Nvidia hits a $2 trillion valuation, Vision Pro headsets are cracking, and a little-known ski resort gets big backing

Tahoe this week, where we'd taken the interns for a change of scenery and got more than we bargained for.

Hope you have a wonderful weekend.:)

Nvidia hit a $2 trillion market cap, marking yet another high point in Wall Street's frenzy for all things AI.

A bankruptcy judge has ruled that FTX can sell its 7.84% stake in Anthropic, a hot AI startup that is focused on developing ethically rigorous LLMs.

Florida's legislature has passed a measure that would ban YouTube, TikTok and Instagram for kids under 16.

What’s the future of fintech? In an exclusive interview with Juniper Square, David Haber of Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) shared his perspectives on the fintech sector—the exciting opportunities driven by GenAI, the urgency of increased efficiency in an era of high-interest rates, and a rising awareness among large companies of the benefits startups provide. Read more here.

Antora Energy, a seven-year-old startup based in Sunnyvale, CA, that develops thermal batteries that store renewable electricity as heat in solid carbon blocks with the aim of making renewable energy more accessible for industrial use, raised a $150 million Series B round led by Decarbonization Partners and including Emerson Collective, GS Futures, and The Nature Conservancy. Reuters has more here.

Figure AI, a two-year-old startup based in Sunnyvale, CA, that is building a humanoid robot designed to perform dangerous jobs that are unsuitable for humans, is reportedly raising approximately $675 million at a $2 billion pre-money valuation with an all-star set of investors, including OpenAI, Nvidia, Intel, Samsung, Amazon, and $100 million from Jeff Bezos, according to Bloomberg, which has more here. 

Frontier Medicines, a six-year-old Boston and South San Francisco startup whose platform combines chemistry, protein study, and machine learning to discover new drugs for specific genetic conditions, raised an $80 million Series C round. Previous investors Deerfield Management and Droia Ventures were the co-leads, with Galapagos, DCVC Bio, MPM Capital, and RA Capital Management also joining in. BioPharma Dive has more here.

Napier AI, a nine-year-old London startup whose software uses AI to analyze transactions and customer behavior in order to identify suspicious activities and help companies comply with money laundering regulations, raised a $57.1 million round. Crestline Investors was the deal lead. FinTech Futures has more here.

Carewell, a seven-year-old Miami startup that sells caregiving supplies directly to consumers, raised a $24.7 million Series B round led by MBF Healthcare, with Primetime Partners, Nextview, Florida Opportunity Fund, and Anchor as well as previous investors Sageview Capital and Headline also piling on. FemTech Insider has more here.

Crisp, an eight-year-old New York startup that offer tools that allow consumer goods businesses to better understand sales, inventory, and supply chain operations by collecting and processing data from various retail sources, raised a $20 million Series B extension round. Previous investors Blue Cloud Ventures, FirstMark Capital, Spring Capital, and 3L participated in the funding. PYMNTS has more here.

Elve, a four-year-old startup based in Davis, Ca., that produces millimeter wave amplifiers for wireless networks, raised a $15 million Series A round. Investors include TomEnterprise Private AB, Green Sands Equity, Yu Galaxy, Cambium Capital, and Lockheed Martin Ventures. More here.

Haomo.ai, a nine-year-old Beijing startup that is developing technology for autonomous driving, raised a $14 million Series B round. Chengdu Wufa Private Equity Fund Management led the investment. The company has raised a total of $200+ million. TechCrunch has more here.

Apica, a 19-year-old Stockholm company that offers tools and services that allow businesses to monitor and manage their software applications and IT infrastructure more efficiently, raised a $6 million round led by Riverside Acceleration Capital, with previous investors Industrifonden, SEB Foundation, Oxx, and LEO Capital also contributing. It also acquired CIrconus, a telemetry data startup. Enterprise Times has more here.

Axle Health, a four-year-old Los Angeles startup that provides tools for scheduling, communication, and logistics for in-home care, raised a $4.2 million seed round. Pear VC and Trac VC co-led the investment. More here.

Finpilot, a one-year-old Seattle startup that uses AI to assist financial analysts in generating investment research reports, raised a $4 million seed round led by Madrona, with Ascend also pitching in. GeekWire has more here.

Helius, a two-year-old Toronto startup that provides a platform for developers to build and operate blockchain applications on the Solana network, raised a $9.5 million Series A round led by Foundation Capital, with additional participation from Reciprocal Ventures, 6th Man Ventures, Chapter One, and Propel. BetaKit has more here.

hellohive, a four-year-old New York startup that is building a recruitment platform that connects diverse students and recent graduates with companies valuing diversity, raised a $3.4 million Series A round led by The Tisch Family, with The Pearl Fund and Hillside Ventures also stepping up. TechCrunch has more here.

Hohm Energy, a three-year-old South Africa startup that offers solar energy kits for homes in the country, helping customers switch to solar power, raised an $8 million seed round. E3 Capital and 4DX Ventures were the co-leads, with Breega, E4E Africa, Musha Ventures, Climate Capital Ventures, TO.org, Tekton Ventures, and Sunu Capital also taking part. TechCrunch has more here.

Spektr, a one-year-old Copenhagen startup that automates and streamlines compliance tasks for businesses, particularly focusing on risk management and monitoring, raised a $5.4 million round. Investors included Northzone, Danish PreSeed Ventures, and Seedcamp. PYMNTS has more here.

A Banksy got everyday investors 32% returns? Mm-hmm, sure. So, what’s the catch? We know it may sound too good to be true. But thousands of investors are already smiling all the way to the bank. All thanks to the fine-art investing platform Masterworks. These results aren’t cherry-picking either. Masterworks has built a track record of 20 exits, with 3 recent seeing +13.9%, +14.6%, and +17.8% net returns. As a trusted partner, StrictlyVC readers are invited to skip the waitlist with this exclusive link.

Reddit is warning that its plan to allocate stock to its "Redditors" could result in increased volatility.

At a hearing today, Meta cofounder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg argued that he should be excused from being personally liable for class action lawsuits accusing Meta of making social media products that are addictive to children.

Puck digs deep into Marc Andreessen's lobbying efforts "to pump up his investments and spread the gospel of Marc."

Techstars CEO Maëlle Gavet talks with TechCrunch about the newest controversy surrounding the accelerator program.

Nextdoor today confirmed that its co-founder, Nirav Tolia, will return as CEO after a steep stock decline over the past two years.

The New York Times uncovers a disturbing trend - mothers posting pictures on Instagram of their daughters, who are then stalked by men.

Intuitive Machines' spacecraft landing was far from perfect - it actually landed sideways - but it could have been much worse. TechCrunch has more here.  

Google's driverless cars keep hitting things.

Vision Pro owners are reporting a mysterious crack in the front glass.

Thanks to its sensuous depictions of foreign locales, The White Lotus has become a tourist tastemaker, and the Thai government is hoping that the incentives it gave the show's producers to film in Thailand will pay off big for its tourist trade.

A Tesla Cybertruck with snow tracks.

This ski resort that you've never heard of has just been named the number one resort in the West by SKI Magazine and received a $100 million majority investment from Netflix founder and CEO Reed Hastings. 

What can a partnership with TechCrunch do for your company? Plenty. At TechCrunch Early Stage 2024 — in Boston on April 25 — you’ll gain access to an engaged, targeted audience of more than 1,000 founders and investors. Get in touch to discover exceptional opportunities to make connections with impact. Generate new leads, meet with founders in person, issue an announcement, launch a product, and present your brand in a big way. Get in touch.