian consumer payments platform, has raised $55 million in Series B funding led by Tencent, with participation from Block and earlier investor Insight Partners. TechCrunch has more here.

Fountain, an eight-year-old, San Francisco-based maker of hiring automation software, raised $100 million in extended Series C funding led by B Capital. SoftBank, Mirae Asset Venture Investment, DCM, Origin Ventures, Commerce Ventures, SemperVirens Venture Capital, and Uncork Capital also joined the tranche, which brings the company's total funding to $225 million.TechCrunch has more here. 

Invoca, a 14-year-old, Santa Barbara, Ca.-based maker of conversational intelligence software for consumer brands, raised $83 million in Series F funding led by Silver Lake Waterman. Other backers in the round included Hollyport Capital, Kingfisher Investment Advisors,  Fenwick & West and earlier backers Upfront Ventures, Accel, H.I.G. Capital and Industry Ventures. TechCrunch has more here.  

LiveView Technologies, a 17-year-old, Orem, Ut.-based video software and safety surveillance company, has raised $50 million in Series B funding. Sorenson Capital led the round, joined by the Larry H. Miller Group, Lead Edge Capital and Pelion Venture Partners. More here.

MegaRobo, a six-year-old, China-based startup that applies robotics and artificial intelligence toward life sciences research, has raised $300 million in Series C funding. GGV Capital and Asia Investment Capital co-led the round, joined by Goldman Sachs and earlier backers Sinovation Ventures, Pavilion Capital and Starr Capital. Bloomberg has more here.

Metropolis, a 5.5-year-old, Los Angeles-based AI-powered parking platform -- after it equips existing parking structures with its systems, customers can drive in and out without having to swipe a credit card or pay with cash -- has raised $167 million in Series B funding. 3L Capital and Assembly Ventures co-led the round, joined by Dragoneer, Eldridge Industries, Silver Lake Waterman, UP Partners and Dan Doctoroff. TechCrunch has more here.

Overair, a three-year-old eVTOL spinoff from Karem Aircraft, has raised $145 million from Hanwha Systems and Hanwha Aerospace. Axios has more here.  

PayCargo, a 15-year-old, Coral Gables, Fla.-based freight payment platform, has raised $130 million in Series C funding from Blackstone Growth. The outfit has now raised $290 million altogether. The WSJ has more here.

Postscript, a four-year-old, San Francisco-based startup focused on SMS marketing for Shopify businesses, raised $65 million in Series C funding. 01 Advisors led the round, joined by Twilio Ventures, Expanding Capital, m]x[v Capital and earlier investors Greylock, Accomplice, Elephant and OpenView. TechCrunch has more here.

UpGrad, a two-year-old, Bangalore-based Indian ed-tech focused on post-grad and professional degrees, has raised $225 million from Educational Testing Service and James Murdoch's Lupa Systems, among others. Bloomberg has more here. 

Zoovu, a 12-year-old, Boston-based online product discovery platform, raised $169 million led by FTV Capital. TechCrunch has more here. 

Cube, a four-year-old, New York-based financial planning and analysis platform, has raised $30 million in Series B funding. Battery Ventures led the round,  joined by GTMfund and earlier investors Mayfield, Bonfire Ventures and Operator Collective. TechCrunch has more here.

Fellow, a nine-year-old, San Francisco-based company that makes pricey, design-forward coffee-making gear (it was started by a Stanford grad who initially raised money for his coffee brand on Kickstarter), has raised $30 million in Series B funding led by NextWorld Evergreen. The Spoon has more here. 

GreyNoise Intelligence, a five-year-old, Washington, D.C.-based cybersecurity startup, has raised $15 million in Series A funding. Radian Capital led the round joined by CRV, Inner Loop, Stone Mill Ventures and Paladin Capital. TechCrunch has more here.

Moleaer, a six-year-old, Carson, Ca.-based company that develops industrial scale nanobubble generators, has raised $40 million in Series C funding led by Apollo, with participation from Husqvarna. The company has now raised $61 million altogether. More on wtf a nanobubble generator is here.

Narmi, a six-year-old, New York-based digital banking startup, has raised $35 million in Series B funding co-led by Greycroft, NEA and Picus Capital. The round brings the company's total funding to roughly $60 million. TechCrunch has more here.

NFTPort, a three-year-old, Tallinn, Estonia-based startup focused on NFT infrastructure for developers, has raised $26 million in Series A funding. Atomico co-led the round with Taavet+Sten, the investment arm from the co-founders of Wise and Teleport. CoinDesk has more here.

Onymos, a six-year-old, Menlo Park-based startup that develops plug-in features for apps, has raised $12 million in Series A funding. Great Point Ventures led, and was joined by Benhamou Global Ventures, Engineering Capital and Industry Ventures. TechCrunch has more here.

Pawlicy Advisor, a four-year-old, Scarsdale, N.Y.-based online pet insurance marketplace, has raised $12 million in Series B funding led by StepStone Group. The round also included participation from new and earlier backers defy.vc, Rho Ignition, Slow Ventures, and ERA’s Remarkable Ventures Fund. Business Insider has more here.

