A more powerful Bard, a new phone . . . from an EV startup, and a kerfuffle involving Y Combinator (raises questions)

Someone captured us making the rounds at Disrupt earlier today.

Okay, fine, if you want to see actual footage of the show today -- including several great interviews, including with Dario Amodei of the buzzy AI outfit Anthropic -- you can check it out here.

Google's Bard just got more powerful.

The FTC today charged three Amazon executives with tricking users into signing up for subscriptions they didn't want. Per the WSJ: "The FTC alleges that Amazon had a purposefully complicated cancellation system for Prime members that internally was code-named 'Iliad' after the ancient Greek work by Homer. The epic poem is notoriously hard to read."

While Chinese tech companies have long harbored ambitions to move into the electric car industry, EV upstart Nio has gone the other way — today releasing its first mobile phone.

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Corti, a seven-year-old Copenhagen startup that uses AI to assess patients in conjunction with clinicians, raised a $60 million Series B round co-led by Prosus Ventures and Atomico, with additional participation from Eurazeo, EIFO, and Chr. Augustinus Fabrikker. The company has raised a total of $89.4 million. TechCrunch has more here.

JOKR, a two-year-old Berlin startup that currently provides online grocery delivery services in Latin America, raised a $50 million Series D round at an $800 million post-money valuation (a 38% decrease from its Series C valuation just seven months ago). Convivialité Ventures was the deal lead, while Lombard Odier as well as previous investors G Squared, GGV, Balderton Capital, Monashees, Greycroft, and Tiger Global also took part. The company has raised a total of $480 million. TechCrunch has more here.

Magnet Biomedicine, a startup based in Cambridge, Ma., that develops molecular glues to treat cardiovascular disease, oncology, and immune disorders, raised a $50 million Series A round. Newpath Partners and ARCH Venture Partners co-led the deal. More here.

MotherDuck, a one-year-old Seattle startup that provides analytics software built on the open-source platform DuckDB, raised a $52.5 million round at a $400 million post-money valuation. The deal was led by Felicis, with participation from new and existing investors Andreessen Horowitz, Madrona Venture Group, Amplify Partners, Altimeter, Redpoint, and Zero Prime. The company has raised a total of $100 million. TechCrunch has more here.

Alcion, a one-year-old startup based in Santa Clara, Ca., that provides services such as disaster recovery, anti-ransomware, anti-malware, and compliance tools to businesses using Microsoft 365, raised a $21 million Series A round led by Veeam (an IT company owned by Insight Partners). The company has raised a total of $29 million. TechCrunch has more here.

Eloelo, a three-year-old Indian startup whose platform features social gaming and livestreaming, raised a $22 million round at a $100 million to $150 million valuation, according to the CEO. The deal was co-led by Courtside Ventures and Griffin Gaming Partners, with participation from Mixi Inc, Waterbridge Ventures, Lumikai Fund, Kalaari Capital, Convivialite Ventures, and Rocket Capital also joining in. The Economic Times has more here.

Fernride, a four-year-old Munich startup that supplies automation technology for yard trucking, allowing remote-controlled operations, raised a $19 million Series A extension round, increasing the total size of the round to $50 million. Deep Tech and Climate Fonds (DTCF), Munich Re Ventures, Bayern Kapital, and Klaus Kleinfeld all invested. The company has raised a total of $92 million. Tech.eu has more here.

Immaterial, a startup based in Cambridge, UK, that designs and develops advanced materials and systems for carbon capture and hydrogen storage, raised a $20 million Series A round led by SLB and including AP Ventures, Cepsa, Chevron Technology Ventures, Energy Revolution Ventures, JERA, TRIREC, and Ultratech Capital Partners. Carbon Herald has more here.

Inbound Health, a one-year-old Minneapolis startup that helps health systems and health plans develop and scale hospital-at-home and skilled nursing-at-home programs, raised a $30 million Series B round led by HealthQuest Capital, with previous investors Flare Capital Partners and McKesson Ventures also contributing. MobiHealthNews has more here.

Kuku FM, a five-year-old Mumbai startup that operates an eponymous audio platform that offers over 150,000 hours of content, raised a $25 million Series C round led by Fundamentum Partnership, with IFC and Vertex Ventures also anteing up. The company has raised a total of $70.9 million. TechCrunch has more here.

