For two Andreessen Horowitz portfolio companies, it's suddenly all-out war

To those of you celebrating it this weekend, happy Easter. 🐰🥚🖌

A California Tesla owner today sued the electric carmaker in a prospective class action lawsuit accusing it of violating the privacy of customers. The lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California came after Reuters reported yesterday that groups of Tesla employees privately shared via an internal messaging system sometimes highly invasive videos and images recorded by customers’ car cameras between 2019 and 2022. 

It's suddenly all-out war between a16z-backed Substack and Twitter (also backed by a16z), with writers who use both services caught in the middle. Specifically, Substack writers can no longer embed tweets in their posts; Twitter users can't retweet or like tweets with Substack links. There will be a lot for us to talk about when we sit down with Substack cofounder Hamish McKenzie on Tuesday! The Verge has more here.

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HeartFlow, a 13-year-old company based in Mountain View, Ca., that has developed a non-invasive cardiac test for patients suspected of having coronary artery disease, raised a $215 million Series F round led by Bain Capital Life Sciences, with Janus Henderson as well as previous investors Baillie Gifford, Capricorn Investment Group, Hayfin Capital Management, HealthCor, Martis Capital, USVP, and Wellington Management also piling on. The company has raised a total of $792.7 million. More here.

Earned, a one-year-old startup that has built a financial management platform for physicians, raised a $12 million Series A round co-led by Hudson Structured Capital Management and Breyer Capital, with additional investment from Juxtapose. The company has raised a total of $18 million. CityBiz has more here.

JackBe, a three-year-old startup based in Edmond, Ok., that is building a chain of curbside drive-through grocery stores, raised an $11.5 million round. GP Investments was one of the investors. Supermarket News has more here.

Peach Payments, an 11-year-old Cape Town company that claims to operate the second largest online payment gateway in South Africa, raised a $31 million. Apis Partners was the deal lead. Disrupt Africa has more here.

Soft Space, an 11-year-old Malaysian startup that says its payment services are used by more than 70 financial institutions in Japan, Europe, Oceania, and the Americas, raised a $31.5 million led by Southern Capital Group, with additional funds provided by JCB, Hibiscus Fund, and previous investor Transcosmos. The company has raised a total of $42.5 million. DealStreetAsia has more here.

Verified, a Norwegian startup that provides KYC and electronic signature services, raised a $34 million round from Verdane and purchased Assently, a Stockholm company in the electronic identity space. Tech.eu has more here.

Carbonwave, a Puerto Rican startup that aims to transform sargassum seaweed into biomaterials that can replace petroleum products, raised a $5 million round led by Mirova, with additional participation from Viridios Capital, Popular Impact Fund, and Katapult Ocean. The company has raised a total of $12.9 million. More here.

Field Materials, a one-year-old startup whose software helps general contractors and specialty subcontractors streamline tasks in the material procurement process, raised a $4.6 million seed round led by Blumberg Capital, with Zacua Ventures also pitching in. PYMNTS has more here.

GaeaStar, a three-year-old Berlin startup that uses 3D printing to create cups and bowls made of clay, water, and salt that disintegrate into dust upon disposal, raised a $6.5 million seed round. Investors included Morningside Technology Ventures, At Inc. Ventures, Dart Labs Ventures, Sand Hill Angels, VSC Ventures, and Climate Capital Ventures. More here.

LALA, a one-year-old Miami startup that is building a digital collectibles marketplace that will allow fans to own a piece of revenue streams from their favorite movies and TV shows, raised a $3 million seed round. Seven Seven Six was the deal lead. More here.

Macro Oceans, a two-year-old, San Francisco-based biotech startup that says it's transforming seaweed into low-carbon chemicals, has raised $5 million in seed financing. The round was co-led by Refactor Capital, Lowercarbon Capital, and McKinley Capital. More here.

Zero Cow Factory, a two-year-old Indian startup that is focused on producing animal-free dairy proteins, raised a $4 million seed round. Investors in the deal included Green Frontier Capital, GVFL, Pi Ventures, and Pascual Innoventures. Green Queen has more here.

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As Fortune reports, Mike Rothenberg, a venture capitalist whose "Founders' Field Day" at what is now Oracle Park was once parodied on HBO's "Silicon Valley," faces a new criminal trial after a jury failed to reach a verdict last year on charges that he lied to banks about his wealth to get loans and gouged investors. Rothenberg is accused of fraudulent conduct and making false statements that federal prosecutors say helped him misappropriate almost $19 million. (We'd written about some of his wild spending here.) The judge presiding over the case today set a two-month retrial to start Oct. 2, says Fortune.

Wanted: people who can learn to make €22,000 handbags.

Meta has been paying VR developers compensation packages worth between $600,000 and $1 million to build out games, apps and technology, reports The Washington Post. “It’s not an exaggeration to say that their total compensation is double or more than double of what you’ll get at a large gaming company," one recruiter tells the outlet.

According to Bloomberg, Twitter is seeking to sublease 200,000 square feet of its office space in New York, yet Twitter only had 215,000 square feet of space to begin with, adds Curbed. The latter outlet goes on to note that Twitter "was already subleasing 11,000 square feet to Lyft, which seems to still be there. So there seems to be just about 4,000 square feet left for whatever ragtag team of New Yorkers remains after the layoffs."

The U.S. and China are waging a war beneath the waves, over internet cables.

Google is cracking down on predatory loan apps by cutting off their access to “sensitive” data including debtors’ contacts, photos and location after growing criticism that lenders are tapping the contents of borrowers’ smartphones for harassment and blackmail. The company plans to update policies for financial services apps listed on the Google Play store at the end of May. The Financial Times has more here.

Uber CEO gets behind wheel; realizes unhappy drivers were telling the truth all along. 

The rise pseudo-intellectualized sexism online -- and its impact on young boys. 

A deadly snake in the cockpit. Under the pilot's shirt. "I had a moment of stunned silence."

Report reveals only Jeff Bezos finished watching "Lord Of The Rings: Rings Of Power."

Breaking: Augusta National bans smartwatches. 😉

The 20 best new affordable luxury hotels.

Marco Polo tea tin.

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