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Hello from Hereticon
It’s Mike Solana’s world, and we’re all just living in it. With a select group of ~500 techies coming to Miami to celebrate Founders Fund’s annual Mike Solana Apocalypse Ball, some major heretical beliefs are about to be unleashed and are highly encouraged.
Of my uncancelable beliefs.. I, for one, believe willpower does exist, happiness is a choice, rubber bands should be canceled, the US is over-medicated, LA is the optimal place for climate change, and that we’re going to get wiped out from the increasing prevalence of solar flares and Coronal mass ejections (CMEs) leading to geomagnetic storms.. Oh, hmm, I also don’t believe in venture capital’s ‘exponential growth.’ 😂
🏴☠️ Shoutout to Mike’s Pirate Wires! 🏴☠️ If you are a loyal fan of Sourcery, post a comment on the latest YouTube video → ‘voting for Molly’ ‘#mollygang’ etc. so I can move up from third place (ew) to win their pod contest 🏴☠️
Musings
Macro
TSMC’s Arizona Chip Production Yields Surpass Taiwan’s, U.S. Win [Bloomberg]
State of Health Tech 2024 [Bessemer]
VC
General Catalyst raises $8B in fresh funds to back startups globally [TechCrunch]
Misaligned Incentives [Jamin Ball @ Altimeter]
Bridge investment memo (March 2022) [1confirmation]
AI
Introducing Act-One: A new way to generate expressive character performances using simple video inputs [Runway]
Former OpenAI CTO Mira Murati is reportedly fundraising for a new AI startup [TechCrunch]
More
The Podcast Election, Why Markets Predict Trump Victory, & Trump Goes To McDonalds [Pirate Wires]
(vote for Molly in the comments 🏴☠️)
The hard truth: Americans don’t trust the news media [Jeff Bezos]
New Peter Thiel music video just dropped [Praying for Exits]
Top Interviews
Fmr Chief Scientist at Salesforce, Richard Socher | You.com $99M Raised, LLMs, AI Agents, Complex Work
Jeff Morris Jr, Chapter One | Difficult Market for VCs, Is it 'so over'?
Alex Kolicich, 8VC | AI & Defense Tech Renaissance: Palantir, Anduril, SpaceX, OpenAI
Last Week (10/21-10/25):
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:
Mira Murati, Perplexity, Finix, Dyania Health, Tennr, Zip, Granola, Nimble, Carbon Robotics
Acquisitions & PE
GHOST, Secureworks, Effectiv
Funds
General Catalyst, Acrew Capital, Infinity Ventures, Chemistry
Final Numbers
Podcasts are blowing up. + Starbucks vs. Luckin
VC Deals
Fintech:
- Finix, a San Francisco-based full-stack payment processor, raised $75 million in Series C funding. Acrew Capital, Leap Global, and Lightspeed Venture Partners led the round and were joined by Citi Ventures, Tribeca Venture Partners, existing investors Homebrew, Insight Partners, Inspired Capital, Cap Table Coalition, and others.
- Valon, a New York City-based mortgage servicing platform, raised $100 million in Series C funding. WestCap led the round and was joined by existing investor Andreessen Horowitz and others.
- Obligo, a New York-based provider of security deposit options, raised $35m. 83North and True Global Ventures co-led, and were joined by 10D, Entrée Capital, HighSage Ventures, MUFG Innovation Partners, and Viola Credit
- WarrCloud, a St. Louis-based automated warranty processing platform, raised $20 million in Series B funding. Centana Growth Partners led the round and was joined by existing investors Argentum and Automotive Ventures.
- Variational, a George Town, Cayman Islands-based peer-to-peer trading protocol for perpetuals and generalized derivatives, raised $10.3 million in seed funding. Bain Capital Crypto and Peak XV Partners led the round and were joined by Coinbase Ventures, Dragonfly Capital, North Island Ventures, angel investors, and others.
- Ned, a New York City-based cash flow lending platform, raised $4.2 million in seed funding. Impression Ventures led the round and was joined by Capital Eleven.
- Infinite Giving, an Atlanta-based fintech platform for nonprofits, raised $2 million in seed funding. Cubit Capital, Morgan Stanley, and Atlanta Ventures led the round and were joined by angel investors and others.
- Monark, a New York City-based embedded private market investments and trading solutions platform, raised $2.2 million in seed funding. Garuda Ventures led the round and was joined by K50 Ventures, Grit Capital Partners, Niche Capital, and angel investors.
- FinOpsly, a Cincinnati-based AI cloud financial management platform, raised $1.92 million in pre-seed funding. Hyde Park Ventures led the round and was joined by Cintrifuse Capital, Narayan Surabhi, and others.
Care:
- Dyania Health, a Jersey City, N.J.-based LLM for clinical trial recruitment, raised $10m in Series A funding. HealthX Ventures led, with Tech Square Ventures and Cleveland Clinic Ventures participating
- Tennr, a New York City-based health care document reading model developer, raised $37 million in Series B funding. Lightspeed Ventures led the round and was joined by existing investors a16z and Foundation Capital.
