The fall of what was India's most valuable startup, the return of net neutrality, and much more!

Amazon was sued today by the Federal Trade Commission and 17 states (ouch). They accuse the online shopping behemoth of acting like a monopoly by placing pricing pressure on merchants selling goods on its platform and favoring its products over others.

EU industry chief Thierry Breton today called on Apple CEO Tim Cook to open up the iPhone maker's fiercely guarded ecosystem of hardware and software to rivals. "The next job for Apple and other Big Tech, under the DMA (Digital Markets Act) is to open up its gates to competitors," Breton told Reuters.

Holy: The WSJ is reporting that OpenAI is seeking to conduct a secondary sale of its shares at a valuation of up to $90 billion, a 3X markup over a similar share sale it completed earlier this year. The company will reportedly generate $1 billion in revenue this year. (That quote below is a reference to something OpenAI CEO Sam Altman told us at a StrictlyVC event in 2019, btw. We all laughed; he explained that he was serious.)

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Alto Pharmacy, an eight-year-old San Francisco startup that sells pharmaceuticals online, raised a $120 million at an $800 million post-money valuation, according to Axios. The investors were not disclosed. Axios has more here.

Adela, a Toronto startup that has developed genome-wide methylation analysis technology that is used for the early detection of cancer as well as diagnosis and management, raised a $48 million round. Investors included Labcorp as well as previous investors F-Prime Capital, OrbiMed, Deerfield Management, Decheng Capital, and RA Capital Management. The company has raised a total of $108 million. MobiHealthNews has more here.

AYRO, a five-year-old Paris startup that builds wingsails for cargo ships as well as yachts, raised a $22.2 million Series B round led by Blue Ocean, with Swen Capital Partners also chipping in. The company has raised a total of $31.7 million. Renewables Now has more here.

H55, an eight-year-old Swiss startup that is developing electric and hybrid propulsion and battery systems for the aviation industry, raised a $49.3 Series C round. Investors included ND Capital, Tippet Venture Partners, and RTX Ventures. More here.

Kneron, an eight-year-old San Diego startup that is developing AI chips to power self-driving cars, raised a $49 million Series B extension round. Foxconn, Alltek, Horizon Ventures, Liteon Technology, Adata, and Palpilot were all in on the deal. The company has raised a total of $190 million. TechCrunch has more here.

Mundi, a three-year-old New York startup whose platform helps importers and exporters handle payments, collections, FX management, and insurance, raised a $15 million Series A-2 round led by Haymaker Ventures, with previous investor Union Square Ventures participating super pro rata. GMO Ventures, Upper90, Colibri Ventures, Base10, Asymmetric Capital Partners, Gaingels, Mana Ventures, and GSBackers also contributed. More here.

Pexapark, a six-year-old Zurich startup that offers software and advisory services for post-subsidy renewable energy sales and risk management, raised a $21.1 million Series C round led by Telstra Ventures, with Swisscom Ventures and the A&G Energy Transition Tech Fund also participating. The company has raised a total of $41.8 million. Tech.eu has more here.

Series, a two-year-old San Francisco startup that is developing software to centralize and automate businesses' finance and operations stacks, raised a $25 million seed and Series A round led by 776 and Basis Set Ventures, with participation from Pear VC, Kleiner Perkins, Day One Ventures, Hustle Fund, Caffeinated Capital, and Wischoff Ventures. TechCrunch has more here.

Avantis Labs, a New York startup that is building a DeFi trading platform, raised a $4 million seed round led by Pantera Capital, with Founders Fund, Galaxy, Coinbase’s Base Ecosystem Fund, and Modular Capital also anteing up. TechCrunch has more here.

Crediverso, a two-year-old Los Angeles startup that helps members of the U.S. Latino community with financial and legal advice, raised a $3.5 million pre-Series A round. The investment syndicate was made up of Torch Capital, Gaingels, Bessemer Venture Partners, and Act One Ventures. The company has raised a total of $6.6 million. TechCrunch has more here.

