SpaceX goes after Gogo, Paradigm looks to save DAOs, and weed is coming to U.S. gas stations (really)

Quick mention: if you're around at 10 a.m PST tomorrow, you can catch a live-stream of a "state of VC" type conversation that we're moderating at TechCrunch Disrupt with Niko Bonatsos of General Catalyst and Caryn Marooney of Coatue. We'll go through some of the weirdness of the past year or so; we'll also talk about what's coming, and how the many (many) companies you see in this newsletter every day can possibly exit, given what's happening in the broader market. 🥶

If you tune in a little early, you can also catch a conversation with Warrior's star Draymond Green. (Much to our interns' annoyance, we are not conducting that one.) There's a lot to talk about!

On a Tesla earnings call today, CEO Elon Musk answered shareholder questions about customer demand and a possible share buyback after the company revealed that its revenue fell short of expectations as it struggled to deliver vehicles. "The factories are running at full speed and we're delivering every car we make, and keeping operating margins strong," Musk said, adding that Tesla is likely to do a "meaningful buyback" next year -- potentially between $5 billion and $10 billion pending board approval. Musk continued on to say that he's "of the opinion that we can far exceed Apple's current market cap. In fact I see a potential path for Tesla to be worth more than Apple and Saudi Aramco combined. That doesn't mean it will happen or will be easy."  (Shareholders weren't persuaded, sending shares falling more than 6% in after-market trading.) Musk is expected to sell a portion of his considerable shares in Tesla to help finance the close of that $44 billion take-private deal for Twitter. CNBC and the FT have more here and here.

Affinity, the relationship intelligence platform for dealmakers, launches a report analyzing investment trends that point toward future unicorn status. While the impact of an economic downturn can’t easily be predicted, deal activity trends can help us better understand current conditions and future outlooks. In this U.S. vs. European Unicorn report, Affinity takes a comparative look at global investment data to understand how the landscape for investors and hopeful unicorns has evolved against economic challenges and the role relationship intelligence plays in these transactions. Read the report.

Holidu, an eight-year-old Munich startup that has a vacation rentals metasearch engine and software and service to help property owners post their properties online, raised a $75 million Series E round and $25 million in debt. The deal lead was 83North, with additional participation from Northzone, HV Capital, Vintage Investment Partners, Commonfund Capital and insiders Prime Ventures, EQT Ventures, Coparion, Senovo, Lios Ventures, and Possible Ventures. TechCrunch has more here.

LogiNext, an eight-year-old startup based in Weehawken, N.J., that uses algorithms to help predict estimated shipping times and prices as well as organize fleets, is reportedly in the market to raise between an $80 million to $100 million Series C round at an $800 million valuation. Tiger Global, Steadview Capital Management, Alibaba, and Paytm previously invested in the startup. Bloomberg has more here.

Orionis Biosciences, a seven-year-old Boston startup based in Waltham, Ma., that has built a platform to develop cancer drugs in partnership with Novartis, raised a $55 million round. Investors included Cormorant Asset Management and Novartis. The company has raised a total of $79.5 million. More here.

Ten Thousand Coffees, a nine-year-old Toronto startup that has developed a talent platform for employees that provides what it calls inclusive mentoring, employee connectivity, and skills development, raised a $56 million round. Five Elms Capital was the deal lead. BetaKit has more here.

Viome Life Sciences, a six-year-old startup based in Bellevue, Wa., that offers gut microbiome tests for consumers and provides nutrition recommendations based on the results, raised a $67 million Series C round. Bold Capital Group was the deal lead, while Khosla Ventures, West River Group, Glico, Ocgrow Ventures, and Physician Partners also participated. The company has raised a total of $169.5 million. FierceBiotech has more here.

Aqemia, a three-year-old Paris startup that combines quantum-inspired physics and machine learning to predict the effectiveness of pharmaceutical drugs, raised a $30 million Series A round co-led by Eurazeo and Bpifrance; previous investor Elaia also participated. The company has raised a total of $30.8 million. Tech.eu has more here.

Credit Key, a seven-year-old Los Angeles startup that provides merchants with the ability to offer a buy now, pay later financing option at the point-of-sale, raised a $15 million round from previous investors RedBird Capital, Bonfire Ventures, and Greycroft, as well as a $150 million credit facility from Fortress Investment Group. More here.

Eyenuk, a 12-year-old, Los Angeles-based company that makes technology for eye screenings, raised $26 million in a Series A funding round, bringing its total funding to more than $43 million. The company says its AI system is more accurate in detecting diabetic retinopathy than a clinical examination from a general ophthalmologist or a retina specialist. The round was led by AXA IM Alts. MedCity News has more here.