Legit Security, a two-year-old Palo Alto startup that helps businesses secure their apps, raised a $40 million Series B round led by CRV and including Cyberstarts, Bessemer Venture Partners, and TCV. The company has raised a total of $77 million. TechCrunch has more here.

Mojave Energy Systems, a one-year-old startup based in Sunnyvale, Ca., that makes a devices that dehumidifies commercial HVAC systems, raised a $12.5 million round co-led by At One Ventures and Fifth Wall, with Xerox Ventures also pitching in. More here.

ReCode Therapeutics, a startup based in Menlo Park, Ca., that is developing mRNA and gene correction therapeutics to address central nervous system, lung, liver, and musculoskeletal conditions, raised a $50 million Series B extension round. Investors included Solasta Ventures and Bioluminescence Ventures as well as previous investors OrbiMed Advisors, AyurMaya, Leaps by Bayer, Vida Ventures, MPM Capital, Pfizer Ventures, EcoR1 Capital, Sanofi Ventures, Amgen Ventures, and Osage University Partners. The company has raised a total of $472 million. More here.

Tabular, a two-year-old startup based in San Jose, Ca., that
has developed a data store that allows customers to use the analytics engine of their choice, raised a $26 million in round led by Altimeter Capital, with additional capital provided by Andreessen Horowitz and Zetta Venture Partners. The company has raised a total of $37 million. SiliconANGLE has more here.

Take Command, a nine-year-old Dallas startup that offers a platform that allows employees to choose their own health insurance plan, raised a $25 million round led by Edison Partners, with LiveOak Ventures and SJF Ventures also participating. The company has raised a total of $46.2 million. More here.

Tolremo Therapeutics, a six-year-old startup based in Basel, Switzerland, that produces a small molecule inhibitor designed to block cancer cells’ survival techniques, raised a $39 million Series A round led by BioMedPartners, with Pierre Fabre Invest also joining in. More here.

ZayZoon, a nine-year-old Calgary startup whose app provides payday loans, raised a $34.5 million Series B round led by Framework Venture Partners, with Export Development Canada, and ATB Financial also investing. The company has raised a total of $53 million. TechCrunch has more here.

ARX, a Munich startup that builds autonomous ground vehicles for soldiers and first responders, raised a $1.2 million pre-seed round from Project A Ventures. Tech.eu has more here.

Afterparty, a two-year-old Los Angeles startup that has created a fan engagement platform that includes live streaming, one-on-one chats, community events, and collectibles, raised a $5 million round led by Blockchange Ventures, with existing investors Acrew Capital, Act One Ventures, and Tamarack Global also stepping up. The company has raised a total of $22 million. Music Business Worldwide has more here.

Amenities Health, a two-year-old Dallas startup whose software helps patients find and book appointments, access medical test results, and communicate with providers, raised a $6.25 million Series A round led by MemorialCare Innovation Fund and including Epic Ventures. The company has raised a total of $10 million. More here.

Complete Farmer, a six-year-old startup based in Accra, Ghana, that helps small African farmers sell their produce to global market players, raised a $7 million round and $3.4 million in debt. The equity portion was co-led by Acumen Resilient Agriculture Fund and Alitheia Capital, with Proparco, Newton Partners, and VestedWorld Rising Star Fund also pitching in. TechCrunch has more here.

Electron, an eight-year-old London startup that develops marketplace software for electricity network providers, raised a $5 million round led by East Innovate, with Riverstone, Nesta, and One Planet Capital also contributing. The company has raised a total of $14 million. Startups Magazine has more here.

Flashwire Group, a three-year-old Singapore startup that says it has built a crypto-friendly digital bank, a cryptocurrency debit card, and a cryptocurrency lending platform, raised a $10 million Series A round. The investment syndicate included Legend Trading, Cobo, GATE.io, VeChain, CyberX, and SuperChain Capital. The company has raised a total of $11.2 million. More here.

Kayhan Space, a four-year-old based in Boulder, Co., that has developed an autonomous space traffic coordination and logistics platform, raised $7 million in funding co-led by EVE Atlas and Space Capital, with added participation from Initialized Capital, Overline Ventures, and Alumni Ventures. More here.

Monark, a three-year-old Calgary startup that claims it uses AI to provide interactive leadership training and individual performance optimization for new leaders and first-time managers, raised a $1.5 million seed round led by Storytime Capital, with The51, Archangel, and UCeed also joining in. More here.