Digma, a one-year-old startup based in Sunnyvale, Ca., that looks for regressions, anomalies, and other patterns to help developers improve their code, raised a $6 million seed round co-led by at.inc/ and Sorenson Ventures, with Abstraction Capital, Inner Loop Capital, and Hetz Ventures also pitching in. The company has raised a total of $12.5 million. CTech has more here.

Erudit, a three-year-old Miami startup that says it uses AI to keep track of workforce stats like engagement, turnover risk, and burnout rate, raised a $10 million Series A round. Investors included Conexo Ventures, Athos Capital, Ignia Partners, True Blue Partners, and Fondo Bolsa Social. The company has raised a total of $12 million. Refresh Miami has more here.

FlexPoint, a one-year-old startup based in Minnetonka, Mn., that has created a payments platform for managed service providers, raised a $2.4 million round led by Garuda Ventures, with Far Out Ventures, Techstars, Cascade Seed Fund, and Lorimer Ventures also taking part. Electronic Payment International has more here.

PartyKit, a one-year-old London startup that has built an open source platform for companies looking to integrate multiplayer functionality into their apps, raised a $2.5 million pre-seed round led by Sequoia Capital, with Cursor Capital and Remote First Capital also contributing. TechCrunch has more here.

Savoy Life, a startup based in Tysons, Va., that aims to empower community managers, caregivers, and those closest to residents to deliver high quality, comprehensive, personalized care, raised a $3 million pre-seed round from Red Cell Partners. More here.

XL8, a four-year-old startup based in San Jose, Ca., that uses AI to translate media content, raised a $7.5 million Series A round led by KB Investment and including Atinum Investment. The company has raised a total of $13.7 million. Mesa News has more here.

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Blume Equity, a cleantech growth fund, has raised €40 million for its first fund from the European Investment Fund. The capital commitment marks one of the EIF’s largest into a first-time growth stage fund. 

An alumnus of Google’s AI research unit DeepMind has a new venture fund, Mythos Ventures, that will bankroll young AI startups. Vishal Maini, a former DeepMind researcher, founded Mythos earlier this year and has raised $14 million from more than four dozen investors, according to a filing this month flagged by Bloomberg.

TechCrunch has the scoop that Palo Alto Networks is in the market to pick up two Israeli security startups - Talon Cyber Security and Dig Security - for a combined price of $1 billion.

In advance of its roadshow next week, German footwear brand Birkenstock is signaling that it is looking for a $10 billion valuation. (That's a lot of effortlessly easy-going sandals ...)

Bill Gates thinks Marc Benioff's plan to save the environment by planting a trillion trees is "complete nonsense. Are we the science people or are we the idiots? Which one do we want to be?” 

Peloton’s Tom Cortese, its chief product officer and last remaining co-founder, is leaving the fitness company.

Police are investigating the murder of Pava Marie LaPere, the co-founder and CEO of EcoMap Technologies and a Forbes 30 Under 30 entrepreneur.

Justina Chung, a former SoftBank Vision Fund vice president,  has joined Bessemer's London office. While at Softbank, she backed fantasy sports game company Sorare.

Marcie Vu has joined the venture firm Greycroft as a partner, creating a Bay Area presence for the L.A. and New York-based firm. Vu previously spent close to eight years with the M&A investment bank Qatalyst Partners, where she was the outfit's head of consumer technology.

The fall of what was India's most valuable startup.

U.S. et al. v. Google may be the most secretive antitrust trial in decades.

Net neutrality is back.

Luddites and AI.

London is opening secret World War II tunnels to the public.

How San Francisco plans to save its downtown.

Coca-Cola decided to use AI to develop a new flavor. It didn't go well. 

Sleepy pug.

You can now book Shrek's Swamp on Airbnb.

In the 1991 thriller Cape Fear, Robert DeNiro played a violent ex-con named Max Cady, and now for some reason, an outfit has made a replica of Cady's shirt that you can buy for yourself. 

Ten-year-old tequila.

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