Sourcery → Peter Thiel’s T-Shirt

Balaji’s Island, Elon/Trump, Hadrian, Alex Karp, Carta 👕 Payzen, Caresyntax, Re:Build Manufacturing, Quantum Circuits, DevRev, Chaos Labs, EliseAI, MD Ally, Levels, Capitalize

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Musings

Macro

• Peter Thiel [Joe Rogan Experience]

  • Best clip by Alex Kolicich: California is like Saudi Arabia

  • It’s not Rogan without Aliens.. Peter’s take on UAPs

  • Viral clip: Computer science is not science (full segment) - however, this was not his first take on this hot topic, check out this clip from his convo with Mike Solana

  • Jeffrey Epstein conspiracy theories..

  • For those interested, here is his infamous t-shirt (100x better than that damn leather NVIDIA jacket)

• Elon, Trump Interview Breaks Records & The EU Wants To Censor Everyone [Pirate Wires]

• Break up Google, Starbucks CEO out, Kamala’s price controls, Boeing disaster, Kursk offensive [All-in]

  • Starbucks CEO out Chipotle in with one of the best packages ever → Why new Starbucks CEO Brian Niccol is worth the $85 million and remote California office [Yahoo! Finance] (Reigning in SoCal as one of the best locations in the world to work.. Thiel can attest.)

Education

• Primer’s CEO Ryan Delk went viral on their mission to launch 1,000s of microschools

• Balaji scored an island (yess.. an island.) near Singapore to launch The Network School

AI

• Palantir has partnered with Microsoft to integrate advanced AI capabilities into US defense and intelligence networks, potentially revolutionizing AI use in national security. [AI News]

• MIT researchers have found that as large language models (LLMs) improve their language abilities, they develop their own understanding of reality, potentially leading to more advanced and accurate AI systems. [MIT News]

• Elon Musk's X has launched the Grok-2 and Grok-2 mini AI models in beta [Techcrunch]

Deep Tech

• This High-Tech Factory [Hadrian] Makes Parts For Rockets And Fighter Jets 10 Times Faster [Forbes]

• Alex Karp Has Money and Power. So What Does He Want? [NYT]

  • In a rare in-depth interview, this billionaire man of mystery, the head of Palantir Technologies, talks about war, A.I. and America’s future.

VC

• Start-up failures rise 60% as founders face hangover from boom years [Financial Times]

• Carta’s latest viral reporting on the state of emerging managers [VC Fund Performance: Q1 2024]

  • Notable analyses: 

    • Samir Kajji of Allocate on Linkedin

    • Dave Clark breaks down in a thorough X thread

  • Your check size dictates your fund strategy | Charles Hudson (Precursor Ventures) [Peter Walker @ Carta]

    • Fantastic conversation, Charles is a name to know & follow if you don’t already

• VC funds can be structured dramatically differently, Kyle Harrison of Contrary shares this dramatic graphic of AUM between two very different, yet ‘successful,’ infamous Silicon Valley strategies (A16Z vs USV)

  • Go deeper The Puritans of Venture Capital or check out our interview with Kyle

Health

• Dr. Martha Beck: Access Your Best Self With Mind-Body Practices, Belief Testing & Imagination [Huberman]

• Dr. Layne Norton: Tools for Nutrition & Fitness [Huberman]

Top Interviews

• The Quiet Revolution in DNA Sequencing | Nucleus Genomics

• Masha Bucher, Day One Ventures: Investing in The Biggest Ideas Possible

• John Coogan, EIR Founders Fund, Founder of Lucy & Soylent

• Exclusive | Chris Power of Hadrian: $10B or Zero, Revitalizing American Manufacturing

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Last Week (8/12-8/16):

Relevant deals include the 85+ deals across stages below. 

I've categorized the deals below into eight categories, Fintech, Care, Enterprise / Consumer, HardTech, Sustainability, Acquisition/PE, IPO, and Fund Announcements, and ordered from later-stage rounds to early-stage rounds.

Highlighted VC Deals include: 

Payzen, Caresyntax, Re:Build Manufacturing, Quantum Circuits, DevRev, Chaos Labs, EliseAI, MD Ally, Levels, Capitalize

Acquisitions & PE

Hadrian/Datum, Mars/Kellanova, EQT/PropertyGuru, Lockheed Martin/Terran Orbital, 

Funds

Resurgens Technology Partners, Franklin Venture Partners

Final Numbers

Inflation Cools to Lowest Level Since March 2021 and the Performance of Major US Indexes 

New Research 

Liquid water in the Martian mid-crust (!!!!!!!!), An Accurate and Rapidly Calibrating Speech Neuroprosthesis, + Sport and longevity: an observational study of international athletes

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VC Deals 

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

Fintech:

- PayZen, a San Francisco, CA-based AI-powered healthcare patient financing solution provider, raised $232M in Series B funding, led by NEA and supported by 7wireVentures, SignalFire, Viola Ventures, and others.

