Wordpress versus Substack, VW's buzzy bus, and Fidelity slashes away at valuations

Hundreds of Amazon staff members walked off the job yesterday  afternoon demanding a flexible remote work policy and renewed commitments to reducing carbon emissions to zero. “It’s definitely concerning how low the morale is,” said a Seattle-based Amazon employee who walked out and spoke with the Washington Post on the condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation. “There’s a lot of distrust in leadership right now.” More here.

The Pentagon is buying Starlink satellite communications terminals and services from billionaire Elon Musk’s SpaceX for use by the Ukraine military, the Defense Department said today. Musk has previously criticized the use of Starlink terminals by Ukraine for combat, saying in a February tweet: “Starlink is the communication backbone of Ukraine, especially at the front lines, where almost all other Internet connectivity has been destroyed. But we will not enable escalation of conflict that may lead to WW3.” Bloomberg has more here.

Allied Advisers has recently released a sector update on AI and ML that provides an overview of the latest trends, emerging technologies, active players in the ecosystem and the transactional environment. In addition, the report includes a unique contribution from ChatGPT in the form of a poem on the "Future of AI." The poem presents a hopeful vision of a future where humans and intelligent machines work together harmoniously. This sector update is a valuable resource for those interested in the exciting field of AI and ML.

MiniMax, a two-year-old Chinese startup that is trying to build a foundational LLM similar to OpenAI's ChatGPT, is reportedly raising more than $250 million at a $1.2 billion valuation from Tencent and others, according to Reuters, which has more here.

Ariga, a two-year-old Israeli startup that claims it can enable software engineering teams to manage database schema changes in a faster and safer way, raised an $18 million round. Tiger Global and TLV Partners co-led the transaction. Calcalist has more here.

Capillary Technologies, an 11-year-old Bengaluru company that helps its clients bolster customer loyalty through gamification, raised a $45 million Series D round co-led by Avataar Ventures and its LPs Pantheon, 57Stars, and Unigestion. Two other firms -- Filter Capital and Innoven Capital -- also took part. The company has now raised a total of $147.1 million. TechCrunch has more here.

Ceibo, a Chilean startup that says it is developing advanced yet environmentally responsible technologies to increase the production of copper and other critical minerals, raised a $30 million Series B round led by Energy Impact Partners, with CoTec Holdings, Audley, Orion Resources, Unearth, and Pincus Green, as well as previous investors Khosla Ventures and Aurus Ventures also piling on. TechCrunch has more here.

Cortex, a four-year-old San Francisco startup that has built an internal portal and tools for software developers, raised a $35 million Series B round led by IVP, with Craft Ventures and previous investors Y Combinator, Sequoia Capital, and Tiger Global also investing. The company has raised a total of $52.7 million. TechCrunch has more here.

Fortify, a seven-year-old Boston startup that manufactures components for a variety of applications like satellites and cell towers, raised a $12.5 million round. Lockheed Martin Ventures and Raytheon Technologies’ RTX Ventures led the deal. SpaceNews has more here.

Hyro, a five-year-old New York startup that is developing a no-code AI-powered call center, raised a $20 million Series B round led by Macquarie Capital, with additional investment from Liberty Mutual Strategic Ventures, Black Opal Ventures, and K20 as well as previous investors Hanaco Ventures, Spero Ventures, and Mindset Ventures. The company has raised a total of $35 million. Calcalist has more here.

Pixxel, a four-year-old startup based in El Segundo, Ca., that is building a constellation of satellites that have the ability to identify mineral deposits or the productivity of crops by analyzing the spectral signature of an image, raised a $36 million Series B round led by Google and including previous investors Radical Ventures, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Blume Ventures, Grow, Sparta, and Athera. The company has raised a total of $69 million. Reuters has more here.

Predibase, a two-year-old, San Francisco-based startup that's building a low-code machine learning platform for developers, has raised a $12.2 million in extended Series A funding led by Felicis. The company had originally closed the round last year with $16.25 million in funding led by Greylock. TechCrunch has more here.

