"I would not choose this week to go to [Capitol] Hill unless you have a death wish.”

The Federal Reserve pressed ahead with a quarter-point rate rise today despite the recent turmoil in the banking sector, but it signaled that it may soon pause its monetary tightening campaign. Following its latest two-day meeting, the Federal Open Market Committee voted to lift the federal funds rate to a new target range of 4.75% to 5%, the highest level since 2007. The FT has more here.

The CEO of TikTok, Shou Zi Chew has been doing his best to counter U.S. suspicions ahead of his first Congressional hearing this Thursday. Yet as the Washington Post reports, his "charm offensive has run up against a heavily polarized and surprisingly bipartisan resistance in Washington, where tensions with the Chinese government — and broader anxieties about social media and American children — have made TikTok into a political punching bag." "The temperature is so high right now," Jim Lewis, a director at the think tank Center for Strategic and International Studies, tells the Post. "I would not choose this week to go to [Capitol] Hill unless you have a death wish.”

A subsidiary of Saudi Arabia’s investment fund and an Abu Dhabi investment firm are planning to invest in a multibillion-dollar funding round for SpaceX, Elon Musk’s rocket company, says The Information. More here.

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Amogy, a three-year-old Brooklyn startup that is developing ammonia-based fuel cells for the heavy-duty transportation sector, raised a $139 million Series B-1 round led by SK Innovation, with Temasek, Korea Zinc, Aramco Ventures, AP Ventures, MOL PLUS, Yanmar Ventures, Zeon Ventures, and DCVC also piling on. The company has raised a total of $208.3 million. More here.

Apprentice.io, a nine-year-old startup based in Jersey City, NJ, whose software platform unites different suppliers in the drug manufacturing process, raised a $65 million round led by Iconiq Growth, with previous investors Alkeon Capital Management and Insight Partners also taking part. The company has raised a total of $207 million. CityBiz has more here.

Flare Therapeutics, a two-year-old startup based in Cambridge, Ma., that is developing therapeutics by targeting transcription factors, raised a $123 million Series B round co-led by GordonMD Global Investments LP and Pfizer Ventures, with existing investors Boxer Capital, Casdin Capital, Eventide Asset Management, Invus Financial Advisors, Nextech Invest, and Third Rock Ventures as well as new investors Agent Capital, Eli Lilly and Company, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, Novartis, Pavilion Capital, and ShangBay Capital also piling on. The company has raised a total of $205 million. FierceBiotech has more here.

Kredivo Holdings, a seven-year-old, Singapore-based offers credit services to underbanked consumers in Indonesia and Vietnam, has raised $270 million in what it says was an oversubscribed Series D. The round was led by Japanese bank Mizuho Bank, a subsidiary of Mizuho Financial Group that contributed $125 million. It included participation from returning investors like Square Peg Capital, Jungle Ventures, Naver Financial Corporation, GMO Venture Partners and Openspace Ventures. The company has now raised $400 million in equity funding altogether. TechCrunch has more here.

Rain, a Los Angeles startup whose platform allows companies to advance employees (typically hourly workers) their wages shortly after a shift ends, raised a $66 million Series A round co-led by QED Investors and Invus Opportunities, with additional participation from WndrCo, Tribe Capital, and actor Will Smith's Dreamers VC. Forbes has more here.

Virgin Orbit Holdings, the beleaguered satellite launch company founded by billionaire Richard Branson, is nearing a deal for a $200-million investment from Texas-based venture capital investor Matthew Brown via a private share placement, according to a term sheet seen by Reuters. The outlet notes that Virgin Orbit's market capitalization slumped to a record low of $150 million yesterday from more than $3 billion two years ago when it went public through a blank-check deal. More here.

Auros, a two-year-old San Francisco trading firm that lost $20 million in FTX’s implosion, raised a $17 million round co-led by Vivienne Court and Bit Digital and including Trovio, Primal Capital, and Epoch Capital. CoinDesk has more here.

