Tesla's specialized glass mystery, Reid Hoffman's next steps, and the "hypocrisy of the rich"

Thank you for your enthusiastic response to my "personal news" from yesterday.:)

Manhattan federal prosecutors are investigating Tesla’s use of company funds on a secret project that had been described internally as a house for CEO Elon Musk, the WSJ reported earlier today. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York is reportedly seeking information about any personal benefits paid to Musk, how much Tesla spent on the project, and what it was for. The Journal says that Tesla lawyers and board members began scrutinizing the project after employees became concerned over how the company planned to use millions of dollars in specialized glass Tesla had ordered. SEC rules require public companies to disclose transactions above $120,000 in which a related party, such as an executive officer, has a material interest. More here.

Also per the WSJ, LinkedIn cofounder-turned VC Reid Hoffman is scaling back his involvement in new deals at Greylock Partners so he can focus his attention elsewhere. The outlet says Hoffman won’t be a general partner for the $1 billion fund Greylock is currently raising; it further notes that its new target is scaled back from the $1.5 billion fund it raised in 2020 and 2021, reflecting current market conditions. More here.

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AI21 Labs, a six-year-old Tel Aviv startup that allows developers to build custom, text-based business apps based on AI21’s proprietary AI models, raised a $155 million Series C round at a $1.4 billion valuation. Walden Catalyst, Pitango, SCB10X, b2venture, Samsung Next, and Mobileye founder and AI21 Labs co-founder Amnon Shashua were the deal leads, while Google and Nvidia also took part. The company has raised a total of $283 million. TechCrunch has more here.

Mediafly, a 17-year-old Chicago company whose revenue enablement platform helps customers like PepsiCo, Disney, and GE Healthcare optimize their sales process, raised a $80 million round led by BIP Ventures, with Boathouse Capital also anteing up. The company has raised a total of $139.7 million. Tech Funding News has more here.

Cohere, a Toronto-based AI startup backed by Oracle and Nvidia, among others, is working with banks to raise a fresh round of financing, says Bloomberg. The OpenAI competitor just closed on $270 million back in June at a reported $2.2 billion valuation. Bloomberg has more here.

AeroSafe Global, a 28-year-old company based in Rochester, NY, that helps ensure that biopharmaceuticals remain refrigerated throughout the entire supply chain process, raised a $43 million round led by NewSpring, with previous investors Peloton Equity, Merck Global Health Innovation Fund, and Hamilton Lane also taking part. The company has raised a total of $162.7 million. More here.

Gitai, a seven-year-old startup based in Tokyo and Torrance, Ca., that is developing space robots for microgravity environments, raised a $15 million round. Investors included Green Co-Invest Investment, Pacific Bays Capital, and MSIVC. The company has raised a total of $66 million. TechCrunch has more here.

Hyperproof, a five-year-old startup based in Bellevue, Wa., that seeks to automate compliance tasks for its clients, raised a $40 million round led by Riverwood Capital, with Toba Capital also participating. The company has raised a total of $66.5 million. TechCrunch has more here.

Intuition Robotics, an Israeli company that offers an AI-powered care companion robot for seniors experiencing loneliness, says it has closed a $25 million funding round, which includes $20 million in venture capital and $5 million in debt. Woven Capital led the round, joined by the growth fund of Toyota, OurCrowd, Toyota Ventures, Western Technology Investment, and other investors. MobiHealth News has more here.

QuantHealth, an Israeli startup that says virtually helps pharma and biotech companies execute thousands of clinical drug trials within minutes, announced $15 million in Series A funding today. Bertelsmann Investments and Pitango HealthTech co-led the round. Current investors, including Shoni Top Ventures, Nina Capital, and Nova Capital also joined the round. Times of Israel has more here.

Sortera Technologies, a 2.5-year-old, Markle, In.-based materials sorting company (for the purposes of recycling), today closed $30.5 million in Series C funding round led by RA Capital Management-Planetary Health, with participation from funds advised by T. Rowe Price Associates, Mitsunishi’s Mineral Resources Group, Macquarie, Assembly Ventures, Breakthrough Energy Ventures, and Chrysalix. More here.

Teale, a French startup that provides a mental health platform for employees and helps HR managers when it comes to preventing burnout or quiet quitting, says it raised $11 million earlier this summer (€10 million). Alter Equity and Bpifrance’s Digital Venture fund led the Series A funding round. TechCrunch has more here.

Voxel, a three-year-old San Francisco startup that integrates with a client's existing security cameras and uses computer vision to increase workplace safety, raised a $12 million round led by Rite-Hite, with previous investors Eclipse Ventures and Mtech also pitching in. The company has raised a total of $30 million. TechCrunch has more here.

Confirm, a four-year-old San Francisco startup that uses GPT-4 to deliver what it claims are fairer, more scientific, and more efficient performance reviews, raised a $6.2 million Series A round led by Spero Ventures, with SHRMLabs, Elefund, Gaingels, and Black Angel Group also investing. The company has raised a total of $11.4 million. VentureBeat has more here.

