Russia retaliates, Meta minimizes the perks, and March Madness for teachers

Friday! ❤️ 

Hope you have a terrific weekend, everyone. Before you go, we leave you with this week's StrictlyVC Download, featuring special guest Kirsten Green of Forerunner Ventures. As many readers will know, Green has built one of the most sought-after firms for founders of fashion, beauty and lifestyle brands over the last decade (Bonobos, Glossier, Stadium Goods). Now, with a freshly closed $1 billion fund, Green and her Forerunner colleagues are investing in very different startups as they track the shifting consumer landscape. For insights into how people's buying and selling habits are changing  and some of the opportunities Forerunner sees to support these shifts, don't miss this one. 

Major thanks to Findem for sponsoring this week's episode. Findem says it help companies 10x their talent pipeline with diverse, top talent and shrink time-to-hire. Looking for engineering talent? Account execs? Put the company to work for you at www.findem.ai/strictlyvc.

President Biden said Russia would pay a “severe price” if it used chemical weapons as Western officials grow increasingly worried that Moscow will resort to deploying chemical, biological or nuclear weapons after struggling to make headway in the war in Ukraine.

Russia’s Investigative Committee says it has opened a criminal case against Facebook parent company Meta Platforms, accusing the company’s employees of “illegal calls for murder and violence” against Russian citizens. The case follows a temporary change to Meta’s hate speech policy that allows some Facebook and Instagram users to express violent sentiments against Russian armed forced invading Ukraine. 

Deutsche Bank said today that it is “winding down” operations in Russia, a day after the German bank’s CFO said that doing so would not be practical or “the right thing to do.” 

Venture capital heavyweight Index Ventures says it will no longer co-invest with Russian entities or back Russian startups.

YouTube just blocked Russian state media channels worldwide.

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Alex Iskold is “one of the luckiest people you’ve ever met,” he says from his office in New York. He’s the co-founder and managing partner of a venture firm, 2048 Ventures. He previously spent five years with Techstars as the managing director of its New York City program, where he invested in and helped more than 100 startups.

Iskold has also cultivated a vast network of contacts — contacts that he is putting to use for the second time in two years. The first time, Iskold and fellow VC Minda Brusse called on these friends and acquaintances to fund families in need during the pandemic, forming a kind of human blockchain, as The New York Times described it. According to Iskold, the effort ultimately spread $3 million to roughly 1,000 families, he says.

Now, Iskold is reviving that earlier operation, dubbed the 1K Project, to provide much-needed help to Ukrainian refugees who’ve fled the country, as well as families that remain trapped within its borders, are suddenly jobless and, in a growing number of cases, no longer have a place to call home.

“I never thought I would have to restart the 1K Project, but as soon as I realized what [Russia’s invasion of Ukraine] would mean,” he started making calls, he says.

Like many people, Iskold is horrified by a war that, one month ago was hard to imagine yet has already displaced more than 2 million people and caused more than $100 billion in damage. But it’s also personal. Iskold is Ukrainian. He spent the first 19 years of his life in the country, and he still has many cousins and friends and acquaintances there. Indeed, he says a third cousin and her family escaped almost immediately after Russian troops entered the country, while desperate others have stayed because they have sons and husbands who are between the ages of 18 and 60 and thus forbidden from leaving the country.

Iskold’s network has been quick to heed the call for help. Since tweeting out the news 11 days ago that he was resuscitating the 1K project to funnel money to Ukrainians, a network of 30 volunteers, from developers to data analysts, has sprung into action to spread the word and ease the path to helping sponsor and recipients reach each other.

As Iskold explains it, “The most powerful thing we’ve built is a distributed network [that quickly enables] sponsors and families to apply. Interested parties can find the forms on our site. There is a lightweight vetting process for sponsors and more strict vetting process for recipients. But once the sponsor and the family are approved, they get matched, and the sponsor is texted or emailed directions on how to fund the family through [the only money transfer service] Wise.com.”

