The official end of the virtual events craze 🪦

U.S. Department of Justice officials are reportedly considering fraud charges against crypto exchange Binance, but federal prosecutors worry that if they indict the outfit, it could cause a run on the exchange similar to the one that befell now bankrupt platform FTX. Semafor has more here.

Hopin, the virtual events startup that saw its valuation skyrocket during the pandemic, is fast coming down to earth. Today the company announced that it has sold its main events business to RingCentral for an undisclosed sum. Meanwhile, Hopin founder Johnny Boufarhat -- who reportedly sold $195 million of his own shares as investors flocked to his company -- is set to be replaced by Hopin's current CTO, Badri Rajasekar. TechCrunch has more here.

Brookfield Asset Management and Sequoia Heritage, a $16 billion fund that manages the wealth of Sequoia's partners and others in Silicon Valley, are creating an investment vehicle to capitalize on plunging valuations of venture-backed companies, says the Financial Times. The firms are reportedly investing $250 million each to found a new company called Pinegrove Capital Partners led by Brian Laibow; until recently, Laibow was co-head of the North American operations of Oaktree Capital Management’s flagship distressed fund. More here.

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CG Oncology, a 13-year-old company based in Irvine, Ca., that is developing a treatment for non-muscle invasive bladder cancer, raised a $105 million round co-led by Foresite Capital and TCGX, with Avidity Partners, BVF Partners, Janus Henderson Investors, Acorn Bioventures, Ally Bridge Group, Decheng Capital, Longitude Capital, Malin Corporation, and RA Capital Management also piling on. The company has raised a total of $317.6 million. Fierce Biotech has more here.

Healthmap Solutions, a seven-year-old startup based in Tampa, Fl., that claims it has developed technology, predictive analytics, and clinical expertise to detect kidney disease early and recommend clinically proven interventions to delay or slow disease progression, raised a $100 million round. Previous investor WindRose Health Investors was the lead backer. The company has raised a total of $225.6 million. Fierce Healthcare has more here.

LightForce Orthodontics, an eight-year-old startup based in Burlington, Ma., that makes personalized 3D printed braces, raised an $80 million Series D round co-led by Ally Bridge Group, Transformation Capital, and Care Capital, with additional participation from Omega Venture Partners, Matter Venture Partners, Delta Dental of California, and the American Association of Orthodontics. The company has raised a total of $150.6 million. Crunchbase News has more here.

Shadowfax, an eight-year-old Bangalore startup that provides logistics for hyper-local, on-demand delivery businesses, is reportedly close to raising a $60 million round. TPG NewQuest is the lead, according to TechCrunch, which has more here.

Akkio, a four-year-old startup based in Cambridge, Ma., that says its no-code platform can help businesses use AI for tasks like churn reduction, attrition prediction, fraud detection, and sales funnel optimization in minutes, raised a $15 million Series A round. Bain Capital Ventures and Pandome co-led the transaction. The company has raised a total of $18 million. VentureBeat has more here.

Aulos Bioscience, a three-year-old startup based in Larkspur, Ca., that is developing therapeutics that direct cancer patients’ immune systems to kill tumor cells, raised a $20 million Series A extension round from Apple Tree Partners. The company has raised a total of $60 million. More here.

Converge Insurance, a one-year-old New York startup that offers cyber risk management services to small- and medium-sized businesses, raised a $15 million Series A round. Forgepoint Capital led the financing. CityBiz has more here.

Equilibrium Energy, a two-year-old San Francisco startup that is developing technology to support the accelerated deployment of grid-scale batteries, raised a $33 million round. Investors included Breakthrough Energy Ventures, Global Founders Capital, and NJP Ventures. More here.

Finda, an eight-year-old South Korean startup that operates a loan comparison platform, raised a $37 million Series C round led by JB Financial Group, with 500 Global also contributing. The company has raised a total of $52.4 million. Financial IT has more here.

Local Logic, a nine-year-old Montréal startup that provides building information to clients such as real estate investors and governments, raised a $13 million Series B finding co-led by GroundBreak Ventures and Investissement Québec, with Band Capital Partners, Triovest Realty Advisors, Cycle Capital, Desjardins Group, Jones Boys Ventures, Second Century Ventures, and Shadow Ventures also joining in. SiliconANGLE has more here.

Silk Security, a New York startup whose software is designed to help security and operations teams work together in minimizing security risks, raised a $12.5 million seed round co-led by Insight Partners and Hetz Ventures, with the CrowdStrike Falcon Fund also participating. CTech has more here.

VenoStent, a six-year-old Houston startup that is developing a device to improve the usability and durability of artery-vein connections that are surgically created in the arms of chronic kidney disease patients, raised a $16 million Series A round. Good Growth Capital and IAG Capital Partners were the co-leads, with participation from TMC Venture Fund, SNR, Baylor Angel Network / Affinity Fund, Creative Ventures, Cowtown Angels, and Alumni Ventures. The company has raised a total of $22.2 million. More here.

