Reddit's unusual IPO plans; Rivian's layoffs; and Techstars backs out of Seattle, citing a lack of VC activity

On its Q4 earnings call today, Nvidia said it pulled in a stunning $22.1 billion in quarterly revenue as more and more companies use its chips for their AI models. The company -- which is selling alternative versions of its chips in China to comply with US export controls -- said it hopes to compete more aggressively in China later this year. 

SpaceX is deepening its ties with U.S. intelligence and military agencies, winning at least one major classified contract and expanding a secretive company satellite program called Starshield for national-security customers, per the WSJ. SpaceX's biggest venture backer is Founders Fund, which also has close ties to the defense tech outfit Anduril.

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Clumio, a seven-year-old startup based in Santa Clara, Ca., that offers a service for protecting data stored in cloud environments like AWS from threats such as cyberattacks and operational disruptions, raised a $75 million Series D round. Sutter Hill Ventures was the lead investor, while Index Ventures, Altimeter Capital, and NewView Capital also took part. TechCrunch has more here.

MMI, a nine-year-old startup based in Pisa, Italy, that specializes in developing robotic technology specifically for microsurgery, raised a $110 million Series C round led by Fidelity, with additional participation from previous investors Deerfield Management, Wellington Partners, BioStar Capital, RA Capital Management, Andera Partners, Fountain Healthcare Partners, Panakès Partners, and Sambatech. Fierce Biotech has more here.

Monzo, a nine-year-old London neobank, is in the market to raise up to £350 million at a £4 billion valuation. The deal lead is reportedly CapitalG, with Tencent, Ribbit Capital, and HongShan also participating, according to the Financial Times, which has more here.

Simetrik, a six-year-old Bogotá startup whose platform is designed to automate financial and accounting processes for businesses, making it easier to manage and reconcile financial records from different sources, raised a $55 million Series B round. The deal lead was Goldman Sachs and included FinTech Collective, Cometa, Falabella Ventures, Endeavor Catalyst, Actyus, Moore Strategic Ventures, and Mercado Libre Fund. The company has raised a total of $85+ million. TechCrunch has more here.

AZmed, a six-year-old Paris startup that has created an AI tool that it says can aid doctors in detecting fractures on X-rays more quickly and accurately, raised a $16.2 million Series A round, Investors included Maison Worms, Techstars, and Tempact Ventures. Tech.eu has more here.

Insamo, a startup based in Berkeley, Ca., that focuses on discovering new drugs for challenging diseases using an automated platform that designs, synthesizes, and tests drugs at a large scale, raised a $12 million seed round. Playground Global, venBio, MRL Ventures Fund, Sahsen Ventures, BEVC, Civilization Ventures, and Axial Ventures participated in the funding. More here.

Loora, a four-year-old Tel Aviv startup that offers an AI-powered English tutoring app designed to help users improve their English speaking skills, raised a $12 million Series A round led by QP Ventures, with Hearst Ventures as well as previous investors Emerge and Two Lanterns Venture Partners also pitching in. CTech has more here.

Oula, a five-year-old Brooklyn startup whose maternity care center blends traditional obstetric care with midwifery, aiming to provide a more personalized and evidence-based birth experience, raised a $28 million Series B round co-led by Revolution Ventures and Maverick Ventures, with GV, Female Founders Fund, 8VC, Alumni Ventures, and Great Oaks also contributing. Fierce Healthcare has more here.

PermitFlow, a three-year-old startup based in San Jose, Ca., that styles itself as "TurboTax of construction permitting," raised a $31 million Series A round led by Kleiner Perkins, with previous investors Initialized Capital, Y Combinator, Felicis Ventures, and Altos Ventures also joining in. TechCrunch has more here. 

Qloo, a 12-year-old New York company that provides a service that it claims can help businesses understand and predict what their customers like across various cultural categories such as movies, music, fashion, and more, raised a $25 million Series C round. AI Ventures led the transaction, with AXA Venture Partners, Eldridge, and Moderne Ventures also joining in. The company has raised a total of $60 million. TechCrunch has more here.

Clairity Technology, a two-year-old startup based in Culver City, Ca., that has developed a method for removing carbon dioxide from the air that it maintains is more cost-efficient than competing approaches, raised a $6.75 million seed round co-led by Initialized Capital and Lowercarbon Capital. More here.

Device Authority, an eight-year-old startup based in Reading, UK, whose platform manages device permissions, secures data, automates security policies, and maintains compliance standards, raised a $2 million Series A extension from Mercato Partners. Silicon Canals has more here.

EngineEars, a six-year-old Los Angeles startup that has created a marketplace for music professionals to find and hire audio engineers tailored to their specific project needs, raised a $7.5 million seed round led by Drive Capital, with Slauson & Co., 645 Ventures, and FLUS Investment Group also chipping in. Music Ally has more here.

Juniper, a one-year-old London startup that plans to offer "genital insurance for the workplace," raised a $1.9 million pre-seed round led by Gateway, with 2100 Ventures, Exceptional Ventures, and Heartfelt also anteing up. Sifted has more here.