The donations, made in $1,000 increments, are not tax deductible. For those who want to donate larger amounts and to receive a tax credit for them, Iskold says the group is using an outfit called OpenCollective.com as its fiscal sponsor. (To donate to five or more families, for example, 1K project will send someone instructions on how to donate to OpenCollective; it will then dispatch the money to the families through that vehicle.)

More volunteers — and donors — are needed.

More here.

AiFi, a six-year-old, Santa Clara, Ca.-based startup that develops automated checkout technology for retailers, stadiums and large-scale events, just raised $65 million in Series B funding from ALDI South Group, Żabka Group, REWE, Verizon Ventures and Qualcomm Ventures. The WSJ has more here.

Byju's, the Indian online learning platform that was reportedly valued at between $16.5 billion and $18 billion last fall, then was reportedly in talks to go public via SPAC, has raised $800 million in new funding at a $22 billion(!) valuation. Company co-founder and CEO Byju Raveendran provided half the total, while the remainder came from Sumeru Ventures, Vitruvian Partners and BlackRock. TechCrunch has more here.

Capchase, a two-year-old, New York-based platform that offers non-dilutive capital for recurring-revenue businesses, just raised $80 million in Series B funding from 01 Advisors, QED, Caffeinated Capital, Bling Capital, and half a dozen other investors. Crunchbase News has more here.

Diamond Age, a 3.5-year-old, Silicon Valley-based “full-stack robotics startup" that says its suite of tools are designed to take the place of more than half of the manual labor associated with building a new home, has raised $50 million in Series A funding. Prime Movers Lab led the round, joined by earlier backers Alpaca VC, Dolby Family Ventures, Timber Grove Ventures and Gaingels. TechCrunch has more here.

Propel, a seven-year-old, New York-based fintech startup that helps users keep track of food assistance and other government benefits, just raised $50 million in Series B funding. Nyca Partners led the round, joined by JPMorgan Chase, Salesforce Ventures, Mischief and earlier investors Andreessen Horowitz, Kleiner Perkins and Flourish Ventures. Forbes has more here.

A-Frame, a three-year-old, Venice, Ca.-based developer of celebrity-led personal care products, has raised $11.2 million in seed funding co-led by Forerunner Ventures and Initialized Capital. Business of Fashion has more here.

Medway, a five-year-old, Brazil-based edtech platform for medical students and doctors, has raised $14.8 million in Series A funding led by SoftBank. LABS News has more here.

Milo, a three-year-old, Miami-based fintech startup that's rolling out what it calls the world's first crypto mortgage through which borrowers obtain bitcoin-backed loans to buy real estate, just raised $17 million in Series A funding. M13 led the round, joined by QED Investors and MetaProp. Business Insider has more here.

Nice Healthcare, a 10-year-old, Minneapolis, Mn.-based provider of in-home and virtual primary care services, just raised $30 million in Series A funding. DNA Capital led the round. The Star Tribune has more here.

Safebase, a two-year-old San Francisco-based vendor security auditing startup, just raised $18 million in Series A funding led by NEA, with participation from Y Combinator and Comcast Ventures. TechCrunch has more here.

Scenic Biotech, a five-year-old, Amsterdam-based biotech focused on genetic modifiers, has raised €31 million in Series A funding from Eir Ventures, BioMedPartners, Vesalius Biocapital and earlier backers. FierceBiotech has more here

SmithRx, a six-year-old, San Francisco-based pharmacy benefits management startup, has raised $20 million in Series B funding led by Venrock, with participation from Founders Fund. Axios has more here.

Topsort, a year-old, Palo Alto, Ca.-based auction-based advertising startup, has raised $8 million in seed funding, including from Pear Ventures, Quiet Capital, FJLabs, Ribbit Capital, and SoftBank Vision Fund, among other backers. The company previously raised $8 million in seed funding. TechCrunch has more here.

Behavidence, a nearly two-year-old, New York-based developer of AI tools to monitor psychiatric and neurological disorders, just raised $4.3 million in seed funding led by Welltech Ventures, with participation from Arc Impact and Longevity Ventures. AIThority has more here.

