Sourcery → Founder Mode

Softbank’s $13B Loss, Howard Marks, Gavin Baker, Pirate Idol 🎾 Magic, Cribl, Codeium, OpusClip, Bland AI, Parry Labs, Last Energy, Comun, Revenew, Solace

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Hello from LA

While most of you were recharging, avoiding your email, feeling the Burn’, and enjoying the last bits of ‘summer’ we were delightfully reminded that there are, in fact, no breaks in tech.. And that’s why ‘Founder Mode’ was created. 

Airbnb’s Brian Chesky shared his powerful ‘inflection point’ aka ‘Founder Mode’ mindset at a recent YC event, sparking massive X virality. Instead of succumbing to preconceived or assumed notions of how an organization ‘should be’ or is ‘expected to run’, Chesky reflects on his ‘aha’ survival moment to embrace his instincts to be more hands-on. Something Elon Musk, Steve Jobs, Bezos, and more embody quite well. Not bad. This movement might even be greater than ‘we are so back’ or ‘time to build.’ Plus, women have even been given permission to join in on the fun (smh) - RIP to cancel culture.

Check out the blog post Paul Graham went deeper on outlining his interpretation between ‘Founder Mode’ and ‘Manager Mode,’ & this clip of Chesky (below).

Musings

Macro

• Tech Macro Update in 10 Charts

• Behind The Memo: The Impact of Debt with Howard Marks and Morgan Housel [The Memo by Howard Marks]

  • The two discuss ideas from Howard’s recent memo “The Impact of Debt,” which was inspired by Morgan’s article “How I Think About Debt.” They explore the relationship between leverage and longevity, the nature of risk, and the eternal relevance of Voltaire’s famous saying: “History doesn’t repeat itself. Man always does.”

VC

• Entering “Investor Mode” → Jesus Christ was also misunderstood, Masayoshi Son tells investors [FT]

  • SoftBank founder defends $13b annual loss by comparing himself to the Son of God

AI

• Gavin Baker - AI, Semiconductors, and the Robotic Frontier [Invest like the best]

  • Gavin Baker is the Managing Partner and CIO of Atreides Management. They cover the competition at scale among the Magnificent Seven, what he's learned from observing Nvidia's growth over a quarter-century, and how investors should approach the current AI paradigm.

Health

• Andrew Huberman [Joe Rogan]

More

• Mark Zuckerberg Regrets Working With Biden, Telegram Founder Arrested, & PIRATE IDOL Week 2 [Pirate Wires]

  • Hmm.. someone looks oddly familiar in this segment → 44:40 - PIRATE IDOL - The Weeks Topic: The Guardian Wants More Tech Boses Would Be Arrested - WTF?

• Jail the Tech Bros [Pirate Wires]

  • Brazil bans x as the global war on speech continues, the overton window shifts to jailing founders, and facing the despotism now before us

• Eric Weinstein - Are We On The Brink Of A Revolution? [Chris Williamson]

  • Interesting convo

• In conversation with Reid Hoffman & Robert F. Kennedy Jr. [All-in Pod]

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Last Week (8/26-8/30):

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: 

Magic, Cribl, Codeium, OpusClip, Bland AI, Parry Labs, Last Energy, Comun, Revenew, Solace

Acquisitions & PE

Pluralsight, GrubMarket

Funds

LS Power Group, CenterOak Partners, and G Squared.

Final Numbers

Final numbers on the growth of the US economy in Q2 2024 and Nvidia's valuation still mostly about the future at the bottom.

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VC Deals 

This roundup was customized & powered by Wonder. Start your free trial here.

Fintech:

- Comun, an NYC-based Latino-founded neobank providing modern banking solutions to immigrants in the U.S., secured $21.5M in Series A funding, led by Redpoint Ventures and joined by Animo Ventures, Costanoa Ventures, FJ Labs, RTP Global, and South Park Commons.

- Corn, a developer of an Ethereum (ETH) Layer-2 network that uses its hybrid tokenized Bitcoin (BTCN) as gas and redirects network yield back to users and protocols, closed $6.7M in funding, led by Polychain Capital with support from Binance Labs, Framework Ventures, ABCDE, Symbolic Capital, HTX Ventures, Relayer Capital, and other angels.

- Quai, an Austin, TX-based Layer-1 crypto network provider for the computing industry, raised $5M in funding, backed by Cogitent Ventures, MH Ventures, TPC Ventures, Giga Chad Ventures, and DexCheck Ventures.

- Chainbound, a New York based startup that builds optimized infrastructure and networking tools for blockchains, closed $4.6M in Seed funding, led by Cyber Fund, with support from Maven 11, Semantic, Robot Ventures, Bankless Ventures, Anagram, Chorus One, Delphi Ventures, Symbolic Capital Partners, and angels.

- Revenew, a San Francisco, CA-based payment operations and optimization platform, secured $4.6M in Seed funding, led by Fika Ventures, with support from Dash Fund and TTV Capital.

