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The EU is dropping its DMA investigation into Apple's iMessage and Microsoft's Edge, Bing, and Advertising products and thus will not force Apple's iMessage to end Android users' "green bubble shame."
OpenAI's ChatPGT will soon be able to remember its conversations with you. (As of press time, the company had no plans to enable ChatGPT to read lips.)
Another day, another data leak. Glow, which tracks female fertility, accidentally exposed the personal data of 25 million users. TechCrunch has more here.
Foundry Group, the prominent VC fund based in Boulder, Co., with almost $3.5 billion under management, is winding down and not raising another fund. TechCrunch has more here.
A judge has dismissed most of comedian Sarah Silverman's copyright infringement suit against OpenAI.
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BioAge Labs, a nine-year-old startup based in Richmond, Ca., that is developing an oral weight loss therapy, raised a $170 million Series D round led by Sofinnova Investments, with Longitude Capital, RA Capital, Cormorant Asset Management, RTW Investments, SV Health Investors, OrbiMed Advisors, Sands Capital, Pivotal bioVenture Partners, Osage University Partners, Lilly Ventures, Amgen Ventures, and previous investor Andreessen Horowitz also piling on. Reuters has more here.
Finom, a five-year-old Amsterdam startup that offers financial services tailored to SMEs, freelancers, and companies in the process of registration, raised a $53.6 million Series B round co-led by Northzone and previous investor General Catalyst, with additional participation from Target Global, Cogito Capital, Entrée Capital, FJLabs, and S16vc. TechCrunch has more here.
Sierra, a conversational AI startup for enterprises co-founded by ex-Salesforce co-CEO Bret Taylor, raised a $110 million round co-led by Sequoia and Benchmark. Bloomberg previously reported that the company was raising money at a $1 billion valuation. Fortune broke the story and has more here.
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| Big-But-Not-Crazy-Big Fundings |
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Analog, a three-year-old startup based in Newark, De., that is creating a system that allows different blockchain networks to work together more easily, raised a $16 million round at a $120 million valuation. Tribe Capital led the round, with NGC Ventures, Wintermute, GSR, NEAR, Orange DAO, Samara Asset Group, Balaji Srinivasan, and others also participating. The Block has more here.
Antithesis, a six-year-old startup based in Vienna, Va., whose platform continuously checks software for issues in a simulated environment, allowing for efficient identification and resolution of complex problems, raised a $47 million seed round at a $215 million valuation. Amplify Partners, Tamarack Global, and First In Ventures co-led the transaction. Reuters has more here.
Bob W, a six-year-old Helsinki startup that offers short-term apartment rentals à la Airbnb, raised a $42.9 million Series B round led by Evli Growth, with Flashpoint, Taavet+Sten, and Supercell co-founder Mikko Kodisoja also participating. TechCrunch has more here.
Meter, a nine-year-old San Francisco startup that focuses on improving internet infrastructure for AI and tech companies by offering advanced routers and switches, raised a $35M Series B extension at a $350M+ valuation, according to Forbes. The deal was co-led by previous investors Sam Altman and Lachy Groom. Forbes has more here.
Navro, a London startup that says it enables businesses to send money across borders, receive funds into local accounts, minimize foreign exchange fees, and speed up settlement times, raised a $14 million round. Bain Capital and Unusual Ventures were the co-leads, with Motive Partners and previous investor Fin Capital also pitching in. FinTech Global has more here.
Sudo Biosciences, a four-year-old startup based in Carmel, In., that is developing TYK2 inhibitors to address multiple sclerosis, psoriasis and other severe autoimmune and neurological conditions, raised a $30 million Series B extension. The deal was led by Enavate Sciences and TPG, with DDF, Leaps by Bayer, and UPMC Enterprises as well as previous investors Sanofi Ventures, Frazier Life Sciences, Surveyor Capital, Monograph Capital, Eventide Asset Management, and Velosity Capital also taking part. The company has raised a total of $188 million. More here.
