Bitcoin's rise, 23andMe's big reveal, and Silicon Valley venture firms reportedly rush to create continuation funds 💵

On Friday 23andMe said hackers gained access to 14,000 accounts. Today, it says the real number is 6.9 million. TechCrunch was first with the news.

The price of Bitcoin briefly crested the $42,000 mark tonight. The cryptocurrency has risen over 151% since the new year.

A UK court has cleared the way for Getty Images' suit against Stability Diffusion (makers of the generative art app Stability AI) to proceed to trial.

Juniper Square named “Best Investor Relations Technology.” Juniper Square's secure and controls-rich investor management solution combines an investor portal purpose-built for private markets, an investor CRM, and reporting tools in a single, unified platform. Learn more about Juniper Square here now.

AssemblyAI, a six-year-old San Francisco startup that builds AI speech models that can be integrated into a company's apps and services, raised a $50 million round led by Accel, with Insight Partners and Y Combinator also pitching in. The company has raised a total of $115 million. TechCrunch has more here.

Mistral AI, a Paris startup founded this year that makes open-source software that is aiming to compete with OpenAI, has almost closed a $487 million in debt and equity round at a $2 billion valuation, according to Bloomberg. Andreessen Horowitz is the deal lead, with General Catalyst, Lightspeed Venture Partners, and Bpifrance also investing. Meanwhile, Nvidia and Salesforce are participating on the debt side. Bloomberg has more here.

Seismic Therapeutic, a startup based in Cambridge, Ma., that uses machine learning to develop new drugs for autoimmune diseases, raised a $121 million Series B round led by Bessemer Venture Partners, with Amgen Ventures, Codon Capital, Alexandria Venture Investments, Gaingels, and GC&H as well as previous investors Lightspeed Venture Partners, Polaris Partners, Boxer Capital, GV, and Samsara BioCapital also piling on. The company has raised a total of $222 million. More here.

AM Batteries, a seven-year-old startup based in Chelmsford, Ma., that is focused on dry-electrode manufacturing for lithium-ion batteries, raised a $30 million Series B round led by Toyota, with strategic support from Porsche Ventures and Asahi Kasei. Other backers in the round also included RA Capital Management, Wilson Sonsini, and Industry Ventures, as well as previous investors. More here.

ArmorCode, a three-year-old Palo Alto startup that collects and analyzes vulnerability data from a company's connected apps and software infrastructure, raised a $40 million Series B round led by HighlandX, with NGP Capital, Ballistic Ventures, Sierra Ventures, and Cervin Ventures also participating. TechCrunch has more here.

Atomic Industries, a four-year-old outfit that's attempting to automate tool and die making, which is a critical step in manufacturing numerous products, has raised $17 million in seed funding. Narya, a venture firm cofounded by J.D. Vance, (now an Ohio Senator) led the round, joined by 8090 Industries, Acequia Capital New Industrials, Porsche Ventures, Yamaha Motor Ventures, Toyota Ventures and Impatient Ventures, among others. TechCrunch has more here.

Extropic, a San Francisco startup that is attempting to develop says it is "building a computing paradigm which harnesses the power of out-of-equilibrium thermodynamics to fundamentally merge generative AI with the physics of the world," raised a $14.1 million seed round led by Kindred Ventures and including Buckley Ventures, HOF Capital, Julian Capital, Marque VC, OSS Capital, Valor Equity Partners, and the Weekend Fund. More here.

Gravel, a four-year-old Jakarta startup whose platform and app helps construction companies hire workers, manage contracts, and order tools and materials, raised a $14 million round. Investors included NEA, SMDV, and East Ventures. TechCrunch has more here.

January, a seven-year-old New York startup that aims to "humanize" debt collection, raised a $12 million Series B round led by previous investor IA Ventures, with past backers Brewer Lane Ventures, Third Prime, and Reciprocal Ventures as well as new investors Upper90 and Shrug Capital also joining in. More here.

Keboola, a 16-year-old Prague company whose mission is to help businesses manage and control their data more effectively, raised a $32 million Series A round led by Viking Global, with additional participation from Presto Ventures, Reflex Capital, and TCF Capital. More here.

Rohirrim, a startup based in Reston, Va., that says it can analyze a company's data and use generative AI to create contextually relevant original content for proposals, grants, and white papers, raised a $15 million Series A round led by Insight Partners, with General Purpose VC also anteing up. More here.

Wakeo, a seven-year-old Paris startup that provides shipping companies with supply chain insights such as a ship's estimated time of arrival, raised a $19.5 million round led by Statkraft Ventures, with previous investors Promus Ventures, 360 Capital, 50 Partners, and Techstars also pitching in. The company has raised a total of $32.5+ million. Tech.eu has more here.