Caramel, a two-year-old Los Angeles-based checkout platform for private party and independent dealer car sales (it says it authenticates buyer and seller, makes the payment, transfers ownership and serves up a finance and insurance suite), has raised a $12 million seed round. Zeev Ventures, Primera Capital, and Hearst Ventures were the co-leads. More here.

Cocoon Bioscience, a one-year-old Madrid startup that is developing specialty enzymes for industrial biotech processes as well as growth factors for the alternative protein industry, including cultivated meat, raised a $15.9 million round co-led by Columbus Venture Partners and Cleon Capital, with Viscofan and North South Ventures also chipping in. AgFunder News has more here.

CodiumAI, a nine-month-old startup that's using generative AI to help developers build code logic tests automatically, just raised $11 million in seed funding co-led by Vine Ventures and TLV Partners, with added participation from angel investors. TechCrunch has more here.

Dope Security, a two-year-old startup based in Mountain View, Ca., that has designed a secure web gateway product run on an organization's endpoints, raised a $16 million Series A round led by GV and including Boldstart Ventures and Preface. The company has raised a total of $20 million. TechCrunch has more here.

Engrain, a 14-year-old Denver company that creates interactive property maps that help people navigate single-family homes and large housing establishments, such as senior retirement centers or multi-floor rental complexes, raised a $12 million Series A round. RET Ventures led the transaction. The company has raised a total of $16.7 million. Built in Colorado has more here.

EpiBiologics, a one-year-old startup based in San Mateo, Ca., that is building a protein degradation platform that targets membrane and extracellular proteins, raised a $50 million Series A round co-led by Mubadala Capital and Polaris Partners, with participation from Vivo Capital and GV. More here.

Revolv, a San Francisco startup whose platform helps commercial fleets deploy and manage zero-emission vehicles, raised a $15 million Series A round. Greenbacker Capital Management was the deal lead. More here.

Aspecta, a one-year-old Palo Alto startup that is providing an AI-powered profile builder for developers who wish to create LinkedIn-like identity pages for themselves, raised a $3.5 million seed round led by ZhenFund, with HashKey Capital and Foresight Ventures also contributing. TechCrunch has more here.

Backslash Security, a Tel Aviv startup that says it allows security teams to visualize, prioritize, and address high-risk code combinations, raised an $8 million seed round. StageOne Ventures, First Rays Venture Partners, and D.E. Shaw & Co. invested in the round. SecurityWeek has more here.

Bionic Health, a startup based in Durham, N.C., that says it evaluates patients' bloodwork and test results and then delivers personalized recommendations via an AI built on OpenAI’s GPT-4 and other large language and machine learning models, raised a $3 million seed round. Investors included IDEA Fund Partners, Studio VC, Alumni Ventures, Tweener Fund, AI Operator's Fund, and Operator.VC. TechCrunch has more here.

Butlr Technologies, a four-year-old startup based in Burlingame, Ca., whose sensors provide building owners with occupancy data, raised a $5 million round from Qualcomm Ventures. More here.

Careerist, a nearly four-year-old, Miami-based platform that teaches then places non-tech people in tech jobs, says it has raised $8 million in funding from Cathexis Ventures, Xploration Capital and others. More here.

Emma, a Luxembourg startup that has created "no-code" software that allows companies to manage multi-cloud environments, raised a $6 million seed round. RTP Global was the deal lead, while AltaIR Capital and CircleRock Capital also joined in. Tech.eu has more here.

Frontier Aerospace, a 26-year-old company based in Simi Valley, Ca., that builds rocket engines for space flight, raised a $10 million Series A round from AEI HorizonX. The company has raised a total of $13 million. Geospatial World has more here.

Healium, a seven-year-old startup based in Menlo Park, Ca., that allows users to interact with their own bio-data in the metaverse, raised a $3.6 million seed round. Investors included Impact Venture Capital, Ambition Fund II, Captain Partners & Astronaut Holdings, Citrine Angels, Coact Capital, Gaingels, KCRise Fund, Mayo Clinic, Missouri Technology Corporation, QRM Capital, Stadia Ventures, Tidewater Capital, and Underdog Ventures. The company has raised a total of $5 million. More here.

