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Hello! Also, sincere apologies; we screwed up yesterday. We told you the blood diagnostics company Grail had raised new funds (it didn't; we were looking at a dated announcement). We also sent you to the wrong Zest. We did get both a flu shot and a Covid booster early yesterday afternoon and haven't been feeling great since, so we want to blame these [twirls dimple], but we've also been testing out a new system that we're going to be tracking a little more closely from now
on. đź‘€
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FTX suffered a “complete failure of corporate controls," its new chief executive officer said today. John J. Ray, who has helped oversee some of the biggest bankruptcies ever, including Enron’s, said in a filing to federal bankruptcy court that he has never seen anything as bad in 40 years of restructuring firms. "From compromised systems integrity and faulty regulatory oversight abroad, to the concentration of control in the hands of a very small group of inexperienced, unsophisticated
and potentially compromised individuals, this situation is unprecedented," he wrote.
Masayoshi Son personally owes SoftBank close to $5 billion because of growing losses on the Japanese conglomerate’s technology bets, which have also rendered the value of his stake in the group’s second Vision Fund worthless. The Financial Times has more here.
Less than 50% of Twitter's remaining staff of roughly 4,000 people signed up to work at "Twitter 2.0," Business Insider reported earlier, meaning they effectively resigned under the terms owner Elon Musk offered in an ultimatum yesterday. (What did Musk think was going to happen?) There's also this gem:
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Musk, appearing to maintain some sense or humor despite (or because of?) the mass resignations, later tweeted:
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| Jack Selby of Thiel Capital Has Spun Up a Venture Fund Focused on Arizona |
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Jack Selby, a former PayPal exec the longtime managing director of Thiel Capital who attracted some attention years back for his low-key largesse, has a new, $110 million venture fund that he intends to invest mostly in his adopted state of Arizona, where Selby has lived since 2002.
The debut vehicle of the firm, called AZ-VC, is backed by a number of real-estate outfits in Arizona, along with a major local utility company. Notably, however, Thiel is not an investor and neither are any of Thiel Capital’s many institutional backers.
We talked earlier today with Selby — who was calling from the Milken Institute summit in Abu Dhabi and planning to attend the last Formula One race of the season afterward — to learn more about why that is.
We also talked with Selby about his relationship with Thiel and whether, like a growing number of people in Thiel’s universe, Selby plans to jump into regional politics at some point, using this fund as a jumping-off point. Our conversation has been edited for length and clarity.
More here.
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Advanced Navigation, a 12-year-old Sydney startup that develops robot and navigation technology for customers such as tech companies and defense contractors, raised a $68 million Series B round led by KKR, with AI Capital and previous investors Main Sequence, Malcolm Turnbull, In-Q-Tel, and Our Innovation Fund also participating. The company has raised a total of $85.6 million. More here.
Akeyless, a four-year-old New York and Israeli startup that helps companies manage passwords, API keys, and digital certificates, raised a $65 million Series B round ($45.5 million in equity and $19.5 million in debt) led by NGP Capital, with additional investment from Team8 Capital and Jerusalem Venture Partners. The company has raised a total of $80 million. TechCrunch has more here.
Astera Labs, a five-year-old startup based in Santa Clara, Ca., that provides chips for connecting AI systems in the cloud, raised a $150 million Series D round led by Fidelity Management and Research and joined by Atreides Management, Intel Capital, and Sutter Hill Ventures. The company has raised a total of $206.4 million. VentureBeat has more here.
Haystack Oncology, a one-year-old Baltimore startup that is developing a personalized cancer diagnostic test that can detect as few as one mutant molecule in a million DNA molecules, raised a $56 million Series A round led by Catalio and including Bruker, Exact Sciences, and Alexandria Venture Investments. The company has raised a total of $56 million. Inside Precision Medicine has more here.
Syzygy Plasmonics, a five-year-old Houston startup that is developing all-electric reactor systems that eliminate fossil-based combustion from chemical manufacturing, raised a $76 million Series C round led by Carbon Direct Capital, with Aramco Ventures, Chevron Technology Ventures, Lotte Chemical, Toyota Ventures, and previous investors Evok Innovations, The Engine, Equinor Ventures, Goose Capital, Horizons Ventures, Pan American Energy, and Sumitomo also piling on. The company has raised a total of $106 million. Rice University has more here.