- OneStep, a digital physical therapy startup, raised $36m in Series B funding. Team8 and Vintage Investment Partners co-led, and were joined by LionBird, Aleph, and 10D.
- Medtech Alimetry, an Auckland-based gastric diagnostics technology developer, raised $18 million in Series A funding. GD1 led the round and was joined by Olympus Innovation Ventures, IceHouse Ventures, AGA Ventures, and existing investors.
- HealthEx, a San Francisco-based patient preference and consent management platform, raised $14 million in seed and Series A funding. General Catalyst led the round and was joined by Electric Capital.
- Ozlo Sleep, a Boston-based sleep technology products developer, raised $12 million in funding from LifeArc Ventures, Drive by DraftKings, Wise Ventures, and others.
- Counsel Health, a Boston-based physician-led AI health care platform, raised $11 million in seed funding. a16z Bio + Health led the round and was joined by Asymmetric Capital Partners, Floodgate Fund, Pear VC, and others.
- Lin Health, a Denver-based chronic pain recovery digital platform, raised $5.2 million in funding from aMoon, Mayo Clinic, Saban Ventures, and others.
Enterprise/Consumer:
- Mira Murati, who last month stepped down as OpenAI's CTO, is seeking to raise at least $100m for a new startup
- Perplixity AI also is fundraising, seeking to raise over $500m at a valuation of at least $8b, per the WSJ
- Zip, a San Francisco-based AI-powered procurement orchestration platform, raised $190 million in Series D funding. BOND led the round and was joined by Adams Street, Alkeon, DST Global, existing investors CRV, Y Combinator, and others.
- SchooLinks, an Austin-based college and career readiness resources software platform for K-12 students, raised $80 million in Series B funding. Susquehanna Growth Equity led the round and was joined by Stephens Group, Strada, and ASA.
- Concentric AI, a San Mateo, Calif.-based AI-based data security solutions provider, raised $45 million in Series B funding. Top Tier Capital Partners and HarbourVest Partners led the round and was joined by CyberFuture and existing investors Ballistic Ventures, Engineering Capital, Clear Ventures, and Citi Ventures.
- Nooks, a San Francisco-based AI sales assistant platform, raised $43 million in Series B funding. Kleiner Perkins led the round and was joined by existing investors Lachy Groom and Tola Capital.
- Socket, a San Francisco-based software supply chain attacks security platform, raised $40 million in Series B funding. Abstract Ventures led the round and was joined by Elad Gil, Andreessen Horowitz, and angel investors.
- Urbint, a Miami-based AI-powered worker and infrastructure threat detection platform, raised $35 million in funding from S2G Ventures.
- Stream.Security, a Tel Aviv-based real-time cloud security solutions provider, raised $30 million in Series B funding. U.S. Venture Partners led the round and was joined by Citi Ventures and existing investors Energy Impact Partners, Cervin Ventures, TLV Partners, and Glilot Capital Partners VC.
- Interface.ai, a Covina, Calif.-based agentic AI solutions provider for community banks and credit unions, raised $30 million in funding from Avataar Venture Partners.
- Genmo, a San Francisco-based AI video generation research lab, raised $28.4 million in Series A funding. NEA led the round and was joined by The House Fund, Gold House Ventures, WndrCo, angel investors, and others.
- Fixify, an Arlington, Va.-based AI-powered IT help desk solution provider, raised $25 million in Series A funding. Costanoa Ventures, Decibel Partners, and Paladin Capital Group led the round and were joined by Scale Venture Partners.
- CyberGuru, a Rome-based cybersecurity awareness training platform, raised $25 million in Series B funding. Riverside Acceleration Capital led the round and was joined by Educapital and existing investors Adara Ventures and P101 Ventures.
- Pantheon AI, a San Francisco-based AI architecture platform, raised $25 million in funding. Andreessen Horowitz led the round and was joined by Felicis and 8VC.
- Oriole Networks, a London-based LLM training technology developer, raised $22 million in Series A funding. Plural led the round and was joined by existing investors UCL Technology Fund, XTX Ventures, Clean Growth Fund, and Dorilton Ventures.
- Granola, a London-based AI-powered note taking platform, raised $20 million in Series A funding. Spark Capital led the round and was joined by AI Grant, Lightspeed, Betaworks, Firstminute Capital, and others.
- CrewAI, a San Francisco-based AI multi-agent platform, raised $18 million in funding. boldstart ventures led the $6 million inception round. Insight Partners led the $12 million Series A and was joined by Blitzscaling Ventures.
- Genie AI, a London-based AI legal assistant, raised $17.8 million in Series A funding. Google Ventures led the round and was joined by Khosla Ventures.
- Bluesky, a Seattle-based social app, raised $15 million in Series A funding. Blockchain Capital led the round and was joined by Alumni Ventures, True Ventures, SevenX, and others.
- Attention, a New York City-based customer conversation insights platform for sales and revenue teams, raised $14 million in Series A funding. Alven led the round and was joined by Eniac, 645 Ventures, Aglae, and others.