FeelBetter, a five-year-old, Boston and Tel Aviv,-based developer of medication management technology, raised $5.9 million in funding led by Firstime Ventures and Shoni Health Ventures. Random Forest VC, The Group Ventures, and existing investor Triventures also pitched in, bringing the startup's total funding to $8 million. More here.

Lightup, a four-year-old startup based in Mountain View, Ca., that helps companies improve the quality of their data, raised a $9 million Series A round co-led by Andreessen Horowitz and Newland Ventures, with Spectrum 28 Capital, Shasta Ventures, Vela Partners, and Incubate Fund also pitching in. The company has raised a total of $20.7 million. TechCrunch has more here.

Pelvital, a startup based in Eagan, Mn., that is selling an FDA-approved, at-home, intravaginal device for stress urinary incontinence and weakened pelvic floor muscles, raised a $2.68 million seed round led by Boomerang Ventures, with VisionTech Partners and Wisconsin Investment Partners also taking part. More here.

Source, a four-year-old, Portland, Ore.-based startup that helps architectural and design firms procure interior design products for commercial real estate projects, has raised an $8.5 million Series A round led by M13, with Rise of the Rest, Rogue Venture Partners, Founders' Co-op, and Oregon Venture Fund also investing. The company has raised a total of $12.2 million. GeekWire has more here.

Uptiv Health, a New York startup that is developing personalized infusion care therapy for patients living with chronic diseases, raised a $7.5 million seed round. Investors include Redesign Health. More here.

Inworld AI, a San Francisco-based developer of AI-driven virtual characters for games and interactive experiences, has raised an undisclosed amount of fresh funding from Lightspeed Venture Partners. Also participating in the round: Stanford University, Samsung Next and new and existing strategic investors such as Microsoft’s M12 fund, First Spark Ventures (co-founded by Eric Schmidt), and LG Technology Ventures. The outfit has now raised $100 million altogether and is valued by its backers at $500 million. More here.

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Realm, a podcast company that made its name in fictional series, is branching into new areas amid a wave of consolidation in the industry. Per Bloomberg, it has acquired two podcast companies: Pinna, which offers ad-free, subscription content for children and families, and Lipstick & Vinyl, which focuses on unscripted shows. Terms of the deals were not disclosed. Realm says it has raised over $20 million from investors, including Forerunner Ventures and Graham Holdings Co., which is selling Pinna to Realm.

In other virtual events platform news, Run The World, a Bay Area-based virtual event platform that raised money from Andreessen Horowitz during the pandemic, just sold itself to a Toronto-based event management software company called EventMobi for undisclosed terms. More here.

Katherine Power has joined the bi-coastal venture firm Greycroft as a partner in Los Angeles. She previously cofounded two skin care companies (Merit Beauty and Versed), as well as a clean wine company called Avaline. More here.

HackerOne, the widely known bug bounty and penetration testing platform, is cutting up to 12% of its workforce as the global economic slowdown continues to impact the tech community. TechCrunch has more here.

Vesttoo, a five-year-old, Tel Aviv insurance market startup, will lay off 75% of its staff and will shutter some Asia offices following allegations that fraudulent letters of credit were issued in the name of third-party banks as part of transactions arranged via its platform. Vesttoo's CEO and chief product officer have also been removed from their positions until further notice. According to Crunchbase data, Vestoo has raised $110 million from investors. The Insurer has more here.

How Elon Musk took over Tesla using money, strong-arm tactics, and his own popularity.

Carnegie Mellon researchers have discovered "unlimited ways" to jailbreak ChatGPT and any other large language model.

Meta has released a new AI music generator.

How the way Coinbase makes money has shifted since its 2021 IPO.

Kenya's interior ministry said today that it has suspended the local activities of cryptocurrency project Worldcoin while its government agencies assess potential risks to public safety. The project, founded by Sam Altman, requires users to give their iris scans in exchange for a digital ID, and in some countries users also get free cryptocurrency as part of plans to create a new "identity and financial network." But a preliminary review of Worldcoin's operations has raised concerns in Kenya, among them being that obtaining consumer consent in return for a monetary award borders on inducement.

Mushroom leather was supposed to revolutionize fashion. Then a promising startup -- Bolt Threads -- halted production.

“The Onion” founder explains his strategy for sparking creativity.

Tired of dating apps, some turn to "date-me docs."

An insider's guide to Lugano.

Pulp Fiction ... the musical?

DJI’s new GoPro competitor.

A new hybrid Land Cruiser is coming to the U.S.

SaaStr Annual 2023, the world's largest SaaS and Cloud event, is almost here! Don't miss this three-day event, Sept. 6-8 in SF that will bring together 12,000 global SaaS founders, executives, and investors for a series of high-quality content sessions and networking opportunities, including Founder and VC matchmaking. The leaders of companies from Asana to Zoom will take the stage to share their actionable insights on scaling. Readers can grab 20% off tickets with code strictlyvc (until tickets sell out.)