Sifted - Most bizarre founder photos 2024

Good morning there,

It’s been a busy 24 hours in AI, with London-based self-driving car startup Wayve signing a landmark deal with Uber, and Silicon Valley-based OpenAI reportedly in talks to raise fresh funding at a valuation of more than $100bn (!!)

So it’s a fitting day to take a step back and hear from an expert who's been working in the sector for over a decade: Verity Harding, who was Google DeepMind’s first head of policy and learnt first-hand how fear-mongering around hyped technology isn't helpful. She told me how she thinks humanity can get the best out of AI.

Elsewhere today:

• The FOAK playbook: How to secure an offtake agreement
• Founder photos: have tech folk finally figured out how to pose normally?

— Tim Smith, news editor

/A message from our sponsor Groupe ADP

🚗 London-based autonomous driving software startup Wayve yesterday announced it's partnering with Uber to bring self-driving taxis to our roads. The move marks a big vote of confidence in the young UK company, as Uber looks to take on Google’s Waymo in rolling out robot-controlled vehicles globally.

• Dara Khosrowshahi, CEO of Uber, said in a statement: “Wayve’s advanced embodied AI approach holds a ton of promise as we work towards a world where modern vehicles are shared, electric and autonomous.”

🥩 An alternative meat research centre is opening in Leeds, UK, with £38m in funding. The National Alternative Protein Innovation Centre will look into the health impacts, sustainability and feasibility of moving away from traditional meat.

• Europe has so far been a slow adopter of cultivated meat, especially when it comes to regulation.

🇫🇷 Telegram CEO Pavel Durov was formally charged in France on Wednesday, following four days in detention, for complicity in spreading sexual images of children and other crimes committed over the app. He was granted conditional release against a bail of €5m on the condition he must remain in France, according to a statement by the Paris prosecutor’s office. The crimes Durov is charged with can lead to sentences of up to 10 years in prison and a €500k fine, the prosecutor’s office said, AP reports.

🤑 ICYMI: OpenAI is in talks to raise billions of dollars at a valuation of more than $100bn, according to several news publications, including the WSJ and the FT. The round is said to be led by US-based VC Thrive Capital, which will invest around $1bn in the developer of ChatGPT. The new valuation is a big increase from OpenAI’s current (huge) $86bn valuation.

How to expand with an M&A mindset

90% of executives expect an increase in foreign M&A targets in 2024. If you’re looking to go global, our Sifted Guide will help you better understand how to navigate the complexities of moving to a new market, from finding the right talent to bridging the cultural divide.

From Downing Street to DeepMind — Brunch with Verity Harding. The former global head of policy at DeepMind sat down with Sifted to talk through her hopes and fears around AI.

• “10 years ago, people were saying, ‘Well, in 10 years time, we won't need any truck drivers or radiographers, that will be gone’. Actually, that's not the case. And did making such strong announcements get us to a better outcome? Or did it make everyone sort of freak out and think that there was nothing we can do about it?”

The FOAK playbook: How to secure an offtake agreement. Offtake agreements may not sound all that jazzy, but they’re central to getting capital-intensive climate tech off the ground. Offtakes — contracts agreed before the product is produced — help climate tech startups to fund their first factories and plants, by giving investors the assurance that someone will buy the end product. Here’s how companies can secure those pivotal deals.

Have founders finally figured out how to pose normally? Every year, Sifted’s Éanna Kelly reviews the most bizarre — and brilliant — founder photos that have landed in our inbox. 2024 hasn't let us down.

The 'boring AI' startups having an impact right now (Sponsored by Sapphire Ventures)

Zurich-based Swiss-Mile, a deeptech spinoff from ETH Zürich that has developed four-legged robots (with wheels) which can carry good and materials, and patrol sites for security purposes, has raised a €19.8m seed round led by the family office of Jeff Bezos, Bezos Expeditions, and  HongShan, formerly Sequoia's Chinese investment arm. Amazon Industrial Innovation Fund and Armada Investment also participated in the round.

Oslo-based Ocean Oasis, which is developing a system to use wave power to run a desalination process offshore, has received a €6m grant from the European Innovation Council.

Copenhagen-based Uniqkey, a cybersecurity startup focused on password management for businesses, has raised a €5.3m round led by Swedish VC Backing Minds. 

Cambridge, UK-based Mestag Therapeutics, which focuses on fibroblast-immune interactions to develop innovative new treatments for cancer and inflammatory diseases, has received a £1.5m grant from Innovate UK.

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