Meta goes whole hog on generative AI, Bytedance tests its own chatbot, and founders boomerang back to SF

Meta plans to put AI everywhere on its platforms.

General Motors said today it will adopt Tesla technology to charge its electric vehicles, including selling models that use the plugs pioneered by Tesla. The announcement, two weeks after Ford struck a comparable agreement, is likely to make Tesla’s plugs the industry standard. The New York Times has more here.

Pioneer Websites Reach Frontier Markets: Never before has there been a more significant return to fundamentals and a larger need to stand out. Reach out to Sangfroid!, a full-service venture marketing studio with top-to-bottom web development services tailored to meet the needs of venture capitalists ready to step into the future. Let’s talk.

In the aftermath of Sequoia Capital’s big reveal earlier this week that its China- and India-based affiliates are spinning off into independent entities, we reached out yesterday to someone who we thought might have an opinion on the development. Erik Lassila is a former VC whose Silicon Valley-based fund of funds business, Peakview Capital, was — when we last spoke with him in 2016 — backed entirely by a Chinese investment firm that wanted to park some of its own money with venture managers in the U.S.

Lassila took a pass on analyzing Sequoia’s decision, but he let us know that in April, eight-year-old Peakview closed its fourth fund with $150 million in capital commitments — with none from mainland China — even while he insisted that Washington’s increasingly strained relationship with the Chinese government isn’t the reason why.

Although we don’t entirely believe him, we enjoyed reconnecting with Lassila, whose firm now has $600 million in assets under management and whose newest bets, per a reliable source, include stakes in funds run by Andreessen Horowitz and Lightspeed Capital Partners. Lassila declined to disclose any information about his portfolio managers during our conversation this week, but it’s worth noting that years ago, he told us that Peakview has also wired checks to Menlo Ventures, Institutional Venture Partners, and Foundation Capital. 

More from that chat here.

Blackpoint Cyber, a nine-year-old startup based in Ellicott City, Md., that provides a suite of cybersecurity services geared toward managed service providers, raised a $190 million Series C round led by Bain Capital Tech Opportunities, with Accel, Adelphi Capital Partners, Telecom Ventures, Pelican Ventures, and WP Global Partners also investing. The company has raised a total of $201.4 million. SiliconANGLE has more here.

Cohere, a four-year-old Toronto startup that is building an AI foundation model to compete with OpenAI, raised a $270 million round led by Inovia, with additional participation from Nvidia, Oracle, Salesforce Ventures, DTCP, Mirae Asset, Schroders Capital, SentinelOne, Thomvest Ventures, and previous investor Index Ventures. The company has raised a total of $434.9 million. Reuters has more here.

EvenUp, a four-year-old San Francisco startup that uses AI to provide support for personal injury lawyers, raised a $50.5 million Series B round at a $325 million valuation. Bessemer Venture Partners was the deal lead, while Bain Capital Ventures, Clio, Scott Belsky, and previous investors DCM, SignalFire, NFX, and Gokul Rajaram also participated. The company has raised a total of $65 million. TechCrunch has more here.

GSoft, a 17-year-old Montréal company that equips managers and HR leaders with software tools to connect with their teams, raised a $93.6 million round from CDPQ. Bloomberg has more here.

Kate Therapeutics, a three-year-old San Diego startup that is developing treatments for hard-to-treat muscle and heart disorders, raised a $51 million Series A round co-led by Westlake Village BioPartners and Versant Ventures, with Osage University Partners and UF Innovate Ventures also contributing. The San Diego Union-Tribune has more here.

Pigment, a four-year-old Paris startup that is creating business planning software, raised an $88 million Series C round led by Iconiq Growth, with Felix Capital and previous investors Meritech, IVP, and FirstMark Capital also taking part. The company has raised a total of $233.9 million. TechCrunch has more here.

Contextual AI, a Palo Alto AI startup that allows businesses to generate more contextually-aware answers from LLMs, raised a $20 million seed round led by previous investor Bain Capital Ventures, with Lightspeed, Greycroft, SV Angel, Elad Gil, and Harry Stebbings also anteing up. TechCrunch has more here.

Granica, an AI startup based in Mountain View, Ca., whose aim is to help Amazon S3 and Google Cloud customers to eliminate redundant and low-value data and increase data privacy, raised a $45 million. Investors included NEA and Bain Capital Ventures. More here.

Griffin, a seven-year-old London startup that enables fintechs and brands to embed finance products such as bank accounts into their platforms, raised a $13.5 million Series A round led by MassMutual Ventures, with previous investors Seedcamp, Notion Capital, and EQT Ventures also writing checks. The company has raised a total of $41.4 million. More here.

Laudio, a five-year-old Boston startup that creates software designed to optimize the workflow of frontline health care workers, raised a $13 million Series B round led by Define Ventures, with previous investors .406 Ventures, InHealth Ventures, MemorialCare Innovation Fund, and TeleTracking Technologies also joining in. The company has raised a total of $25 million. More here.

Meanwhile, a Bermuda startup that is trying to launch a Bitcoin-denominated life insurance product, raised $19 million across two seed rounds. The first was co-led by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and former Stripe exec Lachy Groom, while the second was led by Gradient Ventures. Reinsurance News has more here.