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| Big-But-Not-Crazy-Big Fundings |
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The Applied AI Co., a London startup that says it is building software to automate human processes within the insurance, pharmaceutical, and healthcare sectors, raised a $42 million round from Goldman Sachs and members of the Dubai and Abu Dhabi royal family. Bloomberg has more here.
Beti, a four-year-old New York and Tel Aviv startup that says its platform allows construction companies to easily and efficiently supervise and coordinate workflows and worker safety on the site, raised an $11 million round led by PSG, with 97212 Ventures also chipping in. Calcaist has more here.
Gravitics, a one-year-old Seattle startup that is developing living and work modules for space travel, raised a $20 million round led by Type One Ventures, with Draper Associates, FJ Labs, The Venture Collective, Helios Capital, Chicago Giant Step Capital, Gaingels, Spectre, Manhattan West, and Mana Ventures also taking part. TechCrunch has more here.
ISEE, a five-year-old startup based in Cambridge, Ma., that helps businesses deploy autonomous vehicles in commercial environments, raised a $40 million Series B round led by Founders Fund, with Maersk Growth, New Legacy, and Eniac Ventures also taking part. The company has raised a total of $70 million. Business Insider has more here.
Methodical Games, a startup founded this year based in Raleigh, N.C., that is creating a multiplayer action-adventure game, raised a $15 million seed round. Lightspeed Venture Partners was the deal lead. VentureBeat has more here.
ReadySpaces, a three-year-old Los Angeles startup that operates as a warehouse storage provider for small businesses, raised $20 million in debt from an undisclosed set of backers. The company has raised a total of $40 million. TechCrunch has more here.
Resilience Lab, a three-year-old New York startup that helps consumers find mental health caregivers, raised a $15 million Series A round led by Morningside and Viewside Capital Partners. Forbes has more here.
Rewst, a two-year-old startup based in Tampa, Fl., that is developing software for managed service providers, raised a $21.5 million Series A round led by OpenView. The company has raised a total of $28 million. More here.
Soft Robotics, a nine-year-old, Bedford, Ma.-based outfit that makes compliant robotic grippers a good job picking up fragile and inconsistently sized foodstuffs, from meat to produce, has raised $26 million in Series C funding led by the venture arm of Tyson Foods. TechCrunch has more here.
Speak, a six-year-old startup that allows language learners to have open-ended conversations with an AI tutor while receiving feedback on pronunciation, grammar, and vocabulary, raised a $27 million Series B round led by the OpenAI Startup Fund, with Lachy Groom, Josh Buckley, Justin Mateen, Gokul Rajaram, and Founders Fund also pitching in. TechCrunch has more here.
Spot AI, a startup that aims to build smarter CCTV camera technology, raised a $40 million round led by Scale Venture Partners, with StepStone Group and Modern Venture Partners, as well as past backers Redpoint Ventures and Bessemer Venture Partners also investing. The company has raised a total of $63 million. TechCrunch has more here.
Symend, a startup that employs AI and machine learning to automate processes around debt resolution for telcos, banks, and utilities, raised a $42 million Series C round led by Inovia Capital with participation from Impression Ventures, Mistral Venture Partners, BDC’s Growth Venture Co-Investment Fund, BDC Capital’s Women in Technology Fund, Plaza Ventures, and EDC. The company has raised a total of $140 million. TechCrunch has more here.
Terzo, a two-year-old Los Angeles startup that uses AI to extract data from contracts related to a company’s spend and revenue across their supplier and customer relationships, raised a $16 million Series A round led by Align Ventures, with additional capital supplied by TYH Ventures, Engage Ventures, and Human Capital. The company has raised a total of $19.5 million. TechCrunch has more here.
Virgil, a four-year-old Paris startup that helps homeowners buy a bigger place in exchange for an equity stake in their property, raised a $15.5 million round. Investors included Global Founders Capital and Aquasourca as well as previous investors Alven, LocalGlobe, and Evolem. The company has raised a total of $17.7 million. TechCrunch has more here.
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Arey, a one-year-old Los Angeles startup that is focused on hair care for aging hair, raised a $4.15 million seed round. Female Founders Fund and Greycroft co-led the deal. WWD has more here.
