Meta shoots the moon, Joe Rogan's big deal, and the people buying Apple's $3,500 headset

Investors apparently liked Meta's numbers and its plan to issue quarterly dividends. Today, its stock soared 20%, the biggest single-session increase in market value ever. (Could other tech stocks soon jump on the dividend bandwagon, we wonder.)

Baidu's venture arm - Baidu Venture - is reportedly selling its stakes in U.S. startups, including Machina Labs, an AI robotics firm. The Information has more here. 

After a year of headwinds, including global geopolitical uncertainty, high inflation, and declining transaction volumes, will the private markets turn a corner in 2024? In a recent webinar, Mark Tronstein of Andell Holdings, Travis Lee Nelson from Kirkland & Ellis, and Matt Diestel from QIC joined Juniper Square for a live discussion on how GPs can prepare for a potential market correction, what to be aware of in an election year, and more. Watch on-demand.

Cube.Exchange, a one-year-old Chicago startup that is building a cryptocurrency trading platform for novices and professional traders that offers off-chain matching with on-chain settlement, raised a $12 million Series A round led by 6th Man Ventures, with GSR Markets, ParaFi Digital, Susquehanna Private Equity Investments, and Everstake Capital also contributing. The Block has more here.

Interlune, a four-year-old startup based in Estes Park, Co., that was founded by by ex-Blue Origin executives to "[harvest] natural resources from the moon to use here on Earth," raised a $15.5 million round with plans to pull in $2 million in additional capital, per regulatory filings first spied by TechCrunch. The names of investors in the deal were not disclosed in the paperwork. More here.

LightBeam, a four-year-old Palo Alto startup whose goal is to automate the process of securing sensitive information and maintaining compliance with data protection regulations, raised a $17.8 million Series A round led by Vertex Ventures US, with additional participation from Dropbox Ventures and previous investors 8VC and Village Global. SiliconANGLE has more here.

Podcastle, a four-year-old Armenian startup that uses AI to enable users to convert text into natural-sounding audio, edit spoken content, and improve the overall quality of podcast recordings, raised a $13.5 million Series A round led by Mosaic Ventures, with RTP Global, Point Nine Capital, Sierra Ventures, and AI Fund also participating. TechCrunch has more here.

AlensiaXR, a Cleveland startup that creates immersive experiences for training and education, raised a $3 million Series A round. Sopris Capital was the deal lead, with the Healthcare Collaboration Fund (co-managed by JumpStart Ventures and University Hospitals Ventures) and the JobsOhio Growth Capital Fund also contributing. More here.

CitySwift, a six-year-old startup based in Galway, Ireland, provides data analysis tools for bus companies to improve their services, raised a $7.5 million round led by Gresham House Ventures, with Irelandia Investments, the Western Development Commission, and ACT VC also investing. PhocusWire has more here.

Coris, a two-year-old Palo Alto startup that offers tools that SMBs can use to analyze transaction data and identify and mitigate risks like fraud, raised a $3.7 million seed round co-led by Lux Capital and Exponent Founders Capital, with Blank Ventures and Y Combinator also stepping up. PYMNTS has more here.

Energy Source, a São Paulo startup that is focused on the repair, reuse, and recycling of lithium batteries, raised a $1.2 million round. InMotion Ventures was the deal lead. More here.

Izote Biosciences, a two-year-old San Francisco startup that aims to aims to replace petroleum-based products with eco-friendly alternatives via its fermentation technology, raised a $2.6 million pre-seed round co-led by Embark Ventures and EGB Capital, with Bee Partners, FTW Ventures, Nucleus Capital, Courtyard Ventures, Climate Capital Bio, and Redstick Ventures also taking part. TechCrunch has more here.

Perelel Health, a four-year-old Los Angeles startup that offers vitamin packs tailored to different stages of a woman's reproductive cycle, including conception, pregnancy, postpartum, and general wellness, raised a $6 million Series A round led by Unilever Ventures, with Selva Ventures and previous investor Willow Growth also joining in. The company has raised a total of $12.1 million. Femtech Insider has more here.

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ARCH Venture Partners, one of the top investors in the biotech ecosystem, is raising $3 billion for a new fund. The Chicago-based firm filed paperwork with the Securities and Exchange Commission this week for what would be its 13th namesake fund. Arch estimated it would raise around $3 billion — roughly the same amount it raised during its more recent fundraising in 2022. STAT News has more here.

Niremia Collective, a Silicon Valley–based venture capital firm created by founders Naoko Okumoto and Nichol Bradford, has closed its first fund with $22.5 million in capital commitments. TechCrunch has more here.

Cake, a Swedish electric motorcycle manufacturer has filed for bankruptcy. The startup last raised a $60 million Series B round in 2021 led by AMF. TechCrunch has more here. 

Reddit has decided to open its IPO kimono on the NYSE. The social network is expected to release its filing later this month.

Spotify just signed Joe Rogan to a new deal worth $250 million, and it's not even exclusive. 

The rise and fall of Bitboy.

Why Tim Cook is staking so much on the Apple Vision Pro.

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos today filed to sell about $8.5 billion worth of Amazon shares in the next 12 months, potentially cashing in on a stock surge that’s put him within reach of becoming the world's richest person.

Google cofounder Larry Page quietly bought a Puerto Rico island for $32 million, show records uncovered by Business Insider. The purchase was made in 2018, bringing the number of islands that Page and his wife are said to own to at least five.

The people buying Apple's $3,500 Vision Pro headset.

The New York Times' Kevin Roose thinks an AI-powered search engine called Perplexity could give Google a run for its money. (ICYMI, we talked with early Perplexity investor Elad Gil about the company last week.)

A pigeon accused of spying has finally been released.

The New York Police Department has fired a 400-pound, five-foot-three robot built by Knightscope, a Silicon Valley startup.

How reliable is Punxsutawney Phil anyway?

The Great Balkan Rally.

La Mer lip balm.

A $25 million Hamptons hideaway.