Tiger Global's paper losses, Shein's low-flying founder, and a tribute to ChatGPT on its first anniversary

Hei kaikki! Greetings from Helsinki! Also, yesterday, we included a link to Affinity’s 2024 Private Capital Investment Predictions Report that didn’t work. Here is the correct link.

At an event today in Austin, Elon Musk celebrated the launch of Tesla's angular, bullet-proof Cybertruck but neglected to mention that price for the base model -- which won't be available until 2025 -- will be 50% higher than the company had originally envisioned. The Cybertruck comes in three configurations: rear-wheel drive, all-wheel drive and Cyberbeast.

In an interview today with The Verge, OpenAI cofounder and CEO Sam Altman discussed the events surrounding the Thanksgiving coup but declined to get into what the board will look like going forward. "I totally get why people want an answer right now," he said. "But I also think it’s totally unreasonable to expect it.”

Speaking of OpenAI, the company is reportedly giving employees an extra month to decide whether they want to sell their shares in a tender offer that would value the startup at $86 billion. 

Google researchers have uncovered three high-severity zero-day vulnerabilities under active exploitation in Apple OSes and the Chrome browser.

While PE firms continue to aggressively acquire technology companies, strategic buyers still dominate the technology buyer landscape and are generally the preferred exit path for founders and management teams. Unlike PE buyers, whose focus is to acquire companies with well-defined processes at lightning speed, strategics often proceed at a much more deliberate pace. In this article, we at Allied Advisers cover some strategies that can help you tilt the playing field with strategic buyers in your favor.

BlueVoyant, a six-year-old New York startup that specializes in offering cybersecurity threat detection and response for Microsoft systems, raised a $140+ million Series E round. Liberty Strategic Capital and Istari co-led the deal. The company also purchased Conquest Cyber, a startup focused on the government and defense sectors. The WSJ has more here.

Ursa Major, an eight-year-old startup based in Berthoud, Co., that develops and manufactures rocket propulsion systems for space and hypersonic applications, raised a $138 million Series D and Series D-1 round co-led by Explorer 1 Fund and Eclipse, with additional participation from RTX Ventures, BlackRock, Exor Ventures, Mack & Co., and XN. Space News has more here.

Adionics, an 11-year-old French startup that focuses on extracting lithium in as eco-friendly a manner as possible, raised a $27 million Series B from SQM as well as previous investors Bpifrance, Supernova Invest, Céleste Management, and Ovive. More here.

Flow48, a one-year-old UAE and London startup that offers real-time loans to SMBs, with a focus on minority and women-led businesses, raised a $25 million pre-Series A round. Investors included Speedinvest, Daphni, 212, Blockchain Founders Fund, Unpopular Ventures, Endeavor Catalyst, and TLG. Tech Funding News has more here.

Kognitos, a three-year-old startup based in San Jose, Ca., that helps businesses automate back-office processes, raised a $30 million round led by Khosla Ventures, with Clear Ventures, Engineering Capital, and Wipro Ventures also participating. TechCrunch has more here.

Mytos, a five-year-old London startup that says its platform enables life sciences companies to grow human cells precisely and efficiently, raised a $19 million Series A round led by Buckley Ventures, with IQ Capital and Wing VC also taking part. More here.

Squint, a two-year-old startup based in San Jose, Ca., that claims it has created a simple way for organizations to build augmented reality workflows, raised a $13 million Series A round led by Sequoia Capital, with Menlo Ventures also contributing. TechCrunch has more here.

Acctual, a one-year-old New York startup whose mission is to help crypto companies better manage accounts payable and accounts receivable, raised a $3.9 million seed round at a $15 million post-money valuation. The deal was co-led by Third Prime and IDEO, with Alchemy Ventures, OrangeDAO, and Soma Capital also chipping in. TechCrunch has more here.

Again Bio, a three-year-old Copenhagen startup that has created bacteria that convert CO2 into vinegar, raised a $10 million seed round. Investors include Acme, GV, and Atlantic Labs. TechCrunch has more here.

Aperiam Bio, a two-year-old New York startup that claims to use a computer vision algorithm to identify ways in which it can improve proteins and make them more effective and durable than they are in nature, raised a $9 million seed round led by OMX Ventures, with participation from Axial VC, KDT Ventures, and Civilization Ventures. More here.

Biolexis Therapeutics, a two-year-old startup based in American Fork, Ut., that says it is developing small molecules targeting cancers, immune-mediated, neurodegenerative, auto-immune, metabolic, and inflammatory disease, raised a $10 million Series A round. Clarke Capital was the deal lead. More here.

Clayful, a two-year-old startup based in Davie, Fl., that partners with K-12 schools and school districts to provide students with access to mental health coaches within 60 seconds, raised a $7 million round. Reach Capital was the deal lead. Refresh Miami has more here.

Coinchange, a five-year-old Toronto startup that helps businesses (and especially cryptocurrency exchanges) provide trading and yield services for Bitcoin, Ethereum, and stablecoins through its API, raised a $10 million round co-led by G1.VC, Spirit Blockchain, Good News Ventures, and K2.CA, with Mintfox also pitching in. CoinDesk has more here.

Conduiit, a startup based in Jersey City, NJ, that aims to digitize bookkeeping and accounting processes in the film and TV industries, raised a $1 million pre-seed round. Fiat Ventures and Aperture VC were the co-leads. More here.

