SVB finds a buyer from across the country, U.S regulators go after Binance, and Eric Schmidt hosts "Succession"

The U.S. took a step toward cracking down on crypto exchange Binance Holdings and its CEO, Changpeng ("CZ") Zhao. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission alleged in federal court in Chicago that Binance routinely breaks U.S. derivatives rules and has from its outset. Bloomberg's Matt Levine has more here.

First Citizens BancShares of Raleigh, N.C. is acquiring $72 billion in Silicon Valley Bank assets at a discount of $16.5 billion, or 23%, according to a release published late last night by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Still, even after the deal closes, the FDIC remains on the hook to dispose of the majority of SVB’s assets, about $90 billion, which are being kept in receivership, notes CNBC. “The deal was getting stale,” former Federal Reserve examiner Mark Williams, tells the outlet. “I think the FDIC realized that the longer this took, the more they’d have to discount it to entice someone.”

Goldman Sachs said in a research paper today that generative AI systems could spark a productivity boom that would eventually raise annual global gross domestic product by 7% over a 10-year period. It could also bring “significant disruption” to the labor market, potentially making up to 300 million full-time workers redundant, from lawyers to administrative staff. The FT has the story.

Venture capital firms and their investors have realized that a fund administrator without best-in-class technology is no longer acceptable. But experienced firms also know that when it’s crunch time and that capital call needs to go out now, no technology can replace the need for an expert, highly responsive fund accountant working with you. Meet Juniper Square: the first technology-driven fund admin built for sophisticated venture capital firms.

ArriVent Biopharma, a two-year-old startup based in Newtown Square, Pa., that is developing drug candidates for non-small-cell lung cancer and other solid tumors, raised a $155 million Series B round co-led by Sofinnova Investments and General Catalyst, with additional participation from Catalio Capital Management, HBM Healthcare Investments, Shanghai Healthcare Capital, Sequoia Capital China, AIHC Capital, Terra Magnum Capital Partners, Unicorn Capital Partners Limited, and Infinitum Asset Management as well as previous investors Lilly Asia Ventures, OrbiMed, Octagon Capital Advisors, Sirona Capital, and Boyu/Zoo Capital. More here.

Character.AI, a two-year-old Palo Alto startup that is building online chatbots to compete with OpenAI, announced a $150 million Series A round last week at a $1 billion valuation. Andreessen Horowitz was the deal lead. The New York Times has more here.

Huupe, a four-year-old startup that has developed a connected basketball hoop and video backboard that records shot data and displays instructional videos, raised an $11 million round. Participants in the deal included Protagonist VC, Marvan Ventures, TRI Investments, Kawn VC, Genesis Ventures, and Reform Ventures. The company has raised a total of $11.3 million. TechCrunch has more here.

Labviva, an eight-year-old Boston startup that has built a marketplace that connects researchers with suppliers of reagents, chemicals, and instrumentation, raised a $20 million Series A round led by Biospring Partners, with participation from earlier investors Senator Investment Group, B Capital Group, and Glasswing Ventures. The outfit has now raised $30 million altogether. More here.

Mbiomics, a three-year-old Munich startup that is developing microbiome-based therapeutics, raised a $14 million Series A round led by MIG, with High-Tech Gründerfonds and Bayern Kapital also chipping in. The company has raised a total of $14.2 million. More here.

Mixergy, a nine-year-old UK startup that makes smart hot water tanks, raised an $11.3 million round. Investors included EDP Ventures and Nesta as well as previous investors Oxford Science Enterprises, Kiko Ventures, Foresight WAE Technology, and Centrica. More here.

Cega, a DeFi derivatives protocol focused on exotic options, raised $5 million in a new funding round led by Dragonfly Capital, which was joined by Pantera Capital and Robot Ventures. The seed extension round was realized via a Simple Agreement for Future Equity plus token side letter, Cega co-founder and CEO Arisa Toyosaki, tells The Block. The outfit has now raised $9.3 million altogether. More here.

Dylibso, a one-year-old startup based in Boulder, Co., whose WebAssembly tools aim to enable browser-based applications to run with near-native performance, raised a $6.6 million seed round led by Felicis, with participation from Boldstart Ventures, Pebblebed, and Crew Capital. TechCrunch has more here.

Ever.green, a two-year-old Seattle startup that is building a marketplace to match corporations interested in reducing their carbon footprints with developers that need funding to build energy facilities, raised a $6.1 million seed round co-led by PSL Ventures and Designer Fund, with Baker Tilly, Fin Capital, City Light Capital, and Climate Capital also pitching in. GeekWire has more here.

Neptyne, a New York startup whose mission is to make spreadsheets programmable by leveraging the power of Python and AI, raised a $2 million pre-seed round led by Y Combinator. TechCrunch has more here.

Your CRM has the potential to be the most powerful tool in your tech stack—but is your firm getting the most out of it? Head to the Affinity blog for 7 VC platform metrics that drive efficiency, with instructions for how to report on them.

OpenView, the 17-year-old, Boston-based venture firm, has closed its newest fund with $570 million in capital commitments to invest in business software startups. TechCrunch has more here.

Apple has quietly acquired WaveOne, a seven-year-old, Mountain View, Ca.-based startup that was developing AI algorithms for compressing video. Apple wouldn’t confirm the sale to TechCrunch earlier today. But WaveOne’s website was shut down around January, and several former employees, including one of WaveOne’s co-founders, now work within Apple’s various machine learning groups, notes TC. WaveOne had previously raised at least $9 million in venture backing, including from Khosla Ventures, Incubate Fund and Blue Ivey. More here.

Jacob Andreou announced this morning on Twitter that he has left his role at Snap to become a general partner with Greylock. Andreou, who is based in L.A., had spent more than eight years with Snap, leaving as its SVP of Product. The move suggests Greylock is leaning more heavily into consumer tech at a time when many VCs have backed away. TechCrunch has more here. 

Lyft co-founders, CEO Logan Green and president John Zimmer*, are stepping down from their roles by mid-April, the company said earlier today. They will serve as chair and vice chair of Lyft’s board, respectively. David Risher, a former retail executive at Amazon, will take over the CEO position at Lyft. Lyft’s current chairman, Sean Aggarwal, will step down from his post but will stay on the board. TechCrunch has more here.

* Former Uber executive Emil Michael tweeted afterward of his former rivals that the move won't stop Lyft from "circling the drain."

Elon Musk* has said anyone can buy a blue check mark because because the platform is about "treating everyone equally," but Twitter does have a different standard for celebrities, reports Platformer. It says a list of around 35 VIP users are being offered increased visibility alongside Musk himself, including LeBron James, conservative commentator Ben Shapiro, and pseudonymous conservative commentator @catturd2. More here.

* Musk says now that some bots are okay, too, as long as they follow terms of service and don't impersonate humans (and humans are willing to pay for them, presumably).

People just keep buying Crocs, with annual sales up 200% since 2019. "This is how I’m going to live life for now.”

Nan Pierce’s "Succession" home is tech billionaire Eric Schmidt’s $30 million Montecito manse.

Can a machine know that we know what it knows?

The good and bad of "stealth addresses."

ChatGPT opened a new era in search; Microsoft could ruin it,.

Why "Zone 2" workouts became the biggest thing in fitness.

Ten ways TikTok could lose the interest of Congress.

The 38 best movies on Netflix this week.

A movie-themed Florida mansion with 20 suites, 25 bathrooms and all the restraint of an amusement park. Price: $11.7 million.

The Parker Chair, for sitting on the sidelines. 🕶️