PredictSpring, a nine-year-old, San Francisco-based developer of omni-channel commerce and point-of-sale tech, has raised $16 million in Series B funding, taking its total funding to date to $32 million. Earlier investors Salesforce Ventures, Felicis Ventures and Novel TMT Ventures participated in the round. Forbes has more here.

Xendee, a four-year-old, San Diego company that sells microgrid planning and operations software, has raised $12 million in Series A funding led by Anzu Partners with participation from TravelCenters of America and Evergy Ventures. More here.

Altrio, a two-year-old, Toronto-based maker of software for real investors, raised C$8 million in Series A funding. Whitecap Venture Partners led the round, joined by Mantella Venture Partners, Alate Partners and Colliers. BetaKit has more here.

Destaxa, a one-year-old, São Paulo, Brazil-based payments platform that says it provides a single integration for offline retailers to access all payment networks, has raised a $3.1 million seed round. Quona Capital led, joined by Caravela and Norte Ventures, alongside angel investors Tiago Dalvi (Olist co-founder) and Alessio Alionço (Pipefy co-founder). More here.

Mewt, a six-month-old, Bangalore, India-based "super app" created to serve India's 63 million micro, small and medium-sized enterprises, has raised a $4.8 million seed round. Quona Capital led, joined by previous investors BEENEXT, DG Daiwa Ventures, Goodwater Capital, Allin Capital and a clutch of fintech angels. More in LiveMint.

Wind Catching Systems, a five-year-old Norwegian developer of floating offshore wind designs, has raised $10 million in Series A funding led by GM Ventures. Axios has more here.

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Addition, the growth equity firm led by former TIger Global investor Lee Fixel, is raising $1.5 billion for its fourth fund, according to an SEC filing. Less than a year ago, Addition registered plans to raise $1.5 billion for its third fund. More here.

Wesley Chan and Pegah Ebrahimi have raised $450 million for a debut fund that launches their early-stage venture capital firm FPV. Chan recently left venture capital firm Felicis and previously worked at GV; Ebrahimi was long an employee of Morgan Stanley’s investment bank and more recently at Cisco Systems. The pair first met as undergraduates in the dorms at MIT more than 20 years ago, says Bloomberg. More here.

Questa Capital, a six-year-old, Washington, D.C.- and San Francisco-based bi-coastal healthcare-focused venture firm, is raising $400 million for its third fund, per an SEC filing. More here.

World Innovation Lab (WiL), an eight-year-old Palo Alto- and Tokyo- headquartered venture capital firm, says it has raised more than $1 billion. It's an enormous fund for the outfit, relatively speaking. The latest funding, which will be deployed across WiL’s multiple funds, including WiL Ventures III, WiL strategic partners funds and its corporate VC funds, brings the firm’s total committed capital to more than $1.9 billion. TechCrunch has more here.

Zalando, the publicly traded German e-tailer, has acquired a majority stake in Highsnobiety, the 17-year-old, streetwear media-brand-turned-retailer backed by venture firms Felix Capital, Blue 9 Capital, Leaf Ventures, Mirabaud Asset Management and Torch Capital. Terms of the deal aren't being disclosed; according to Crunchbase data, Highsnobiety had raised at least $8.5 million from its VC investors. Vogue has more here.

The teen who famously turned down a $5,000 offer to stop tracking Elon Musk's private jet said he stopped sharing data on Mark Cuban's travel history on Twitter after the billionaire reached out with privacy concerns. "Not everyone on this platform is stable. Many can be irrational and dangerous," Cuban said in a message to 19-year-old Jack Sweeney. "You tell me what you want so that I can end this risk to my family's safety."

Jesse Powell, a 41-year-old Bitcoin pioneer who founded Kraken, now one of the world's largest cryptocurrency exchanges, has ignited a culture war among his more than 3,000 workers.

Bill Gates pokes fun at conspiracy theorists.

Tesla vehicles running its Autopilot software have been involved in 273 reported crashes over roughly the past year, according to regulators, far more than previously known. The numbers, published by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration for the first time today, show that Tesla vehicles made up nearly 70% of the 392 crashes involving advanced driver-assistance systems reported since last July. The Washington Post has more here.

The rise of the internet's creative middle class.

Facebook employees were recently given a new directive with sweeping implications: make the app's feed more like TikTok.

Block, the payments-processing company formerly known as Square, plans to give up its former San Francisco headquarters as it transitions to a more distributed workforce model, dealing another blow to a city struggling to bring back workers after the pandemic. Bloomberg has more here.

The 10 best new restaurants in America, according to Robb Report.

How to make a private call by hiding your number.

The rifle that ruined American.

Rarely seen paintings by J.R.R. Tolkien.

With 'furniture flipping,' what's old is new again.

A 4K portable home cinema that looks sleek (and, note, is not cheap).

Aman Beverly Hills, opening in 2026.

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