The spotlight turns on OpenAI rival Mistral, Shein eyes the LSE, and the priciest rental on Martha's Vineyard

So looking forward to seeing you in L.A. this week! 💥 I'll be at the Upfront Summit on Wednesday (let me know if you will be, too).

On Thursday night, my colleagues and I are hosting the first-ever StrictlyVC event outside of San Francisco. We can still squeeze in another handful of you if want to join us at NeueHouse Hollywood, where we'll be eating and drinking and enjoying some great conversations, including with Tekedra Mawakana, co-CEO at Waymo; Trae Stephens, general partner at Founders Fund; Meredith Whittaker, president of Signal; and Jesse Lyu, founder and CEO of rabbit Inc. Looks like there are nearly 400 of you coming; thanks again to Lightspeed Venture Partners for its part in making the night possible! 

(P.S. If you miss this one, the next one is in London.)

Well-funded Paris startup Mistral has launched a competing product to OpenAI's ChatGPT and struck a partnership with Microsoft. The move would seem to work to the advantage of the Redmond-based colossus, which is being investigated by antitrust regulators for its deal with OpenAI. In a speech today at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Microsoft President Brad Smith offered that “innovation and competition will require an extensive array of similar support for proprietary and open-source AI models, large and small," including its new tie-up with Mistral. TechCrunch has more here. 

The Supreme Court heard arguments today regarding new laws in Florida and Texas that would limit the ability of social media companies to curate content on their platforms. 

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Abridge, a six-year-old Pittsburgh startup that converts conversations between patients and doctors into structured clinical notes using AI, raised a $150 million Series C round co-led by Lightspeed and Redpoint Ventures, with IVP, Spark Capital, Union Square Ventures, Bessemer Venture Partners, Wittington Ventures, Mass General Brigham Artificial Intelligence and Digital Innovation Fund, Kaiser Permanente Ventures, and CVS Health Ventures also joining the round. Reuters has more here.

Fervo Energy, a a seven-year-old Houston-based startup that uses advanced drilling technologies to harness geothermal energy in places where it was previously not economically viable, is in the market to raise $221 million. Previous investors include BHP Ventures, Breakthrough Energy Ventures, Congruent Ventures, DCVC, and Prelude Ventures as well as Jeff Bezos, Richard Branson, Bill Gates, and Masayoshi Son. TechCrunch has more here.

Avail, a one-year-old Polygon spinout that is building an Ethereum data network to compete with Celestia, raised a $27 million round co-led by Founders Fund and Dragonfly, with SevenX, Figment, and Nomad Capital also pitching in. CoinDesk has more here.

Inkitt, an 11-year-old San Francisco company that lets people publish their own stories through an app and then uses AI to pick the most interesting stories to refine and sell on another app, raised a $37 million Series C round led by Khosla Ventures, with previous investors NEA and Kleiner Perkins also anteing up. The company has raised a total of $117 million. TechCrunch has more here. 

RobCo, a four-year-old Munich startup that is creating robotic products like modular robotic arms that can be used for various tasks such as machine loading and welding, raised a $42.5 million Series B round led by Lightspeed Venture Partners, with Sequoia Capital, Kindred Capital, and Promus Ventures also joining in. The Robot Report has more here.

Tracksuit, a three-year-old Auckland startup that conducts surveys for brands and provides real-time updates on various brand metrics such as awareness and preference, raised a $13.5 million Series A round co-led by Altos Ventures and Footwork, with AirAngels as well as previous investors Blackbird, Icehouse Ventures, Ascential, and Shasta Ventures also participating. The company has raised a total of approximately $18 million. More here.

Xcelerate, a three-year-old Singapore startup whose platform helps businesses comply with labor laws as well as health and safety guidelines, financial regulations, and environmental standards, raised a $25+ million round led by Federated Hermes Private Equity, with previous investors Altair Capital and Exacta Capital Partners also participating. The Asset has more here.

Bolero, a three-year-old Paris startup that lets people invest in the music rights of their favorite songs and receive royalties from those investments, raised a $2.2 million seed round. XVC Tech led the investment. Tech.eu has more here.

Connected, a one-year-old Portuguese startup that aims to use satellites to provide internet connectivity to devices located in remote areas across the globe where traditional cellular networks do not reach, raised a $2.2 million round co-led by FundBox, Shilling VC, and Iberis Capital, with Amena Ventures and Octopus Ventures also stepping up. Tech.eu has more here.

FlowGPT, a one-year-old startup based in Berkeley, Ca., whose marketplace enables users find specialized AI prompts for different tasks, raised a $10 million pre-Series A round led by Goodwater, with previous investor DCM also joining in. TechCrunch has more here.

