FAST AF
Boom Supersonic, Elon's Disciples, Jason Carman, ElevenLabs, TravelPerk, Nucleus, Bland, Helion, Mevvy, Rad AI, Veir, Motif, Earth AI
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FAST AF
There are weeks when centuries get made. Not only is the earth spinning faster, headlines are being swapped at a rapid pace, tariff wars are expiring in hours, Deep AI is getting Deeper, some dude got traded from some basketball team, 19-24 year old geniuses enlisted by Elon are auditing the Treasury at record speeds, & I’m sure some other items we missed.. but on top of that, we actually just entered ‘the Golden Age’ with a new supersonic flight.
Next.. man on the moon? Colonizing Mars? We are so back?
Move over Concorde, Boom Supersonic's XB-1 prototype recently broke the sound barrier
Achieving speeds up to Mach 1.3 or approximately 998 mph, during a test flight, marking a significant step towards reviving commercial supersonic travel. This milestone could cut transatlantic flight times from around 7 hours to just over 3 hours. The test flight showcased the use of advanced carbon fiber composites and digital engineering, enhancing fuel efficiency and reducing material weight. Boom has already secured pre-orders from airlines like United and American Airlines for 15 and 20 Overture aircraft respectively, indicating strong industry interest.
Founder & CEO, Blake Scholl, who ambitiously transitioned from standard tech roles, with the last being Groupon, founded Boom over 10 years ago and self-taught aerospace principles to tackle this challenge. Exemplifying just how technology and entrepreneurial vision can innovate traditional sectors like aviation.. and “you can just do things.”
Deal of the Week: Nucleus $14M Series A
Nucleus, a direct-to-consumer genomics startup founded by Kian Sadeghi, recently closed a $14 million Series A, bringing its total funding to $32 million. The round was led by venture capital firms Seven Seven Six (founded by Alexis Ohanian) and Founders Fund, with participation from several other investors including Neo, One Eight Capital, Giant Step, Common Metal, Asylum Ventures, Rose Street Capital, Balaji Srinivasan, and Amanda Bradford.
→ Check out our interview with Kian, CEO of Nucleus
(P.S. this interview led to a multi-million $$ check into the round 😊)
Musings
Macro
The Four Pillars of Venture Investing, Trade-Offs In Everything You Do [Kyle Harrison]
Deep tech’s favorite documentarian, Jason Carman, just launched his own independent film studio Story Company
Farritor named co-winner of $700,000 prize for ID’ing scroll passages [Nebraska Today]
Masa
What Does Masayoshi Son Want? [Motley Fool]
He Risked Everything to Make BILLIONS (Masa's Epic Rise) [Technology Brothers]
AI
The Year of AI Applications [Jamin Ball, Altimeter]
Introducing Deep Research [OpenAI]
The name is just a coincidence? ..just a coincidence right?
ChatGPT Subscribers Nearly Tripled to 15.5 Million in 2024 [The Information]
DeepFake ChatCCP
DeepSeek Debates: Chinese Leadership On Cost, True Training Cost, Closed Model Margin Impacts H100 Pricing Soaring, Subsidized Inference Pricing, Export Controls, MLA [SemiAnalysis]
“Our analysis shows that the total server CapEx for DeepSeek is ~$1.6B, with a considerable cost of $944M associated with operating such clusters.”
Palantir CTO Shyam Sankar on Deepseek & disagreeing with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman [Clip on X]
More
Back to the Future [Christian Garrett, 137 Ventures]
Top Interviews
Who Will Win the AI Race? | Emergence Capital
Bland’s $40M Series B
Trillion Dollar AI Opportunity | Tomasz Tunguz, Theory Ventures
Last Week (1/27-1/31):
Relevant deals include the 70+ deals across stages below. I've categorized the deals below into seven categories, Fintech, Care, Enterprise / Consumer, HardTech, Sustainability, Acquisition/PE, and Fund Announcements, and ordered from later-stage rounds to early-stage rounds.