Novity, a two-year-old startup based in San Carlos, Ca., that uses AI to predict when industrial machinery will need maintenance, with a particular focus on the chemicals and oil & gas sectors, raised a $7.8 million round led by WERU Investment, with Myriad Venture Partners and Metawater Co. also investing. SiliconANGLE has more here.

Orkes, a startup that provides tools for managing and orchestrating workflows across microservices, making it easier for developers to build and scale applications composed of multiple smaller services, raised a $20 million Series A round led by Nexus Venture Partners, with participation from previous investors Battery Ventures and Vertex Ventures US. TechCrunch has more here.

SigScalr, a three-year-old startup based in Nashua, NH, that provides a platform for monitoring and analyzing the performance of applications by gathering and displaying logs, metrics, and traces in a unified dashboard, raised a $1.8 million pre-seed round led by Scribble Ventures, with WestWave Capital and Forward Slash Capital also contributing. BuiltinBoston has more here.

UnityAI, a Nashville startup that aims to improve healthcare environments by using AI to manage clinical processes and coordinate care team activities, raised a $4 million seed round led by Max Ventures, with Whistler Capital Partners, Nashville Capital Network, and Company Ventures also stepping up. More here.

Varhara, a two-year-old, Gurugram, India-based end-to-end developer for carbon credits that it generates by working with thousands of farmers over 700,000 acres across India, Bangladesh, Nepal, and Kenya, has raised $8.7 million in funding led by RTP Global. TechCrunch has more here.

Ziplines Education, a seven-year-old startup based in San Carlos, Ca., that partners with universities to offer online courses in digital marketing, business analytics, project management, and more skills for the digital workforce, raised a $6.4 million Series A round led by Jackson Square Ventures and including previous investors Wildcat Venture Partners and WGU Labs. Forbes has more here.

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Reddit plans to place a big chunk of its IPO shares in the hands of its users. According to the WSJ, the 19-year-old company plans to reserve an as-yet-undetermined number of shares for 75,000 of its most prolific redditors when it goes public next month at its IPO price.

BuzzFeed says it has sold Complex, an entertainment media brand it acquired for $300 million in 2021, to livestream shopping platform NTWRK for $108.6 million. BuzzFeed -- which is reportedly also considering selling its social media food brand Tasty -- also announced plans to cut expenses, including laying off 16% of its current employee base.

The formerly high-flying crypto entrepreneur Do Kwon should be extradited to the U.S. to face trial on fraud charges, rather than to his native South Korea, a court in Montenegro has ruled. A local lawyer for Kwon called the ruling illegal and pledged to appeal. Kwon created the TerraUSD and Luna cryptocurrencies whose later crash erased some $40 billion in value from the crypto markets and caused other digital currency outfits to implode.

Blackstone’s 77-year-old CEO Steve Schwarzman might be the biggest individual funder of AI education and research, having pledged more than half a billion dollars to the effort, says the WSJ. Forbes estimates the net worth of Schwarzman, whose favorite app is reportedly email, at $37.7 billion.

The wife of a pilot who died piloting one of Google cofounder Sergey Brin's planes has named the billionaire in a wrongful death lawsuit.

Is Elon Musk once again creating "burner" accounts to praise himself?

Rivian is laying off 10% of its salaried workers in a bid to cut costs, putting even more pressure on its future, more affordable EV called the R2.

Lucid Motors will only build 9,000 EVs in 2024 after once predicting it would ship 90,000.

Founders Fund has attracted a lot of attention for moving to Miami during the pandemic. In fact, a story about former general partner Keith Rabois's recent part-time move back to San Francisco has already been copiously documented. But according to Founders Fund general partner Trae Stephens -- who's sitting down with us at StrictlyVC event next week -- the firm now has just two full-time people in Miami, with the majority of the team still based in San Francisco. (Stephens himself is based in Costa Mesa, Ca. and firm cofounder Peter Thiel is roughly 40 miles away, in Los Angeles.)

The EV industry is getting a boost from an unlikely source: the American Lung Association, which says kids would see big gains if the world ditches combustion engines entirely. In a new report, the group proposes that based on a model in which all new vehicles sold by 2035 are zero-tailpipe emission, children would suffer 2.7 million fewer asthma attacks, 147,000 fewer acute cases of bronchitis, 2.67 million fewer cases of upper respiratory symptoms and 1.87 million cases of lower respiratory symptoms. The Verge has the story here.

Courtesy of conversational speech engine startup Retell AI. Watch here.

TechStars is shutting down its Seattle incubator in order to focus on markets “with the most robust venture capital communities.” GeekWire has more here. 

Hackers are stealing consumers' facial biometrics in order to break into their accounts. 

A startup is building satellites that can spy on individual people from space.

Will pumping offices with special scents entice workers back to their cubicles?

Are you smarter than a scammer?

The latest science on hangovers.

The rise and fall of an art mogul.

If it's true as some wags have said that the bomber jackets in the Apple mini-series Masters of the Air are the true stars of the show, then this shearling number is the series' diva.

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