Magic AI conjures $117 million round, the frenzy around Anthropic, and the fluffy friend more families might consider

We're about 10 days out from our first StrictlyVC event in L.A. We are SO EXCITED. We love L.A. We also love our line-up of speakers, all of whom will undoubtedly have a lot to say about the headlines their outfits keep making, including Signal president Meredith Whittaker, Trae Stephens of both Anduril and Founders Fund, Waymo Co-CEO Tekedra Mawakana, and CEO Jesse Lyu of Rabbit (who is bringing his R1 device and sticking around to show it to curious attendees). 

Giant thanks to Lightspeed Venture Partners for co-hosting the evening with us at NeueHouse Hollywood. We're very much looking forward to seeing around 300 of you next Thursday night! 💃🏾

Don't mess with Michael Moritz . . . is what we're gleaning from this saga around the buy-now-pay-later outfit Klarna and Sequoia's reported campaign to pressure him to step down from his personal board position, a stance Sequoia has now reversed, according to The Information. (Matt Miller, the investor on Sequoia's growth team and Klarna board member who reportedly led the charge, is now leaving the board instead, says the outlet.) Moritz stepped down from Sequoia last year, though he'd relinquished his day-to-day responsibilities some time before that. 

Elon Musk claims that the first patient to receive a Neuralink implant can control a computer mouse with his brain.

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Magic AI, a two-year-old San Francisco-based startup building an AI "software engineer" to assist with complex coding tasks, raised $117 million in an investment round led by Nat Friedman and Daniel Gross with participation from earlier investors CapitalG and Elad Gil, bringing the company's total funding to $145 million. More here.

Recogni, a seven-year-old startup based in San Jose, Ca., that is developing high-performance, low-power computing hardware designed specifically for AI applications, with a focus on improving the capabilities of autonomous vehicles, raised a $102 million Series C round. Celesta Capital and GreatPoint Ventures were the co-leads, with additional participation from HSBC and Tasaru Mobility Investments. PYMNTS has more here.

Bioptimus, a Paris startup founded this year that is using generative AI to create foundational AI models that can understand and generate insights from vast amounts of biological data, raised a $35 million seed round led by Sofinnova Partners, with Bpifrance, Frst, Cathay Innovation, Headline, Hummingbird, NJF Capital, Owkin, and Top Harvest Capital also contributing. TechCrunch has more here. 

Planity, an eight-year-old Paris startup whose platform lets French consumers book appointments online with beauty service providers like hair salons, beauty salons, and barbers, raised a $48 million Series C round. InfraVia Capital Partners led the deal, while Crédit Mutuel Innovation, Revaia, and Bpifrance's Digital Venture Fund also took part. TechCrunch has more here.

Reprieve Cardiovascular, a six-year-old startup based in Milford, Ma., that is developing technology to better manage fluid levels in patients with acute heart failure, aiming to improve recovery by precisely controlling fluid removal, raised a $42 million Series A round co-led by Lightstone Ventures and Sante Ventures, with Deerfield Management, Genesis Capital, and Arboretum Ventures also participating. More here.

Eli Technologies, a one-year-old Philadelphia startup that simplifies the process of finding and applying for energy-related rebates, tax credits, and financing for home electrification projects, raised a $6.8 million seed round co-led by Lowercarbon Capital and Spero Ventures, with additional funds provided by New System Ventures, Looking Glass Capital, Leap Forward Ventures, Untapped Capital, and RallyCap VC. More here.

Monite, a four-year-old Berlin startup that offers online tools to help SMBs automated the sending of invoices and the processing of bills, raised a $6 million seed extension co-led by Valar Ventures and Third Prime. The Paypers has more here.

Pulsate, an 11-year-old Dublin startup that has developed tools to help credit unions and community banks better engage with their customers through mobile devices, raised a $7.75 million Series A round led by TruStage Ventures and Curql Collective. More here.

Trace Genomics, an eight-year-old startup based in Ames, Ia., that analyzes the biology, physical properties, and chemistry of soil, raised a $10.5 million Series B round led by previous investors S2G Ventures and Ajax Strategies, with additional participation from Rabo Ventures. More here.

WIVI Vision, an eight-year-old startup based in Bilbao, Spain, that says it has developed a technology to assess and improve visual health through personalized 3D games, raised a $4.3 million Series A round. Adara Ventures was the deal lead, with Hearstlab, Avançsa, Caixabank DayOne, BBVA Spark, and Banco Santander also stepping up. Silicon Canals has more here.

Billionaires wanted it, but 62,630 everyday investors got it first. When incredibly valuable assets come up for sale, it's typically the wealthiest people that end up with an amazing investment. But Masterworks is taking on the billionaires at their own game, buying and securitizing prized blue-chip artworks for its investors. Across its sold works, investors have realized annualized net returns of +13.9%, +14.6%, and +17.8% and more from these opportunities. Offerings can sell out in minutes, but you can skip the waitlist here.

Bluestein Ventures, a 10-year-old Chicago VC firm, has raised $45 million for its third fund. The firm focuses on pre-seed to Series A deals in areas like health and wellness and proprietary food tech. TechCrunch has more here. 

Marc Andreessen's latest tweetstorm ...

Build a Rocket Boy, an eight-year-old London game development studio, is laying off staff less than a month after it raised $110 million. VentureBeat has more here.

The New York Times delves into the frenzy surrounding Anthropic.ai, which has raised $7.3 billion in the last year.

Andreessen Horowitz is ramping up its Beltway lobbying in order to help the defense startups it's backed.

ChatGPT apparently went "berserk" for some users today.

Neither the National Traffic Safety Administration nor the Insurance Institute of Highway Safety currently have plans to test the Cybertruck for crashworthiness.

A number of startups are selling a cure for loneliness.

Old tech is en vogue.

San Diego police are warning techies not to cross the street while wearing an Apple Vision Pro.

Why your next pet should be a bunny.

Watch the 1,000 mountain gorillas remaining in the world from this new lodge in Rwanda.

Check out this new watch collab from Swiss watchmaker Hublot and Depeche Mode.