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Camus Energy, a five-year-old San Francisco startup whose platform assists utilities in integrating renewable energy sources, predicting energy demand, and ensuring a stable supply to meet growing needs, raised a $10 million Series A extension co-led by Congruent Ventures and Wave Capital, with Align Impact also stepping up. Latitude Media has more here.
Cascading AI, a one-year-old San Francisco startup that is developing an AI-based loan origination product, raised a $3.9 million pre-seed round led by Peterson Ventures, with Y Combinator, The Sarah Smith Fund, and Clocktower Technology Ventures also anteing up. FinTech Global has more here.
Civic Roundtable, a two-year-old Boston startup that aims to foster discussions and collaboration among civic leaders, policymakers, and experts to address societal challenges, raised a $5 million seed round. General Catalyst was the deal lead. More here.
Diraq, a two-year-old Sydney startup that aims to develop qubits using traditional silicon chips, making quantum computing more accessible and cost-effective, raised a $15 million Series A2 round. Quantonation led the investment, with Higgins Family Investments and the University of New South Wales, Sydney also contributing. The company has raised a total of $120+ million. SiliconANGLE has more here.
Groover, a five-year-old Paris startup that enables artists to submit their music to media, labels, and influencers for feedback and exposure, raised an $8 million Series A round. Investors included OneRagtime, Trind, Techmind, and MozzaAngels as well as previous investors Partech, Bpifrance, Verve Ventures, and Frenchfounders. Music Ally has more here.
Motif Analytics, a San Francisco startup that provides tools for growth teams to analyze customer behavior and optimize their marketing and product development efforts, raised a $5.7 million seed round co-led by Amplify Partners and Felicis, with InvestInData also chipping in. TechCrunch has more here.
Quilter, a five-year-old Los Angeles startup that is building an AI-driven platform for designing circuit boards, raised a $10 million Series A round. Benchmark was the deal lead, with Coatue as well as previous investors Root Ventures and Harrison Metal Capital also taking part. Reuters has more here.
Seal Security, a two-year-old Israeli startup that uses generative AI to help organizations secure open-source software by automating the detection and remediation of software vulnerabilities, raised a $7.4 million seed round led by Vertex Ventures Israel and including Crew Capital, PayPal Alumni Fund, and Cyber Club London. TechCrunch has more here.
Superform Labs, a crypto startup that aims to simplify DeFi investing by allowing users to invest across multiple blockchain networks with any token in a single transaction, raised a $6.5 million seed round led by Polychain Capital, with additional investors including BlockTower Capital, Maven 11, CMT Digital, Circle, Hypersphere Ventures, and Dialectic. The Block has more here.
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Andrej Karpathy, a research scientist and former head of Tesla's Autopilot team, is leaving OpenAI. "...[I]t’s not a result of any particular event, issue or drama (but please keep the conspiracy theories coming as they are highly entertaining :)),” Karpathy said.
If you spotted Lady Gaga at Sunday's Super Bowl, you probably also spied her boyfriend, Michael Polansky, a VC and entrepreneur who has worked closely with Napster cofounder and former Facebook president Sean Parker.
Surprise! Mark Zuckerberg thinks Quest 3 is better than Vision Pro.
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Instacart is cutting 250 employees or 7% of its total headcount in an effort to "reshape" the company. TechCrunch has more here.
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Microsoft's customers are wondering if AI assistant Copilot is overhyped. “It is a mess and not anywhere close to adding value,” Andreessen Horowitz partner Guido Appenzeller tweeted, even though Andreessen Horowitz is an investor in OpenAI, whose technology is a key component of Copilot.
Chinese ecommerce site Temu is apparently bringing aboard suppliers that Shein is discarding for fear that these suppliers' sketchy factory standards might spoil Shein's planned U.S. IPO.
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Cybertruck owners are not happy that their recent purchases are already rusting.
The New York Times breaks down the evolution of comic Taylor Tomlinson's closing punchlines.
Obituary spam is now a thing.
White collar guys are "investing in themselves" and hiring personal stylists.
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