ISHI Health, a two-year-old San Diego startup that has developed an online clinic using AI to help people with heart failure and other complex heart diseases, raised a $4 million round. Takeda Digital Ventures was the deal lead. More here.

Miruku, a four-year-old New Zealand startup that is focused on creating animal-free dairy products by genetically modifying oilseed crops to produce dairy proteins and fats, raised a $5 million round led by Motion Capital, with NZVC, Cultivate Ventures, and Icehouse Ventures as well as previous investor Movac also contributing. The company has raised a total of $7.4 million. Vegconomist has more here.

Northwood Space, a one-year-old El Segundo, Ca., startup co-founded by a former Disney Channel star that sells hardware and services to improve the reliability and scalability of satellite communication networks, raised a $6 million round from Founders Fund, Andreessen Horowitz, and Also Capital. CNBC has more here. 

Prefer, a two-year-old Singapore startup that is creating a sustainable, bean-free coffee alternative that still contains caffeine, raised a $2 million round led by Forge Ventures, with Better Bite Ventures, Sopoong Ventures, Seeds Capital, Entrepreneur First, and Pickup Coffee also opting in. Green Queen has more here.

Prowler, a startup based in Portland, Me., that offers automated tools for identifying security gaps and compliance issues, aiming to simplify cloud security management, raised a $6 million seed round. Decibel VC was the lead investor. FinTech Global has more here.

Siftwell Analytics, a two-year-old startup based in Charlotte, N.C., that uses AI to identify individuals at risk of developing chronic conditions early in order to allow for more effective and targeted healthcare interventions, raised a $5.8 million round. Investors included AlleyCorp, Arkin Digital Health, Tau Ventures, and The Charlotte Fund. Fierce Healthcare has more here.

Sway, a San Francisco startup that makes packaging products from seaweed as an eco-friendly alternative to plastic, raised a $5 million seed round led by Third Nature Investments and including The Helm, Alante Capital, BAM Ventures, and Superorganism. BeautyMatter has more here.

Tuned, a four-year-old New York startup whose telehealth platform offers hearing care support ranging from prevention to intervention, raised a $3.2 million seed extension round led by Unum Group, with Distributed Ventures also investing. Fierce Healthcare has more here.

Zūm Rails, a four-year-old Montréal startup whose platform facilitates various types of payments, such as bank transfers and credit card transactions, raised a $7.8 million Series A round. Arthur Ventures was the deal lead. FinTech Global has more here.

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The Qatar Investment Authority has seeded a new fund of funds to back international and regional venture capital funds to the tune of $1 billion, it announced today.

Dubai-based early-stage venture capital firm COTU Ventures is announcing that it has raised $54 million for its inaugural fund to support startups in the Middle East from pre-seed to seed stages. TechCrunch has more here.

ORI Capital, a life-sciences venture firm that invests globally, has raised a $260 million second fund after making several successful investments. The WSJ has more here.

Chinese fast-fashion startup Shein is looking into going public on the London Stock Exchange given its fears that the SEC might reject its IPO. Bloomberg has more here. 

Could Reddit - birthplace to many a meme stock - be the next meme stock itself? TechCrunch has more here. 

The WSJ profiles Arthur Mensch, Mistral's founder and CEO. “I’ve always regretted that there was no Big Tech in Europe,” he tells the Journal. “I think this is our chance to become one.”

In an interview with Semafor, Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev rejects the business maxim that "if you're not paying for the product, you are the product." "I just don’t think people are products," he says.

Elon Musk's Vegas tunnel is one big mess.

The online travel website Expedia is planning to lay off more than 8% of its workforce.

Supermassive Games, the video game studio behind the Until Dawn and The Dark Pictures anthologies, is considering cutting 25%-30% of its staff.

Andrew Ng's AI Fund in Palo Alto, Ca. is looking to bring aboard a founder-in-residence to determine a launch product, then build the business case for it.

AI is apparently already having a big impact on the adult entertainment industry. 

San Francisco's finest wants to use drones to chase getaway cars. Privacy proponents are up in arms.

NASA's new lunar lander may be about to die.

At Milan Fashion Week, a Swedish designer encouraged the audience to throw trash at her models as they strutted down the runway.

A woman needed a ride from Palo Alto to San Jose, so she did what anyone would do: she stole an Amazon delivery van.

The Boston Typewriter Orchestra

The most expensive summer rental in Martha's Vineyard (ever).

Front license plate stickers.

Air compression boots.

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