Highlighted VC Deals include:
ElevenLabs, TravelPerk, Nucleus, Bland, Helion, Mevvy, Rad AI, Veir, Motif, Earth AI
Acquisitions & PE
DataBank
Funds
Madrona
Final Numbers
Combined CapEx for MSFT, Meta, Alphabet, AMZN
VC Deals
Fintech:
- Swan, a French embedded finance platform, raised €42m in Series B extension funding. Eight Roads Ventures led, and was joined by Lakestar, Accel, Creandum, Hexa, and BPI France.
- Finout, a New York City-based FinOps solution for enterprises, raised $40 million in Series C funding. Insight Partners led the round and was joined by Pitango, Team8, Red Dot Capital, and Maor Investments.
- D3 Global, a Los Angeles-based domain registration technology developer, raised $25 million in Series A funding. Paradigm led the round and was joined by Coinbase Ventures, Sandeep Nailwal, Dharmesh Shah, and Richard Kirkendall.
- Irreducible, a San Francisco-based crypto infrastructure developer, raised $24 million in Series A funding. Paradigm and Bain Capital Crypto led the round and were joined by Fenbushi Capital, L2 Iterative Ventures, Robot Ventures, and angel investors.
- Formance, a New York City-based open source financial infrastructure provider, raised $21 million in Series A funding. PayPal Ventures and Portage led the round and were joined by Y Combinator, Hoxton Ventures, and AXC.
- Anchor, a New York City-based billing platform for small and medium businesses, raised $20 million in Series A funding. Mosaic General Partnership and Zeev Ventures led the round and were joined by Amy Banse, Tien Tzuo, existing investors Entrée Capital and Tal Ventures, and others.
- Humanity Protocol, a Cayman Islands-based decentralized identity blockchain, raised $20 million in funding. Pantera Capital and Jump Crypto led the round and were joined by others.
- Pod, a stake-based programmable L1, raised $10m in seed funding from a16z CSX, 1kx, Blockchain Builders Fund, and Protagonist.
- Cedar Money, a New York City-based cross-borders stablecoin payments platform, raised $9.9 million in seed funding. QED Investors led the round and was joined by North Island Ventures, Wischoff Ventures, Lattice, and Stellar.
- Crowded, a Miami-based financial management platform for nonprofits, raised $7.5 million in Series A funding. Flashpoint led the round and was joined by Florida Opportunity Fund, Wilson’s Bird Capital, and existing investors Sarona Ventures and The Garage.
- WiseLayer, which builds AI agents for corporate finance and accounting teams, raised $7.2m. Canaan Partners led, and was joined by K5 Global, The Fintech Fund, and Unpopular Ventures.
- Foyer, a New York City-based homeownership savings platform, raised $6.2 million in seed funding. Alpaca VC and Hometeam Ventures led the round and were joined by Animo Ventures, Resilience VC, Accion Venture Lab, and others.
- Mevvy, an execution platform for MEV traders, raised $2.8m in seed funding led by Multicoin Capital, with participation from Chapter One Ventures and Hypersphere
Care:
- Rad AI, a San Francisco-based generative AI developer for radiology, raised $60 million in Series C funding. Transformation Capital led the round and was joined by existing investors Khosla Ventures, World Innovation Lab, UP2398, and others.
- Quibim, a Valencia, Spain-based imaging biomarkers developer, raised $50 million in Series A funding. Asabys and Buenavista Equity Partners led the round and were joined by UI Investissements, GoHub Ventures, existing investors Amadeus Capital Partners, APEX Ventures, Partech, and others.
- SafelyYou, an SF-based fall prevention and senior living care startup, raised $43m in Series C funding. Touring Capital led, and was joined by Foundation Capital, Omega Healthcare Investors, Inc., Founders Fund, Cross Creek, Samsung Next, and Qualcomm Ventures.