CaliberMind, a six-year-old, Boulder, Co.-based outfit that helps companies analyse their revenue, has raised $8 million in Series A funding co-led by IAG Capital Partners and Lavrock Ventures. VentureBeat has more here.

Chipper, a five-year-old, Austin, Tex.-based app for student loan borrowers, has raised $5.6 million in seed funding from Freestyle Capital, Slauson & Co., and Propel Venture. More here.

Creatively, a two-year-old, New York-based jobs platform for creatives, has raised $8 million co-led by Thirty Five Ventures and Michael Eisner's Tornante Co. The Hollywood Reporter has more here.

Topsort, a year-old, Palo Alto, Ca.-based auction-based advertising startup, has raised $8 million in seed funding, including from Pear Ventures, Quiet Capital, FJLabs, Ribbit Capital, and SoftBank Vision Fund, among other backers. TechCrunch has more here.

TrueCircle, year-old, U.K.-based recycling startup that's applying computer vision technology to waste streams flowing through processing facilities so its customers have real-time data about what’s passing through their plants, has raised $5.5 million in pre-seed funding. Chris Sacca's Lowercarbon Capital led the round. TechCrunch has more here.

Largest U.S. Bank Invests In Web 3.0 and This Trophy Asset . . . It’s no surprise that JP Morgan invested in the exploding metaverse and increased its position in the $1.9 trillion crypto space. However, the largest bank in the U.S. also quietly invested billions in this often overlooked $1.7 trillion dollar asset: blue-chip art. And some of the smartest investors in the world have quietly invested over $400 million into Masterworks, the premier art investing app. Want in? StrictlyVC Subscribers can skip the waitlist. *See important Reg A disclosures.

Andreessen Horowitz is raising $600 million for a gaming fund, per an SEC filing. Business Insider reported in November that this was coming, noting that the had brought aboard two new general partners--  Jonathan Lai and James Gwertzman -- to lead it.

Sorenson Ventures, a five-year-old, enterprise-focused venture firm that was founded by veteran VCs Rob Rueckert and Ken Elefant and which has offices in Lehi, Ut., and Palo Alto, Ca., has raised $150 million for its second fund. TechCrunch has more here.

Three-year-old stock trading platform Public has purchased Otis, a startup that allows individual investors to buy fractional ownership in alternative assets, including NFTs and sports memorabilia. Terms of the deal weren’t disclosed, though Crunchbase data shows Otis has raised $16.5 million from investors, including Maveron and Union Square Ventures. Crunchbase News has more here.

So much for that IPO. Several top executives are leaving Chobani as the yogurt maker puts plans for a publicly on hold. President and Chief Operating Officer Peter McGuinness told employees last week that he is leaving the company effective today to pursue other opportunities, according to people familiar with the matter. Chobani’s Chief People Officer Grace Zuncic, Chief Strategy Officer Michelle Brooks and Chief Corporate Affairs Officer Cristina Alesci also are leaving the company, say the WSJ's sources.

Grimes is dating infamous leaker Chelsea Manning, Page Six reports. “They’re getting serious. They U-Hauled it,” a source tells the outlet of the fast-paced nature of their relationship. “They’ve been living together in Austin.” Grimes, who just revealed in Vanity Fair that she and Elon Musk welcomed a daughter in December, subsequently announced yesterday that hey have broken up again. 

Speaking of the billionaire Tesla and SpaceX CEO. almost two years after Musk announced a plan to sell nearly all of his physical possessions, including his real estate, by tweeting “Will own no house," he has finally unloaded all seven of the houses he once owned in California.

An investigation by VICE News has uncovered a coordinated campaign to pay Russian TikTok influencers to post videos pushing pro-Kremlin narratives. One script attempts to excuse the war in Ukraine by promoting the falsehood that Ukraine perpetrated a genocide against Russian speaking in the Donbas region over the last eight years.

Meanwhile, Meta Platforms will make employees do their own laundry and manage their dry cleaning.

The songs that get us through it.

March Madness for teachers.

Wordle and, just in case, Heardle and Quordle, too.

Pablo Picasso's Tete de femme.