MaxAB, a four-year-old Cairo startup that has built a food and grocery B2B e-commerce and distribution platform serving a network of traditional retailers across Egypt and Morocco, raised a $40 million round. Investors included ADQ, British International Investment, and Silver Lake. TechCrunch has more here.

Nourish Ingredients, a three-year-old Australian startup that creates animal-free fats using synthetic biology, raised a $28.6 million Series A round led by Horizons Ventures, with Hostplus and Main Sequence Ventures also pitching in. The company has raised a total of $39.6 million. TechCrunch has more here.

PIC Therapeutics, a six-year-old startup based in Natick, Ma., that aims to create small molecule medicines to treat cancer by modulating protein translation, raised a $35 million Series A round led by OrbiMed, with Lumira Ventures, Harrington Discovery Institute, and previous investors Advent Life Sciences and Belinda Termeer also participating. More here.

Shibumi, an eleven-year-old startup based in Norwalk, Ct., that sells portfolio management software, raised a $30 million round from Guidepost Growth Equity, according to Fortune, which has more here.

Rock Paper Coin, a three-year-old Portland, Ore.-based software-as-a-service startup that sells digital contracts and invoicing tools to the wedding and event industry, has raised $2.3 million in seed funding led by Elevate Capital, with participation from RPC, Hearstlab, Stormlight Holdings, and other investors. More here.

Adonis, a New York startup that is developing a medical billing platform that aims to automate the payment collection process between healthcare providers and insurance companies, raised a $5.6 million seed round led by Bling Capital, with Max Ventures, Homebrew, Soma Capital, and Coalition Operators also contributing. Forbes has more here.

Axoft, a one-year-old Boston startup that is developing brain implant technology to treat neurological conditions like cerebral palsy as well as enable communication, raised an $8 million seed round led by The Engine, with Ab Initio Capital, Decent Capital, Alumni Ventures, Safar Partners, AIBasis, LiquidMetal VC, Taihill Venture, AMINO Capital, Blindspot Ventures, and Mintz also piling on. Forbes has more here.

Bumpa, a one-year-old Lagos startup that says it is building the infrastructure to power online commerce and enable African small business owners to start, manage, and grow their businesses from their mobile devices, raised a $4 million seed round. Base10 Partners was the deal lead. TechCrunch has more here.

Freebee, a ten-year-old Miami startup that provides free, on-demand transportation to local communities through its mobile app, raised an $8 million Series A round led by bp ventures, with Tensile Mobility also pitching in. TFN has more here.

Generation Prime, a Singapore startup that intends to roll up IVF clinics in Southeast Asia, raised a $3 million round. Investors included Recharge Capital, Thomson Medical Group, and Shamrock Holdings. More here.

Liine, a six-year-old Raleigh, NC startup whose software helps specialty healthcare and dental practices with customer marketing, acquisition, and management, raised a $3 million round led by Eastside Partners. The company has raised a total of $5 million. More here.

Nexta, a one-year-old Cairo startup whose “next-generation banking” app and card will aggregate users’ existing payment cards, raised a $3 million round. eFinance Group was the deal lead. The company has raised a total of $5.2 million. TechCrunch has more here.

Noala, a London startup that has built a speech and language therapy platform for children, raised a $4 million seed round led by LocalGlobe, with Cocoa Ventures also chipping in. Sifted has more here.

Paytrix, a London startup that has built a payments platform for vertical software businesses, raised a $5.65 million round led by Hambro Perks and including Bain Capital Ventures, Fin VC, Better Tomorrow Ventures, and The Fintech Fund. Finextra has more here.

Relevize, a three-year-old Boston startup that automates the distribution of lead generation programs across digital platforms, including LinkedIn and Facebook, for channel partner programs, raised a $6 million seed round led by Insight Partners; additional investors included Hyperplane, Newfund, 1984.vc, and the Weekend Fund. More here.

Tapio, a three-year-old Brussels startup that has developed a synthetic asset protocol that aims to promote staking and crowd-loan derivatives efficiency on the blockchain protocol Polkadot, raised a $4 million seed round. The transaction leads were Polychain, Hypersphere, and Arrington; others investors included Spartan, LongHash, 0xVentures, CMS, D1 Ventures, 11-11 DG Partners, Genblock, Valhalla, PAKA, and Double Peak. The Block has more here.