- The Helper Bees, an Austin-based care and services provider for older adults, raised $35 million in Series C funding. Centana Growth Partners led the round and was joined by existing investors Silverton Partners, Impact Engine, Northwestern Mutual Future Ventures, Alumni Ventures, and others.
- Hone Health, a New York-based telehealth startup focused on longevity care, raised $33m in Series A funding from Tribe Capital, PIF, Republic Capital, Vibe VC, Humbition, Hanwha, Gaingels, Looking Glass Capital, FJ Labs, and Agent Capital.
- KODE Health, a Holland, Mich.-based medical coding services platform for healthcare providers, raised $27 million in Series B funding. Noro-Moseley Partners led the round and was joined by Mercury, FCA Venture Partners, Epsilon Innovation Fund, and 111 West Capital.
- Allara Health, a New York City-based women’s hormonal healthcare virtual platform, raised $26 million in Series B funding. Index Ventures led the round and was joined by existing investor GV.
- Manas AI, a New York City-based AI-powered medicine discovery company, raised $24.6 million in seed funding. General Catalyst and Reid Hoffman led the round and were joined by Greylock.
- Bicycle Health, a Boston-based opioid use disorder medications telehealth provider, raised $16.5 million in funding. Existing investor Questa Capital led the round and was joined by existing investors SignalFire, Frist Cressey Ventures, City Light Capital, and all others.
- Nucleus, a New York City-based DNA health test technology developer, raised $14 million in Series A funding from Neo, Giant Step Capital, One Eight Capital, existing investors Seven Seven Six and Founders Fund, and angel investors.
- Gaia, a New York City-based fertility company, raised $14 million in funding. Valar led the round and was joined by Heliad, Chaucer, existing investors Atomico, Kindred & Optum, and angel investors.
- Teal Health, a San Francisco-based at-home cervical cancer screening developer, raised $10 million in funding. Emerson Collective and Forerunner led the round and were joined by Serena Ventures and Metrodora.
- C the Signs, a London-based AI-powered cancer detection platform, raised $8 million in funding from Khosla Ventures.
- Waterlily, a San Francisco-based AI-powered long-term care predictions provider, raised $7 million in seed funding. Brewer Lane Ventures led the round and was joined by Genworth, Nationwide, Edward Jones, and others.
- Aligned Marketplace, a New York City-based primary care services provider for self-insured employers, raised $3 million in seed funding from A* and Maverick Ventures.
- Systole Health, a Boston virtual care provider for women's heart health, raised $2m in pre-seed funding led by Benchstrength.
Enterprise/Consumer:
- TravelPerk, a Barcelona-based business travel platform, raised $200m in Series E funding at a $2.7b valuation. Atomico led, and was joined by EQT Growth, Noteus Partners and insiders Kinnevik and General Catalyst.
- ElevenLabs, a London-based AI audio technology developer, raised $180 million in Series C funding. a16z and ICONIQ Growth led the round and were joined by NEA, World Innovation Lab, Valor, Endeavor Catalyst Fund, Lunate, existing investors Sequoia Capital, Salesforce Ventures, Smash Capital, and others.
- Bland AI, a startup focused on transforming enterprise phone communications with AI, recently announced a successful Series B funding round, securing $40 million. This brings their total funding to $65 million. The round was led by Emergence Capital, with participation from existing investors like Y Combinator and Scale Venture Partners.
- Oligo Security, a Tel Aviv-based application security platform, raised $50 million in Series B funding. Greenfield Partners led the round and was joined by Red Dot Capital Partners, Strait Capital, and existing investors Ballistic Ventures, Lightspeed Venture Partners, and TLV Partners.
- Seraphic Security, a Herzliya, Israel-based enterprise browser security solution, raised $29 million in Series A funding. GreatPoint Ventures led the round and was joined by CrowdStrike Falcon Fund and existing investors Planven, Cota Capital, and Storm Ventures.
- SuperOps, a Dallas-based IT automation SaaS, raised $25m in Series C funding. March Capital led, and was joined by Addition and Z47.