- Oxla, a Polish high-volume analytical data processing startup, raised $11.5m from TQ Ventures, Lead Ventures, Warsaw Equity Group, and 4growth VC
- Rollstack, a New York City-based slide decks and document reporting automation company, raised $11 million in Series A funding. Insight Partners led the round and was joined by existing investor Y Combinator.
- Embedded Intelligence, a New York City-based embedded AI tool developer, raised $10 million in seed funding from General Catalyst, Valor, SV Angel, Conviction Embed, Medal, and others.
- Party Icons, a Hong Kong-based mobile-first gaming platform, raised $9 million in funding. BITKRAFT Ventures led the round and was joined by IDG Capital, Gam3Girl Ventures, Leap Capital, angel investors, and others.
- Paccurate, a New York City-based parcel intelligence and packing optimization platform, raised $8.1 million in Series A funding. High Alpha led the round and was joined by Tech Square Ventures, Grand Ventures, HPA, and others.
- OLOID, a Sunnyvale, Calif.-based access and identity management workplace technology provider, raised $6 million in Series A1 funding. Yaletown Partners, Exposition Ventures, George Kaiser Family Foundation, Carya Ventures led the round and were joined by existing investors.
- Qpoint, a San Francisco-based external service dependencies and traffic flows visibility and control platform, raised $4 million in pre-seed funding. Mango Capital led the round and was joined by Preface Ventures, Scribble Ventures, and Bloomberg Beta.
- Oboe, a personalized learning company, raised $4m in seed funding. Eniac Ventures led, with participation from Haystack, Factorial Capital, Homebrew, Offline Ventures, Scott Belsky, Kayvon Beykpour, Nikita Bier.
- Sidero Labs, a Goleta, Calif.-based Kubernetes management software company, raised $4 million in funding. Hiro Capital led the round and was joined by Sony Innovation Fund.
- Cascade AI, a Seattle-based enterprise AI HR and benefits solution, raised $3.75 million in seed funding. Gradient led the round and was joined by Myriad Venture Partners and Success Venture Partners.
- Uprise, an SF-based financial decision tool for small businesses, raised $3.3m in seed funding. Blank Ventures led, and was joined by Graham & Walker, Hustle Fund, and Dash Fund.
- Boardy, a New York City-based AI social connection platform, raised $3 million in pre-seed funding from HF0, 8VC, Precursor, and others.
- [cafeteria], a New York City-based brand insights production platform for teens, raised $3 million in seed funding. Collaborative Fund and Imaginary Ventures led the round and were joined by Bertelsmann and Guy Oseary.
- Dippy AI, a Toronto-based AI companion character developer, raised $2.1 million in pre-seed funding. Drive Capital led the round and was joined by Carya VC, Cory Levy, Hustle Fund, and Pareto20.
- Mave, a Toronto-based AI real estate assistant, raised $2 million CAD ($1.4 million) in pre-seed funding. Relay Ventures and N49P led the round and were joined by Alate Partners, Clarim Ventures, Gambit Partners, angel investors, and others.
HardTech:
- Nimble, an SF-based autonomous e-commerce fulfillment company, raised $106m in Series C funding valuing it at $1b. FedEx and Cedar Pine co-led.
- Carbon Robotics, a Seattle-based AI-powered farming technology company, raised $70 million in Series D funding. BOND led the round and was joined by existing investors NVentures, Anthos Capital, Fuse Venture Capital, and others.
- Zephyr, a New York City-based home services platform for technicians, raised $60 million in funding. Elda River Capital and The Pritzker Organization led the round and were joined by Juxtapose.
- Pantheon AI, an AI-focused architecture startup, raised $25m. A16z led, and was joined by Felicis and 8VC
- BiltOn, a New York City-based construction operations and risk management software platform formerly named Beti, raised $15 million in Series B funding. PSG Equity led the round and was joined by Titan Capital and 97212 Ventures.
- Adden Energy, a Waltham, Mass.-based battery technology developer, raised $15 million in Series A funding. At One Ventures led the round and was joined by Primavera Capital Group, Rhapsody Venture Partners, and MassVentures.
- FiberSense, a Sydney-based smart sensing technology developer, raised $14 million in funding. Prosus Ventures led the round and was joined by Investible, existing investor Colinton Capital, and others.
- Freeform, a Hawthorne, Calif.-based AI-driven metal 3D printing company, raised $14 million in funding from NVentures and AE Ventures.
- Aether, a solar installation software maker, raised $2.5m in seed funding. Noa led, with participation from Y Combinator, Collab Fund, Amino Capital, and Climate Capital
- Revyse, a Bend, Ore.-based vendor management software for the multifamily industry, raised $1 million in seed funding from RET Ventures.
Sustainability:
- Turnover Labs, a New York City-based decarbonization technology developer for the chemical manufacturing industry, raised $1.4 million in pre-seed funding. Pace Ventures and GC Ventures led the round and were joined by Sandy Spring Climate Partners and others.
Acquisitions & PE:
- Stripe confirmed plans to acquire stablecoin startup Bridge, with reports pegging the price at around $1.1b. Bridge had raised nearly $60m Sequoia Capital, Ribbit, Haun Ventures, Bedrock, Index Ventures, and 1confirmation.
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