Sana, a seven-year-old Stockholm startup that has created an AI search and education platform for enterprises, raised $28 million in additional investment, increasing the size of its Series B to $62 million. The deal lead was NEA, while Workday Ventures also chipped in. The company has raised a total of $82 million. More here.

Swing Education, an eight-year-old San Francisco startup whose online marketplace connects schools with substitute teachers, raised a $38 million Series C round. Apax Partners and Reach Capital co-led the deal. The company has raised a total of $60.8 million. More here.

Transak, a New York startup that web3 developers can use to provide users with the ability to buy more than 160 cryptocurrencies with credit/debit cards or bank transfers in more than 150 countries, raised a $20 million Series A round led by CE Innovation Capital, with SBI VC, Sygnum, Azimut, Third Kind Venture Capital, UOB Venture Management, Signum Capital, Animoca Brands, Genting Ventures, Istari Ventures, No Limit Holdings, Woodstock Fund, IOSG Ventures, KX, Axelar, Tokentus, and The Lao also anteing up. CoinDesk has more here.

8Flow.ai, a year-old, Palo Alto, Ca.-based startup whose self-learning workflow automation engine, has raised $6.6 million in seed funding. Caffeinated Capital led the round, joined by BoxGroup, Liquid2, HNVR and Trilogy. TechCrunch has more here.

Aplós, a three-year-old Miami startup that makes non-alcoholic spirits, raised a $5.5 million Series A round. McCarthy Capital was the deal lead. Food Dive has more here.

Boom, a New York startup whose payment app allows users to build credit using rent payments, raised a $4.5 million seed round led by Starting Line, with Clocktower Ventures, Company Ventures, and Gilgamesh Ventures also pitching in. HousingWire has more here.

Hybr1d, a less than one-year-old Singapore startup that is dedicated to helping businesses of all sizes to streamline their IT and HR processes, raised a $3.2 million pre-seed round. Investors included Global Founders Capital, MS&AD, 468 Capital, and 1982 Ventures. TechNode Global has more here.

Modulo, a San Diego and Bay Area-based startup that says it's mapping the neuroimmune system and developing treatments for neurodegenerative diseases, starting with ALS and frontotemporal dementia, has raised $8 million in funding from Initialized Capital, Cantos, Bioverge, Spacecadet, Builders VC, Refactor Capital, and Hawktail. Endpoints News has more here.

Platformic, a one-year-old San Francisco startup whose platform helps companies develop microservices, raised a $3.5 million seed round led by Decibel, with Panache Ventures also contributing. TechCrunch has more here.

RealBlocks, a six-year-old New York startup whose alternative investment platform provides managers with tools to offer clients access to investments and secondary trading, raised a $10 million Series A extension round. Crosslink Capital and Left Lane Capital co-led the deal. The company has raised a total of $20.8 million. More here.

Realta Fusion, a one-year-old startup based in Madison, WI, that aims to develop a cost-effective fusion reactor, raised a $9 million seed round. Khosla Ventures was the deal lead. TechCrunch has more here.

Riverse, a two-year-old Paris startup that has built a carbon credit issuing and selling platform, raised a $1.6 million round led by Speedinvest, with additional funds provided by Techstars Berlin and Evolem. AIN has more here.

Squint, a two-year-old startup based in San Jose, CA, that enables manufacturers to provide information about training, operation, and maintenance via mobile phone, announced the completion of a $6 million pre-seed and seed round. Sequoia Capital and Menlo Ventures co-led the deal. VentureBeat has more here.

UpdateAI, a three-year-old startup based in Pasadena, CA, that says it uses AI to help companies manage their customer relationships, raised a $2.3 million round led by IdealabX and joined by Stage Venture Partners, Zoom Ventures, A16z’s scout fund, Howard Morgan, and CS Angel. More here.