Onfly, a four-year-old Brazilian startup that has built what it claims is an end-to-end corporate travel and expense management software platform, raised a $16 million Series A round. Left Lane Capital and Cloud9 Capital co-led the deal. PhocusWire has more here.

Pomelo Care, a two-year-old New York startup that provides virtual medical care for newborns and expectant mothers, raised a $33 million seed and Series A round. The Series A was led by Andreessen Horowitz, with additional participation from previous investor First Round Capital as well as SV Angel Operator Partners, Allen & Co., and BoxGroup. The company has raised a total of $41 million. More here.

Ringover, a Paris company that allows enterprise companies to streamline business communication and customer interactions no matter where staff are located, raised a $21.6 million round co-led by Orange Ventures and Bpifrance, with previous investor Expedition Growth Capital also chipping in. Tech.eu has more here.

SustainCERT, a five-year-old Luxembourg startup that helps companies monitor their carbon emissions, raised a $37 million round. Investors included Partech and Hartree Partners as well as existing shareholders Citizen Capital, Innovacom, and the Microsoft Climate Innovation Fund. The company has raised a total of $46.9 million. Tech.eu has more here.

Woltair, a five-year-old Prague startup that connects consumers who want to install heat pumps and solar panels with installation and maintenance technicians, raised a $22.1 million round co-led by previous investor The Westly Group as well as Fifth Wall, with additional funds provided by ArcTern Ventures, Kaya, and Inven Capital. The company has raised a total of $42.3 million. Tech.eu has more here.

Yuvo Health, a two-year-old New York startup that provides administrative and payment software for community health centers, raised a $20.2 million Series A round led by Mastry Ventures, with AlleyCorp, AV8 Ventures, New York Ventures, HLM Venture Partners, Route 66 Ventures, VamosVentures, and Social Innovation Fund also piling on. The company has raised a total of $27.9 million. More here.

Dock, a San Francisco startup whose CRM software allows companies to create custom workspaces for their clients, raised a $3.5 million seed round led by Craft Ventures and including Jack Altman and Operator Collective. More here.

Haul247, a three-year-old Lagos startup whose logistics platform enables companies to book trucks and warehouses across multiple African geolocations, raised a $2 million seed round from Alitheia Capital. and $1 million in debt from Investment One. The company has raised a total of $4.1 million. TechCrunch has more here.

Insify, a three-year-old Amsterdam startup that provides insurance for SMBs, raised a $10.7 round led by Munich Re Ventures, with Opera Tech Ventures and previous investors Accel, Frontline Ventures, and Visionaries Club also taking a piece of the deal. The company has raised a total of $30.4 million. TechCrunch has more here.

Magrathea, a one-year-old San Francisco startup that is attempting to produce carbon-neutral metal from seawater and brines, raised a $10 million seed round co-led by VoLo Earth and Capricorn Investment Group, with additional capital supplied by Valor Equity Partners, Exor Ventures, Counteract, Hyperguap, Necessary Ventures, Untitled, and EQT Foundation. The company has raised a total of $12 million. More here.

Onebeat, a five-year-old Tel Aviv startup that helps retailers by synchronizing store management, online sales, and product assortment, raised a $10 million Series B round led by Magenta Venture Partners, with AnD Ventures, INcapital Ventures, J-Ventures, Surround Ventures, and Bird Capital also partaking. The company has raised a total of $15 million. CTech has more here.

Oort Energy, a London startup that is working on a method to develop green hydrogen using renewable energy sources, raised a $6.3 million round seed round led by Energy Revolution Ventures, with Trirec also throwing in. GreenTech Lead has more here.

RevSure, a Palo Alto startup that claims to use AI to help B2B companies manage their pipelines, raised $6 million, increasing the size of its seed round to $10 million. Neotribe Ventures and Innovation Endeavors co-led the seed round, with participation from Operator Collective and Correlation Ventures. More here.

"The quality of deal flow is the single most important indicator of a fund's performance and our process to build our top of funnel remains remarkably consistent." – Samantha Santaniello, Head of Business Development & Partnerships, MassMutual Ventures. In this recent webinar, she spoke to Affinity about how the team builds deal flow. Watch now for tips and insights.

London-based Isomer Capital, which backs venture capital funds and startups directly, has completed the held a first close of what it expects will be a €250 million vehicle; so far, it has commitments for one third that amount. UKTech has more here.

Mark Zuckerberg's reported reaction to Apple's Vision Pro presentation this week; "Every demo that they showed was a person sitting on a couch by themself." The Verge has more here.

More startups throw in the towel.

A closer look at Apple’s Vision Pro keyboard and other controls.

Bytedance is testing an AI-powered chatbot among employees, joining rival Chinese internet conglomerates from Alibaba Group to Baidu in a race to create a local version of ChatGPT. TikTok’s owner has reportedly code-named the project “Grace." 

They fled San Francisco; the AI boom pulled them back.

The case for getting phones out of school.

Streaming TV's busted math.

Carrie Bradshaw Reflects on the Smoke from the Canadian Wildfires.

Courtside seats for this year's NBA finals (require a lot of disposal income).

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