Findem uncovers the talent no one else can find with AI-powered recruiting from source to hire. We help companies source from 750+ million enriched profiles, engage without limits, and close the most interested, exceptional candidates. Talent leaders from Fortune 100 companies to startups are using Findem to massively increase their talent pipeline, raise candidate quality and diversity, and shrink their time to hire by 80%. Find the talent you’ve been missing and make amazing hires with Findem. Visit us at www.findem.ai/strictlyvc.

Soccer superstar Lionel Messi is creating a holding company to invest in sports, media and technology globally. Based in San Francisco, Play Time Sports-Tech HoldCo will be Messi’s main investment vehicle, according to a statement. The company will explore “stage agnostic” opportunities that could include, for example, helping startup founders build football-tech companies or investing in teams. Bloomberg has more here.

Vertex Ventures, the 34-year-old, Singapore-based venture outfit, is reportedly raising upwards of $500 million for a China-focused fund. Reuters has more here.

Steve Ballmer has made a big bet on Black private-fund managers, aiming to back top-flight investment talent while helping fill the funding gap for minority-led firms and businesses. The former Microsoft Corp. chief executive and his wife, Connie Ballmer, this year invested $400 million across four investment vehicles focused on Black venture-capital and private-equity managers, Mr. Ballmer said in an interview. The transactions haven’t been made public previously. The WSJ has the story here.

Carlos Pereira has been promoted to partner at BITKRAFT Ventures. Pereira joined the firm as a principal in June of last year. He'd previously spent five years as an associate with Eldridge Industries. More here. 

Everett Randle has joined Kleiner Perkins as a partner focused on enterprise software and financial services. The move completes a circle for Randle, who spent a year with Kleiner Perkins in 2018 on its growth fund, left to join Mary Meeker and company at Bond when that group left KP, then, two years later, left Bond to spend nearly three years with Founders Fund before now returning to KP. More here.

Serena Williams, in her first appearance as a full-time venture capitalist today at Disrupt, was asked if she co-invests with husband (and fellow VC) Alexis Ohanian  and the answer was a fairly definitive no. Charming the crowd, she said that though the two have done a couple of deals together in the past, they rarely discuss startups and founders at home and work to “stay in their own lanes.” “We are both so competitive,” she said. “I’m internally so competitive. You can’t read my face [but] inside I’m screaming and dying. We don’t want that so we keep it very separate.”

A Meta Platforms executive who was instrumental in the acquisitions of Instagram, WhatsApp and Oculus said he is leaving the social media giant. Amin Zoufonoun, the company’s vice president of corporate development, will be taking a break after almost 12 years, he said today in a post on Meta’s Facebook. “Strategic technology deal work is pretty intense,” he wrote. Zoufonoun didn't announce his future plans, but resurfacing at a top venture firm seems like one likely scenario. Bloomberg has more here.

The median household income in the San Francisco metro area fell almost 5%, to $116,005 a year, as wealthy people moved away during the pandemic, a newly released census report says. One economic researcher said the decline was likely in large part due to high-paid tech industry employees opting to work remotely from less-expensive areas, such as Sacramento and Boise. The income decline was the largest of any big U.S. metro area. Cities that saw median income rise from 2019 to 2021 include Phoenix, San Diego and Atlanta. The Mercury News has more here.

Web3 venture capital firm Paradigm has waded into the increasingly choppy waters of the Commodities and Futures Trading Commission’s unprecedented attempt to sue a DAO in federal court. Paradigm is unaffiliated with the outfit being sued, but it argues in an “friend of the court” brief that the CFTC’s suit could permanently derail the future adoption of DAOs in America, just as the organization structure has exploded in popularity across the sectors of entertainment, decentralized finance, and culture. Decrypt has more here.

SpaceX is now advertising Starlink Aviation, promising 350-megabits-per-second broadband with unlimited data for each airplane in which it's installed. "With latency as low as 20 ms, passengers can engage in activities previously not functional in flight, including video calls, online gaming, virtual private networks and other high data rate activities," says the company. While the offering marks a direct challenge to leading inflight connectivity provider Gogo, analysts say Gogo’s dominance is safe for now. ArsTechnica and CNBC have more here and here.

Uber has launched its global advertising unit with the goal of creating a $1 billion business within the next two years by displaying promotions within its apps, on top of cars and on the back of seats. The division is being led by former Amazon advertising executive Mark Grether. The Financial Times has more here.

Weed is coming to U.S. gas stations.

What your favorite NBA big man says about you.

"Nuisance Bear."

A grand mansion in Brooklyn.

A fireplace tool set from Herman Miller. Just don't buy this as a birthday gift for a loved one (says a friend who made this grievous mistake).