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The San Francisco-based venture firm Tribe Capital, which has previously backed cryptocurrency firms Kraken and Bitfinex, has introduced a new crypto fund and is targeting a $100 million raise for the fund, say CoinDesk's sources. Tribe, which apparently has $1.6 billion in assets under management, plans to make early-stage investments of $500,000 to $3 million in layer 1 and 2 ecosystems, decentralized finance (DeFi) projects, and infrastructure plays to bring real-world assets on chain, CoinDesk's sources said.

​Boeing has assumed full ownership of eVTOL aircraft developer Wisk Aero, which had been run as a joint venture with Kitty Hawk, an advanced mobility startup formed by Google co-founder Larry Page and Google executive Sebastian Thrun. Speaking at a media briefing in South Carolina yesterday, Wisk CEO Brian Yutko reportedly announced the change of ownership while not providing any details about financial terms for the transaction between Boeing and its former partners. Aviation International News has more here.

Google-backed Chinese AI company Mobvoi has filed for an initial public offering on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. The Beijing-based startup, valued at $756 million in its last round of fundraising three years ago, didn’t disclose the size of the IPO. Bloomberg says that the company aims to raise $200 million to $300 million, citing people familiar with the matter. DealStreetAsia has more here

Puneet Chandok, the head of AWS in India and South Asia, has resigned, a "surprise move just weeks after the cloud giant pledged to invest over $12 billion in India by 2030," says TechCrunch. More here.

And another one gone. Twitter’s head of trust and safety Ella Irwin has resigned, the now-former executive confirmed to Reuters today. Irwin took over for Yoel Roth, who famously left the company during the early days of Elon Musk’s chaotic Twitter takeover. TechCrunch has more here.

Oliver Samwer's Rocket Internet has morphed from an early-stage startup investor into an investment firm that manages various types of capital, from debt to public stocks, which has reportedly raised questions about the firm's future. Samwer "just turned 50. He has loads of money,” a former executive tells the Financial Times. “He wants to spend time with his family, ski in Alaska and kitesurf.”

Per Bloomberg, Fidelity Investments in April slashed how much it values several closely held technology companies. Stripe shares were cut to $32.05 apiece, the lowest since last March. Fidelity also assigned shares in Instacart at $64.85 at the end of April, down by almost half from their peak a year earlier, and assigned Beijing-based ByteDance a price per share of $128.07, a 13% decline from the preceding month. And it adjusted Reddit to $39.65 a share from $61.79, where the shares had been valued for the previous nine months. In fact, Fidelity, the lead investor in Reddit’s most recent funding round in 2021, has slashed the estimated worth of its equity stake in the popular social media platform by 41% since the investment, notes TechCrunch.

Um. Some 30,000 Amazon workers had access to audio clips picked up by the company’s voice-activated speakers, the Federal Trade Commission said this week in a complaint about children’s privacy that the company settled for $25 million. The FTC’s tally of employees with access to Alexa recordings covers the period between August 2018 and September 2019. Bloomberg has more here.

Yelena Dunaevsky, a consultant who specializes in SPACs at insurance firm Woodruff Sawyer, tells Bloomberg that more than 60(!) SPAC-related class-action lawsuits have been filed nationwide since the beginning of 2020. She expects more to come as acquired companies struggle.

TikTok accounts are posting AI-generated clips of true murder victims — mostly children — describing their own ghastly demise. In Rolling Stone.

WordPress it taking on Substack with launch of paid newsletters.

Elon Musk is dying to be funny. These eight comics have some notes. (“I prefer boob jokes to retweeting white supremacists.”)

Well, this is a terrifying prospect.

One of the world's greatest bartenders moves on. “I can’t imagine the place without him.”

The unsung heroes of the Apple Watch.

The "mysteriously" rich professor who has his Georgetown neighbors up in arms.

The hottest new home amenity. "It's brutal."

Volkswagen's ID.Buzz. It's coming.

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