Mural Health Technologies, a one-year-old startup based in Berwyn, Pa., that helps pharmaceutical companies recruit participants for clinical trials, raised an $8 million seed round led by Bessemer Ventures, with Virtue VC, Operator Partners, Arkitect Ventures, Correlation Ventures, and Project Mayhem Ventures also contributing. More here.

Navenio, an eight-year-old startup based in Oxford, UK, whose software is used to locate people in hospitals or other large buildings where the use of GPS is not ideal, raised a $6.3 million round led by Oxford Science Enterprises, with additional funds provided by previous investors G.K. Goh Ventures, Big Pi Ventures, George Robinson, and the University of Oxford. The company has raised a total of $47.1 million. Tech.eu has more here.

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Angular Ventures, a five-year-old, London-based venture firm that describes itself as "enterprise oriented," is raising up to $125 million for its third fund, shows an SEC filing. More here.

Global Frontier Technology Ventures ("GFT Ventures"), a Palo Alto-based deep tech-focused venture firm, just closed its debut fund with $140 million in capital commitments. The firm was co-founded Jeff Herbst, formerly part of the executive leadership team at NVIDIA, and Jay Eum, previously the founding managing director of Samsung Ventures and co-founder of TransLink Capital. More here.

Gutter Capital, a New York-based early-stage venture firm that focuses on climate change startups, economic mobility and affordability, is looking to raise up to $50 million for a new fund, says Axios. More here.

Oceans Ventures, a 5.5-year-old, New York-based generalist seed-stage venture outfit, has closed a second fund with $31 million in capital commitments from primarily founders and executives. “The world doesn’t need this hero founder that becomes the next Netflix special,” firm cofounder Steven Rosenblatt --  a former president of Foursquare -- tells Fortune.

Games platform Roblox has purchased Speechly, a seven-year-old Helsinki startup that lets companies add AI voice technology and voice interfaces to their products and experiences. The terms were not disclosed. 

Redwood Materials (see also "Essential Reads"), just acquired the Germany-based lithium-ion battery recycler Redux Recycling, a purchase meant to accelerate Redwood Materials' expansion into Europe. Terms of the deal weren't disclosed.  

Marketing automation startup Klayvio saw its shares skyrocket 20% on its market debut before eventually closing 9.2% above its offering price. The WSJ has more here. 

Elon Musk is facing more securities fraud allegations, this time because of public statements he made regarding the treatment of Neuralink's macaque monkey test subjects. Wired delves into the gruesome details here. 

At TechCrunch Disrupt earlier today, Cruise CEO Kyle Vogt vigorously defended his company's track record while acknowledging that driverless cars will never boast a flawless record. Arguing that robotaxis have a much better driving record than humans, Vogt said that “if we expect perfection from this technology and demand nothing less, we’re gonna do a lot of damage." More here and here.

A new report estimates that 95% of all NFTs are worthless. 👀

Nearly half of young Americans live with mom and dad (and they like it).

Why is Y Combinator so defensive lately?

Apple has spent years and many billions failing to build its own iPhone modem chip.

In a new lawsuit filed yesterday, a group of writers including John Grisham, Jodi Picoult, and George R. R. Martin are suing OpenAI for copyright infringement, saying the company trained its popular ChatGPT chatbot on their work without their permission.

Redwood Materials, the five-year-old battery recycling company founded by Tesla co-founder JB Straubel, has raised more than $2 billion from investors to date. But at Disrupt today, Straubel, who also sits on Tesla's board, said that Redwood is "definitely a startup.” More here.

The riskiest housing markets in America. 

AI researchers claim they can now understand what chickens are saying. 

What is your Roman Empire?

Buy Bob Dylan's 16-bedroom Scottish mansion, and you'll be among the hordes of Americans who are buying up property in the Land of the Brave right now. 

A jacket fit for a Martian.

The strongest beers in the world.

Disrupt — the original startup conference — stays fresh, relevant and focused on founders, investors, and the future of tech year after year. Don't miss the rest of this year's show, which is going on now and features Kevin Systrom, Dario Amodei, Katie Haun, Shaquille O'Neal, Meredith Whittaker, and Reed Jobs, among others. Grab your ticket here!