Beam, a six-year-old, Brooklyn-based startup that helps citizens access government financial aid, has raised $6.4 million in Series A funding. Potencia Ventures led the round, joined by Spring Point Partners, American Family Insurance Institute for Corporate and Social Impact, Imaginable Futures, Lumina Impact Ventures, Michelson Runway and Schmidt Futures. TechCrunch has more
here.
Centivax, a one-year-old South San Francisco startup that aims to develop “universal” vaccines against the flu, Covid, and other fast-mutating diseases that provide enduring protection against viral mutations, raised a $10 million seed round co-led by NFX and the Global Health Investment Corporation. Forbes has more here.
Cradle, a one-year-old Dutch startup that uses AI to help determine the function of different protein structures and sequences, raised a $5.7million seed round. Index Ventures and Kindred Capital co-led the deal. TechCrunch has more here.
JUKE, a startup that works in collaboration with Dapper Labs and in partnership with major studios and independent content owners to create digital collectibles for consumers, raised a $3 million seed round led by Castle Island Ventures, with North Island Ventures and Multicoin Capital also chipping in. More here.
Namecoach, a an eight-year-old Palo Alto, Ca., startup that develops name pronunciation tools that can be embedded in existing platforms like Salesforce, Canvas, and Gmail, raised an $8 million Series A round led by Impact America Fund, with participation from Authentic Ventures, Metaplanet, Engage.VC, Founders Fund, and Bisk Ventures. TechCrunch has more here.
Omneky, a four-year-old San Francisco startup that claims to use AI to determine what creatives are resonating among consumers and adjust current messaging to make content more meaningful in order to further drive engagement, raised a $7.5 million seed extension round. Investors included Orbit Ventures and Ethos. The company has raised a total of $10 million. More here.
OneSchema, a one-year-old San Francisco startup that helps developers ingest messy data from CSV files without writing custom code, raised a $6.3 million round led by General Catalyst, with Sequoia Capital, Y Combinator, Elad Gil, and Contrary Capital also anteing up. The company has raised a total of $6.4 million. More here.
Private AI, a three-year-old, Toronto-based "privacy layer for software," has raised $8 million in funding led by BDC Capital. Other backers in the round include GIT1K, Panda Angel Partners, and earlier investors, including M12, Differential Ventures, Forum Ventures, Shasta Ventures, and Parliament Angels, made up of a group of early Twilio employees. More
here.
Scoop, a seven-year-old San Francisco startup that helps keep hybrid teams in sync, raised an $8 million Series1 round led by Haystack, with additional investors including Activate Capital, Audacious Ventures, and G2 Venture Partners. The company has raised a total of $106 million. Crunchbase has more here.
Summer International, a four-year-old Los Angeles and South Korean startup that identifies influential content creators and works with them to incubate new brands, raised a $5 million seed round from investors including GDP Ventures, Teja Ventures, and Gushcloud International. TechCrunch has more here.
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SE Ventures, a venture-investing firm backed by French energy and automation giant Schneider Electric, today launched a new €500 million fund, equivalent to roughly $520 million, that will target startups building digital tools in areas like climate technology, predictive maintenance and the internet-of-things. Combined with its inaugural fund, the five-year-old investing tells the WSJ it will now have more than €1 billion in committed capital. More here.
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Crypto venture firm Multicoin Capital told investors in a letter today that FTX’s collapse and the price declines across the industry has pushed the fund down by 55% this month, and added that the market is poised to get worse before it rebounds. It’s a stark reversal for five-year-old Multicoin, which announced a $430 million fund in July, its third and largest to date, notes CNBC.
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Ryan Davis has joined the venture firm Offline Ventures (founded by married entrepreneurs Dave and Brit Morin) as its CFO; previously, he was with Pantera Capital.
Apoorva Pandhi has joined Zetta Venture Partners as a managing director from Foundation Capital, where he was a partner. More here.
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Those Steve Jobs Birkenstocks just sold for more $218,000.
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SpaceX employees say they, too, were fired for speaking up about Elon Musk.
Amazon will continue to lay off employees in the coming year, CEO Andy Jassy wrote in a memo to workers today.
Corporate funds were used to purchase homes in the Bahamas and “personal items” in the name of employees and advisors of FTX, a bankruptcy declaration said, days after the penthouse apartment of founder Sam Bankman-Fried was listed for nearly $40 million. CNBC has more here.
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