- Linker Finance, a Pasadena, CA-based provider of a platform that empowers community banks to take back control of their digital banking experience, closed $3.7M in Seed funding, led by Ten One Ten Ventures and Chingona Ventures, with support from Audaz Capital, Techstars, Commerce Ventures, Bank of Brodhead, and other angels.

- Peregrine Exploration, an NYC-based blockchain development company, raised $3.6M in funding, led by Polychain Capital and Dragonfly, with contributions from Robot Ventures, Pier Two, EIV, Global Coin Research, and other angels.

- Echelon, a San Francisco, CA-based decentralized lending protocol, secured $3.5M in Seed funding, led by Amber Group, with support from Laser Digital, Saison Capital, Selini Capital, Interop Ventures, and Re7.

Care:

- Solace, a Redwood City, CA-based digital health platform, closed $14M in Series A funding, led by Inspired Capital and joined by Anne Wojcicki, Susan Wojcicki, RiverPark Ventures, Craft Ventures, Torch Capital, and others.

- Curio Digital Therapeutics Inc., a New Jersey-based innovative US company treating postpartum depression (PPD) and other underserved women’s mental health conditions, secured a double digit funding round, backed by RYSE Asset Management, ONCE, Bridge Point Capital, and Avestria. 

Enterprise/Consumer:

- Magic, an SF-based generative AI coding company, raised $320M from Eric Schmidt, CapitalG, Atlassian, Elad Gil, Jane Street, Nat Friedman, Daniel Gross, and Sequoia Capital.

- Cribl, a San Francisco, CA-based data engine company for IT and security, brought in $319M in Series E funding at a $3.5B valuation, led by Google Ventures and joine by GIC, CapitalG, IVP, and CRV.

- Codeium, a Mountain View, CA-based AI-powered code acceleration platform, closed $150M in Series C funding at a $1.25B valuation, led by General Catalyst alongside Kleiner Perkins and Greenoaks.

- Rentvine, an Estero, FL-based property management software platform, received a $74M investment from Mainsail Partners.

- Butlr, a Burlingame, CA-based physical AI (PAI) startup, secured $38M in Series B funding backed by Pacific Alliance Venture, GS Futures, DNX Ventures, Ray Stata, Joi Ito, Carrier, and Qualcomm.

- nOps, a San Francisco, CA-based AI-enabled AWS optimization and management platform for businesses, brought in $30M in Series A funding, led by Headlight Partners.

- OpusClip, a Redwood City, CA-based AI-powered video repurposing startup, brought in $30M in funding, led by Millennium New Horizons and joined by Samsung Next, GTMfund, and DCM Ventures.

- Siepe, a Dallas, Texas-based software and technology services provider for asset management, raised $30M in Series B funding from WestCap.

- Miris, a Culver City, CA-based spatial streaming technology company, secured $26M in Seed funding, led by IAG Capital Partners.

- Supio, a Seattle, WA-based purpose-built AI platform for personal injury and mass tort plaintiff law firms, completed a $25M Series A funding round, led by Sapphire Ventures, with contributions from Bonfire Ventures and Foothill Ventures.

- Home Run Dugout, Austin, TX-based entertainment provider, brought in $22.5M in Series A funding, led by Lagniappe Capital Partners with support from BCS Capital and from existing investors.

- HomeLight, a Scottsdale, AZ-based real estate technology platform, raised $20M in Series D extension funding, led by Zeev Ventures, with support from Stereo Capital and Menlo Ventures, among others.

- SxT Labs, an LA-based developer of a “verifiable compute layer,” raised $20M in

Series A funding from Framework Ventures, Lightspeed Faction, Arrington Capital,

Hivemind Capital, M12, DCG, F-Prime Capital, OKX Ventures, Circle Ventures, and

Alumni Ventures.

- Space and Time, a Newport Beach, CA-based blockchain data warehouse developer, completed a $20M Series A funding, led by Framework Ventures, Lightspeed Faction, Arrington Capital, and Hivemind Capital.

- Pylon, a San Francisco, CA-based support platform for B2B companies, raised $17M in Series A funding, led by Andreessen Horowitz, with support from General Catalyst, Y Combinator, and others.

- Bland AI, a San Francisco, CA-based enterprise phone call automation platform using hyper-realistic AI agents, secured $16M in Series A funding, led by Scale Venture Partners and supported by Y Combinator and other angel investors.

- Levitate, a Raleigh, NC-based SaaS ‘Happiness Platform’ for relationship-based businesses, brought in $15M in Series D funding, bringing the total amount raised to $55M, led by Harbert Growth Partners, Northwestern Mutual Future Ventures, and Bull City Venture Partners.

- Tilt, a Fort Collins, CO-based leave management solutions platform, secured $15M in Series B funding, led by Bramalea Partners, with support from HearstLab, Firework Ventures, Origin Ventures, and Techstars.

- Planera, a San Jose, CA-based construction CPM scheduling and planning solution, brought in $13.5M in Series A funding, led by Sierra Ventures, with support from Sorenson Capital, Brick and Mortar Ventures, Prudence VC, and Firebolt Ventures.