Fr8 Labs, a one-year-old Singapore startup whose goal is to provide a digital platform for freight forwarders in Southeast Asia, raised a $1.5 million round. Investors included East Ventures, FEBE Ventures, Kaya Founders, Mulia Sky Capital, Seedstars International Ventures, and Venturra. TechCrunch has more here.

Hang Media, a two-year-old New York startup that produces a Gen Z-focused interactive livestream for sporting events, raised a $9.2 million Series A round. The Operating Group led the transaction, while Clara Vista Investment Partners, Ratner Ventures, and Brown Angel Group also invested. Sports Business Journal has more here.

Layla, a four-year-old Berlin startup that says it uses social media content and AI to help users discover, plan, and book their travel experiences, raised a $3.3 million seed round co-led by Firstminute Capital and M13. Tech.eu has more here.

Mummolin, a startup based in Cheyenne, Wy., that operates a decentralized Bitcoin mining pool called Ocean, raised a $6.2 million seed round led by Jack Dorsey, with Accomplice, Barefoot Bitcoin Fund, MoonKite, NewLayer Capital, and the Bitcoin Opportunity Fund also stepping up. Cointelegraph has more here.

Pepper Bio, a five-year-old startup based in Dedham, Ma., that  analyzes multiple layers of biological data (including DNA, RNA, proteomic data, and phosphoproteomic data) in order to discover new drugs, raised a $6.5 million seed round led by previous investor NFX,  with Merck as well as Silverton Partners, Mana Ventures, Tensility Ventures, and VSC Ventures also participating. TechCrunch has more here.

Retrocausal, a four-year-old startup based in Redmond, Wa., whose software employs cameras and other tools such as barcode scanners to provide real-time instructions and feedback to front-line manufacturing employees on the factory floor, raised a $5.3 million round co-led by Glasswing Ventures, One Way Ventures, and Indicator Ventures, with Argon Ventures, Differential Ventures, Ascend Vietnam Ventures, Incubate Fund US, SaaS Ventures, Hypertherm Ventures, Stage Venture Partners, and Techstars also piling on. GeekWire has more here.

It’s not just us—people are feeling optimistic about investing for the first time in a while. Read Affinity's 2024 Private Capital Investment Predictions Report and find out why 700+ investment professionals anticipate higher deal volume and better networking in 2024. Get the report to find out what’s possible for the coming year.

Kvanted Ventures, a Helsinki firm that focuses on €500,000 to €3 million investments in industrial technology startups, has raised an inaugural fund of €70 million. More here.

Pakistan is launching a venture capital fund for local early-stage startups, seeking to lure global investors back to the South Asian country, says Bloomberg. Per Pakistan’s minister for information technology and telecommunications, the fund aims to allocate as much as $10 million annually.

Yieldstreet, an eight-year-old startup whose platform provides investors with access to alternative investments ranging from real estate to venture capital to art, is acquiring Cadre, a nine-year-old startup that provides institutions and high net worth individuals with access to real estate deals. TechCrunch has more here. 

Sky Xu, the Chinese billionaire founder of fast-fashion group Shein, has managed to fly under the radar, but that will change when the e-commerce group launches its planned listing next year. It'll be a big shift, notes the FT, which observes that there is "scant information available online about the man whose company’s explosive growth was made possible by the social media age. Shein’s website bears no photograph of Xu" and Xu has "never given a media interview nor posted online for eight years."

Jeff Bezos' yacht is so big that he has to moor it next to an oil tanker.

The reviews are in from advertisers who pulled their money from X because of Elon Musk's anti-Semitic tweet, and apparently, they did not take kindly to Elon Musk's suggestion that "go f__k" themselves. Advertisers are “not coming back,” a marketing executive tells the Times.

Here's X CEO Linda Yaccarino trying to explain away Musk's outburst and maybe salvage some fraction of her 2023 performance bonus:

Broadcom has revealed plans to lay off over 2,000 workers, 1,200 of them from the Bay Area. The move comes on the heels of the company's $69 billion acquisition of VMWare.

Investors in Tiger Global Management’s biggest venture fund were sitting on an 18% paper loss at the end of September after the firm slashed valuations for multiple portfolio companies, according to Bloomberg. It says, for example, that Tiger marked down its stakes in Bored Ape Yacht Club, a collection of nonfungible tokens, by 69%, and NFT marketplace OpenSea by 94%.

Wired tries to piece together what we know about OpenAI's shadowy Q* project.

The Atlantic pays tribute to ChatGPT on its one-year anniversary.

Apple has selected the five best apps of the year for its iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, and Apple TV.

Stupid TikTok trend alert: bite mark tattoos are now "on fleek."

A Harvard English professor is teaching a new class this spring on Taylor Swift.

The surprising economics behind Royal Caribbean’s massive new ship, Icon of the Seas, which can hold 7,600 passengers and  2,350 crew members.

The 13 most expensive handbags in the world. 

If you can't beat your personal best in these Nike Alphaflys, it might be time to hang it up.

A plumber-free cold plunge pool.

According to Affinity, VCs need a three-pronged strategy to win at high-quality deal sourcing in 2024: data, relationships, and technology. Turn those ingredients into a recipe for success with their new deal sourcing guide. It features step-by-step guidance and advice from leading dealmakers. Download the guide.