- Atomicwork, a San Francisco-based AI agents management solutions provider, raised $25 million in Series A funding. Khosla Ventures and Z47 led the round and were joined by Battery Ventures, Blume Ventures, and Peak XV Partners.
- Paxton, a Bend, Ore.-based Ai-powered legal assistant, raised $22 million in Series A funding. Unusual Ventures led the round and was joined by Kyber Knight, 25Madison, and WVV Capital.
- Naboo, a Paris-based B2B events booking software solution provider, raised €20 million ($20.8 million) in Series A funding. Notion Capital led the round and was joined by ISAI and Ternel.
- Optable, a Montreal-based identity management platform for advertising, raised $20 million in Series A acceleration funding. TELUS Global Ventures led the round and was joined by existing investors Hearst Ventures, Brightspark Ventures, Desjardins Capital, and others.
- Clutch Security, a Tel Aviv-based non-human identity security platform, raised $20 million in Series A funding. SignalFire led the round and was joined by existing investors Lightspeed Venture Partners and Merlin Ventures.
- HockeyStack, a marketing analytics and attribution platform, raised $20m in Series A funding. Bessemer Ventures Partners led, and was joined by YC, Uncorrelated Ventures, and Qnbeyond Ventures.
- Savant Labs, a San Mateo, Calif.-based data analytics automation platform, raised $18.5 million in Series A funding. Dell Technologies Capital led the round and was joined by Vertex Ventures, Cota Capital, Village Global, and others.
- Observo AI, a Newark, Calif.-based AI-powered data pipeline, raised $15 million in seed funding. Felicis and Lightspeed Venture Partners led the round and were joined by angel investors.
- Oumi, a Seattle-based AI research lab, raised $10 million in seed funding. Venrock and Obvious Ventures led the round and were joined by Plug & Play and Ascend.
- Lanai, a Palo Alto-based AI incorporation platform for enterprises, raised $10 million in Series A funding. Juxtapose led the round and was joined by Lux Capital, F7 Ventures, and BAG.
- Backline, a San Francisco-based security AI agents developer, raised $9 million in seed funding. StageOne Ventures led the round and was joined by Evolution Equity Partners and Gradient.
- Aligned, a remote digital sales room developer, raised $8 million in Series A funding. JAL Ventures led the round and was joined by existing investors NFX, Hetz Ventures, and others.
- Final Round AI, a Palo Alto-based AI-powered interview assistance platform, raised $6.9 million in seed funding. Uncork Capital led the round and was joined by HF0, Linear Capital, Ritual Capital, angel investors, and others.
- Athenic AI, a San Francisco-based data analysis and business intelligence services provider, raised $4.3 million in funding. BMW i Ventures led the round and was joined by TenVC, Scrum Ventures, Stage 2 Capital, and others.
- Mobly, a Salt Lake City-based event marketing technology developer, raised $4.3 million in seed funding. Jump Capital led the round and was joined by Eniac Ventures and existing investors Peterson Ventures, Tenzing.vc, and Element Ventures.
HardTech:
- Veir, a Woburn, Mass., startup replacing conventional power lines with superconductors, raised $75m in Series B funding. Munich Re Ventures led, and was joined by Microsoft's Climate Innovation Fund, Tyche Partners, Piva Capital, National Grid Partners, Dara Holdings, SiteGround, and insiders VXI Capital, Breakthrough Energy Ventures, Congruent Ventures, Engine Ventures, Fine Structure Ventures, and Galvanize Climate Solutions.
- Smart Wires, a Durham, N.C.-based grid technology and services provider, raised $65 million in funding from BP Energy Partners and Keystone Group.
- Motif, a San Francisco-based software provider for the architecture, engineering, and construction industry, raised $46 million in seed and Series A funding. Redpoint Ventures led the seed round and was joined by Baukunst. CapitalG led the Series A round and was joined by existing investor Baukunst.
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