- Gameplay Galaxy, an SF-based web3 gaming company, secured $11.2M in Seed extension funding from Blockchain Capital and Merit Circle.

- pgEdge, an Alexandria, VA-based distributed PostgreSQL company, closed $10M in funding, led by Rally Ventures, with support from Sands Capital Ventures and Grotech Ventures.

- Turntable Labs, the Miami, FL-based company behind the new social music platform Hangout, completed an $8.2M Seed funding round, led by Founders Fund, Elizabeth Street Ventures, 468 Capital, and f7 Ventures, with support from Michael Guimarin.

- Rep AI Technologies, a New York City-based AI concierge platform, closed $8.2M in funding, led by Osage Venture Partners and joined by Flashpoint Venture Capital and Oryzn Capital.

- Wethos AI, a Ne wport Beach, CA-based AI-driven team optimization company, brought in $7.5M in Seed funding, led by Jeff Herbst at GFT Ventures, with support from Miramar Digital Ventures, UCI Cove Fund, and Capellas Partners.

- Evolve, an Atlanta, GA-based prefabrication workflow tech company, secured over $6M in Growth funding from undisclosed investors.

- Vybe, an AI-generated photos social media app provider, closed $4.75M in Seed funding,   led by Stellation Capital, with contributions from Scribble Ventures, Coalition Operators, Neo, and Blueprint FTC, as well as other angel investors.

- Pangeam, a San Francisco, CA-based B2B SaaS workplace intelligence platform, raised $4.25M in Seed funding, led by Neotribe, with support from SNR Ventures, DVC, and Niremia Capital.

- Inventive AI, a Mountain View, CA-based AI-driven Request for Proposal and sales questionnaire workflow optimization platform, raised $4M in funding, led by Sierra Ventures and joined by YCombinator, SOMA Capital, and General Catalyst.

- PrivacyHawk, a Los Angeles, CA-based consumer data protection, closed an additional $3M in funding, backed by K Street Capital, ffVC, Cadron Capital, Alliance Catalyst Fund, Array, Liebenthal Ventures, Alumni Ventures, Duro, and Gaingels.

- Agency AI, a San Francisco, CA-based AgentOps.ai platform developer, secured $2.6M in Pre-Seed funding, led by 645 Ventures and Afore Capital.

- Moveo.AI, an NYC-based enterprise conversational AI startup, completed a $2.6M Seed funding round, led by Eleven Ventures alongside Uni.Fund and Charge.vc.

- Fleet, a San Francisco, CA-based commuter benefits management platform, brought it $2.5M in Seed funding, led by Congruent Ventures and supported by Great Oaks Venture Capital, Plug and Play Ventures, Rally Cap, and Virta Ventures.

- Katara, a Dover, DE-based AI-agent workflow automation platform, secured $2.2M in Seed funding, led by Diagram Ventures and Sparkle Ventures, with support from StreamingFast and other strategic angels.

- Pryzm Dynamics, a Boston, MA-based enterprise tools, data, and context provider for navigating government contracting, closed $2M in funding, led by XYZ Venture Capital and Amplify.LA, with support from First In and other investors.

- Moxfive, a McLean, VA-based cybersecurity company, secured an undisclosed amount of growth investment from Falfurrias Management Partners.

- VRGL, a Dallas, TX-based client acquisition and investment proposal management platform, closed an undisclosed amount of funding, led by FINTOP Capital and MissionOG, with contributions from Northwestern Mutual, Flyover Capital, Fin Capital, and other insiders.

HardTech:

- Parry Labs, an Alexandria, VA-based defense technology company developing next generation open architecture mission solutions, raised $80M in its first funding round, led by Capitol Meridian Partners and joined by True Ventures, 3Wire Partners, and Teamworthy Ventures.

- Last Energy, a Washington, D.C., developer of micro-nuclear power plants, raised $40M in Series B funding from Gigafund, the Autodesk Foundation, and family offices.

Sustainability:

- MOXY, a Las Vegas, Nev.-based wood and plant fiber mineralization technology company, secured $11M in funding, led by At One Ventures and was joined by others.

- Aerflo, a Brooklyn, NY-based portable carbonation device developer for transforming still into sparkling water, secured $10M+ in funding, led by Lerer Hippeau and Torch Capital, with support from Closed Loop Ventures Group, Good Friends, SWAT Equity Partners, WISE Ventures, Bluestein Ventures, RiverPark Ventures, and Palm Tree Crew, among others.

- Apricus Generation, a Miami, FL-based holding company building a national distributed solar and battery development platform and Independent Power Producer (IPP), closed an undisclosed amount in Series A funding, led by Blue Marlin Partners and Current Yield alongside (CYwP) Fund.

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Acquisitions & PE:

- euNetworks, a bandwidth infrastructure company based in London and owned by Stonepeak, announced a €2.1B equity recapitalization, led by a Stonepeak fund, anchored by Mercer and Aware Super, with support from the Investment Management Corporation of Ontario and APG Asset Management.