Mad Rabbit, a four-year-old Los Angeles startup that makes skin creams and sunscreens for people with tattoos, raised a $10 million Series A round led by Lucas Brand Equity, with H Venture Partners and previous investor Mark Cuban also pitching in. Beauty Packaging has more here.

PoLoPo, a one-year-old Israeli startup that is developing a proprietary method for growing proteins from potatoes, raised a $1.75 million pre-seed round. FoodLabs was the deal lead, with other investors including CPT Capital, Siddhi Capital, Plug and Play Ventures, Milk & Honey Ventures, and HackCapital. TFN has more here.

Previse, a Baltimore startup that is developing tests to detect conditions such as esophageal cancer, raised a $3 million seed round from TEDCO, Wexford Science and Technology, and Riptide Ventures, and Gaingels. CityBiz has more here.

Vacation, a two-year-old, Miami startup that has developed a sunscreen brand with a "Miami pool party vibe," says The Business of Fashion, just raised a $6 million Series A round led by Silas Capital, with True Beauty Ventures and BFG Partners also chipping in. The startup has now raised $11.2 million altogether. More here.

Windfall Bio, a startup based in Menlo Park, Ca., that is developing a means to convert methane emissions into organic fertilizer, raised a $9 million seed round led by Mayfield and UNTITLED, with B37 Ventures, Baruch Future Ventures, Breakthrough Energy Ventures, Bessemer Venture Partners, and Cavallo Ventures also contributing. CNBC has more here.

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The SEC today unveiled fraud and unregistered securities charges against crypto founder aJustin Sun, alongside separate violations against the celebrity backers of his Tronix and BitTorrent crypto assets, which included Jake Paul, Lindsay Lohan and musicians Soulja Boy and Austin Mahone. All except for Soulja Boy and Mahone agreed to pay a collective $400,000 in disgorgement, interest and penalties to settle the charges. The settlements were not an admittance or denial of guilt. The celebrity backers would promote the TRX and BTT tokens on social media and recruited others to Tron-affiliated Telegram and Discord channels, says CNBC. More here.

At a company that helps people find jobs, 2,200 employees will now have to embark on a job search of their own. Indeed laid off 15% of employees today, CEO Chris Hyams announced in an all-hands meeting. TechCrunch has more here.

Logitech International, the maker of keyboards, webcams and other computer accessories, is laying off about 300 people in a global reorganization. Bloomberg notes that after a pandemic boom -- when computer peripherals were in demand during work-from-home mandates --  revenue collapsed. Logitech’s revenue plummeted 22% from a year earlier in its fiscal 2023 third quarter, to $1.3 billion.

A  new survey from professional networking app Fishbowl finds that 43% of working professionals have used AI tools, such as OpenAI's ChatGPT, to accomplish tasks at work. Of these people, 68% didn't tell their bosses they were using these tools for work. The survey was conducted from January 26 to 30 and included responses from more than 11,700 workers on the Fishbowl app, from companies like Amazon, Google, IBM, JPMorgan, Meta, and Twitter. Business Insider has the story.

Forget FAANG The U.S. market is dominated by just two stocks now.

Office rents in San Francisco have fallen 30% since 2019, according to CBRE. 

The SEC has told Coinbase that it plans to take enforcement action against the company, according to the crypto exchange. It says it has received a letter that concerns several aspects of Coinbase’s business, including assets listed on its crypto exchange, its staking service Coinbase Earn, and its wallet service. The WSJ has more here.

Google's new Bard chatbot told an AI expert it was trained using Gmail data. The company says that's inaccurate and that Bard will "make mistakes." Business Insider has more here.

Microsoft Bing now uses OpenAI’s DALL-E AI to turn text into images.

How the last-ditch effort to save Silicon Valley Bank failed.

Neighborhood slowly realizing person who threw up on sidewalk not returning to clean It up.

Jack Daniel's v. poop-themed dog toy in a trademark case at the Supreme Court (this one is not a joke).

DNA from Beethoven's hair unlocks a family secret.

A Hollywood Hills home with an aquarium bar.

Le Specs No Biggie sunglasses.