Occuspace, a six-year-old startup based in Westlake Village, Ca., that provides occupancy monitoring software for property owners, raised a $3.6 million seed round led by Okapi Venture Capital, with additional participation from Cove Fund, Shadow Ventures, and Hamilton Ventures. TechStartups has more here.

TeamSense, a three-year-old startup based in Mukilteo, WA, that lets employers manage the attendance of their deskless workers more easily, raised a $4 million seed round led by Bonfire Ventures, with additional funds provided by Operator Collective. TechCrunch has more here.

Dealmakers are in a market where LPs are hesitant to double down on venture and portcos are seeing fewer paths to IPOs and exits. The result? The impact that investors create on both sides of the deal has never been more crucial to the firm’s future. Join Affinity and Teamworthy Ventures for a webinar on September 6 and learn how you can maximize post-investment value creation, including advice on using technology to efficiently generate and report on fund value. Register now.

Black Ostrich Ventures, a Los Angeles-based venture capital firm, has launched a $20 million pre-seed and seed stage fund to support African founders to grow their businesses in the cleantech, supply chain, ag-tech, and edtech sectors. According to TechCabal, the newly created firm says it will support startups with check sizes ranging from $50,000 to $200,000. The fund—backed by LPs in New York and undisclosed high-net-worth individuals in Los Angeles—will be focusing on startups in Tanzania, Zambia, Morocco, and Uganda. More here.

Approximately $111 million will be available to help support tech-based companies in Ohio.Two new funds – the Ohio Early Stage Focus Fund and Ohio Venture Fund – will help increase the amount of early-stage capital invested in regional startups, Governor Mike DeWine said yesterday. The Business Journal has more here.

French billionaire Francois-Henri Pinault is close to a $7 billion deal to buy a majority stake in the talent agency CAA, according to Bloomberg's sources. Pinault, whose family controls a luxury goods empire, is seeking the majority stake held by private equity firm TPG, said Bloomberg's sources. More here.

Republican Blake Masters, who last year lost his Arizona Senate bid, is set to announce he is running again in 2024, per the WSJ. Masters was a political outsider before he entered the 2022 Senate race, having worked with the venture capitalist Peter Thiel, who spent millions of dollars to support his bid; Masters was later defeated in the general election by the incumbent, Senator Mark Kelly.

Zoe Ofer, who recently nabbed her MBA at the Harvard Business School, has joined the early-stage Israel-based venture firm Amiti Ventures as a senior associate. Ctech has more here.

Holly Peterson, wife of VC Ken Peterson, was lambasted by the SF Chronicle today after it was learned that Peterson, who has been crusading against a noisy neighborhood pickleball court, has one in her backyard. 

Dunzo, a Bengaluru-headquartered startup that's backed by Google and Reliance Retail, informed its employees today that it will not be able to meet a postponed deadline for their monthly wages as trouble mounts at the hyperlocal delivery startup that has spent more than$150 million in the last 18 months trying, unsuccessfully, to emulate the model of its younger competitor, Zepto. According to TechCrunch, the outfit informed its employees that their outstanding salaries will now be disbursed in the first week of October instead of the previously scheduled date of September 4. More here.

Amid strikes in Hollywood, Runway's Cristobal Valenzuela sees artificial intelligence as a liberating tool for artists instead of a threat.

Elsewhere, AI startup buzz is facing a reality check. “We’ve moved from a moment of ‘How big can this be?’ to ‘How do we make it work?’” Sunil Dhaliwal, a general partner at Amplify Partners, tells the WSJ.

And Facebook users are now able to delete some personal information that can be used by the company in the training of generative AI models. Meta updated the Facebook help center resource section on its website this week to include a form titled “Generative AI Data Subject Rights,” which allows users to “submit requests related to your third party information being used for generative AI model training.” CNBC has the story.

“He was like, ‘Yeah, I got the rizz,’” the mother of a teenage son tells the WSJ. “I looked at him and I was so mad, like, ‘Is that an STD?’”

Jimmy Kimmel said on the new Spotify "Strike Force Five" podcast that he was "very intent on retiring," but the WGA writers strike changed his mind. "[N]ow, I realize, Oh yeah, it's kind of nice to work."

How to flirt, according to a bartender. ("There’s a big difference between writing, 'See you tonight at 7!' and 'See you tonight at 7' plus a pink-lips emoji.")

The 28,000-square-foot house along Dubai's billionaires' row.

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Yesterday, we said that Mischief Ventures participated in the Series A round of a Portland, Ore., travel startup called Modern Adventure. But really, Nate Abbott participated in that round before he joined Mischief as a general partner. (Abbott was previously a product lead at Front and Airbnb.) Also, there is apparently not one but two Aditudes in the adtech space, and in Monday's issue, referring to a $15 million round led by Volition Capital, we pointed you to the wrong one. The company Volition funded is here.