CoreWeave, a six-year-old startup based in Roseland, N.J., that is building out data centers designed for AI-related computing, raised an undisclosed amount at a $7 billion valuation, according to Bloomberg. Fidelity was the deal lead, with Investment Management Corp. of Ontario, Jane Street, JPMorgan, Goanna Capital, and Zoom Ventures also taking part. Bloomberg has more here.

GameTree, a four-year-old American and Ukrainian startup that aims to create inclusive, non-toxic, and friendship-driven gaming communities, raised a $1.7 million seed round from a group of investors that included Corazon Capital, Full Stack Ventures, Goodwater Capital, 32-Bit Ventures, and Expert Dojo. Tech.eu has more here.

Joon, a four-year-old Seattle startup that conduct tele-therapy sessions with patients 13- to 24-years old who need help with issues such as anxiety, depression, disordered eating, sexual and gender identity, and academic problems, raised a $6 million round from previous investors PSL Ventures and Route 66 Ventures. GeekWire has more here.

Mtor, a 1.5-year-old Egyptian online auto parts marketplace, has raised $2.8 million in pre-seed funding led by MENA-focused venture capital firm Algebra Ventures. Other investors that participated in the round include Dutch Founders Fund, Aditum Ventures, and LoftyInc Capital. TechCrunch has more here.

Velt, a one-year-old San Francisco startup that claims its toolkit can enable any developer to add collaborative features to their app in less than 30 minutes, raised a $2.7 million round in March from Y Combinator, Spider Capital, Amino Capital, and First Row Partners. TechCrunch has more here. 

Picasso’s $139 million sale reveals unexpected investment opportunity. Last month, an iconic Picasso shattered expectations when it sold for a whopping $139 million. Impressive, considering it was purchased for around $1 million in the late 1960’s. But there’s a group also celebrating this sale: 61,000 everyday investors. Why? Because they invest with Masterworks, a platform that enables anyone to invest in blue-chip paintings. With 3 recent sales investors saw net annualized returns of +17.6%, +21.5% and +35%. Strictly VC readers can skip the waitlist.

*Investing involves risk and past performance is not indicative of future returns. See important Reg A disclosures and aggregate advisory performance at masterworks.com/cd.

Atlanta-based PE firm Resurgens Technology Partners has acquired Valant Medical Solutions, a Seattle startup whose software helps behavioral health practitioners manage billing and electronic medical records. GeekWire has more here. 

Allen Career Institute has acquired Doubtnut, a once fast-growing learning app, for $10 million, reports TechCrunch. It's a "stunning reveral" for seven-year-old Doubtnut, says the outlet. The learning app, which helps students solve math and science problems by taking photos of them, raised more than $52 million prior to the acquisition and counted Peak XV Partners and James Murdoch’s Lupa Systems among its backers.

SoftBank Group’s mobile unit is buying an Irish company that specializes in broadband for cars, placing a bet on smart and driverless vehicle technology in its biggest overseas acquisition since listing. SoftBank will pay €473 million ($513 million) for 51% of Dublin-based Cubic Telecom, the companies said in a statement (and Bloomberg reported). The transaction values privately-held Cubic at more than 900 million euros and is expected to close during the first half of next year.

OpenAI COO Brad Lightcap tells CNBC that AI for businesses is overhyped.

Joan Donovan, a disinformation researcher who has often probed the practices of social media companies, just filed a lawsuit against Harvard, claiming that the university dismissed her after receiving a $500 million gift from The Chan/Zuckerberg Initiative, a charity cofounded by Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg. 

Speaking of: Mark Zuckerberg is selling Meta stock for the first time in two years after the social media giant rapidly rebounded from a tumultuous 2022. The Meta co-founder’s trust as well as entities for his charitable and political giving unloaded about 682,000 shares worth almost $185 million in November through trading plans, with the latest disclosed last Wednesday, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Spotify is laying off over 1500 staff members, a 17% overall reduction for the online music provider. (The company is "screwed," according to Wired.)

Twilio, whose software enables developers to add voice, text, chat, video, and email into their applications, is cutting 5% of its headcount, according to Bloomberg. 

BNPL player Klarna is putting a freeze on hiring on the theory that AI can take up the slack. "Things that previously took people a lot of time can be done much faster and much shorter, and we need fewer people to do the same thing," Klarna CEO Sebastian Siemiatkowski tells The Telegraph. 

How AI could enable mass spying.

Why "forever" is a thing of the past on ChatGPT.

Silicon Valley venture firms are reportedly rushing to create continuation funds -- vehicles that allow them to “reset the clock” for several years on some assets in old funds by selling them to a new vehicle that they also control.

Nvidia plans to help build an AI tech-related ecosystem in Japan.

A YouTuber who tried to win a sponsorship deal by crashing a plane was sentenced today to six months in federal prison.

Hayao Miyazaki's new animé film has critics raving.

The first trailer for Grand Theft Auto VI is out.

For $1,000, you can buy a card that stores your messages in DNA.

Louis Vuitton's "It Bag" for men.

Eye massager.

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