- Chaos Labs, an NYC-based on chain risk management company, closed $55M in Series A funding, led by Haun Ventures and joined by F-Prime Capital, Slow Ventures, Spartan Capital, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Galaxy Ventures, Wintermute Ventures, PayPal Ventures, General Catalyst, Bessemer Venture Partners, Coinbase Ventures, and other notable executives.

- Setpoint, an NYC-based infrastructure provider for the credit industry, closed $31M in Series B funding, led by 645 Ventures and supported by Citi, Wells Fargo, Andreessen Horowitz, NextView Ventures, Floating Point, Vesta Ventures, Fifth Wall, Eltura Ventures, Outrunner Capital, and other investors.

- Amount, a Chicago, IL-based digital origination and decisioning SaaS platform, raised $30M in equity funding, led by Curql and joined by Goldman Sachs, WestCap, Hanaco, and QED Investors.

- Capitalize, an NYC-based retirement asset management platform for finding and transferring retirement assets, secured $19M in Series B funding, led by RRE Ventures with support from Canapi Ventures, Bling Capital, and Industry Ventures.

- Cardea, an Atlanta, GA-based global asset management firm, secured a $15M convertible note funding, backed by both existing shareholders and new strategic partners.

- Sepio, a Rockville, MD-based physical layer-based asset risk management solution provider, received an undisclosed amount in its Series B funding extension, bringing the total amount raised to $48M, led by Tau Capital.

- Mesh, a San Francisco, CA-based modern connectivity layer for crypto payments and deposits, secured an undisclosed strategic funding investment from QuantumLight.

- Lukka, an NYC-based global blockchain data provider, secured an undisclosed funding investment from Animoca Capital.

Care:

- Caresyntax, a San Francisco, CA-based vendor-neutral precision surgery data platform, completed a $180M Series C funding round, backed by Symbiotic Capital, MTIP AG, BIONIQ Capital, PFM Health Sciences, Pictet Alternative Advisors, surgical.ai, BlackRock Innovation Capital, Aescuvest, Optum Ventures, Cure Capital, Relyens Group, Vesalius Biocapital, Lauxera Capital, Plug & Play Growth Fund, and ProAssurance Corp.

- Companion Protect, a Kansas City, MO-based pet health administration company, closed $20.25M in Series A extension backed by Avanta Ventures, Liberty Mutual Insurance, Old Republic International Corporation, and Stray Dog Enterprises.

- MD Ally, an NYC-based 911 diversion, care, and navigation solutions provider, raised $14M in Series A funding, co-led by Frist Cressey Ventures and General Catalyst, with support from Techstars, Seae Ventures, Red & Blue Ventures, and Alumni Ventures.

- Levels, an NYC-based software platform that shows users how food affects their health, closed $10M in Series A Extension funding, backed by Long Journey, a16z, and others.

- Amulet, a Madison, WI-based portable sensor technology provider for food allergens and contaminant identification, completed a $6M Series A funding round, led by HealthX Ventures alongside Incite Ventures, AllerFund, Mendota Venture Capital, Great Oaks Venture Capital, and other individual investors.

- Myavana, an Atlanta, GA-based AI-driven personalized hair care company, secured $5.9M in Seed funding, backed by Prisma Ventures, H/L Ventures, New Age Capital, BrainTrust, Duo Partners, REFASHIOND Ventures, Resilient Ventures, Amazon, Reform Ventures, and NGC Capital.

- Rx Save Card, a Chicago, IL-based pharmacy benefit solution provider, closed $1.7M in Pre-Seed funding, led by Distributed Ventures and supported by industry insiders.

- CuraLinc Healthcare, a Chicago, IL-based employee assistance (EAP), student and workforce mental health program provider, secured an undisclosed amount of investment from Lightyear Capital.

- RŌZ, a Los Angeles, CA-based haircare product line made by celebrity hairstylist Mara Roszak, completed an undisclosed amount in Seed funding, led by Silas Capital, with contributions from G9 Ventures and other angels.

Enterprise/Consumer:

- DevRev, a Palo Alto, CA-based integrated AI-native customer support and product development platform, raised $100M in Series A funding, at $1.1B valuation, led by Khosla Ventures, Mayfield Fund, and Param Hansa Values, with participation from various tech CEOs and VCs.

- EliseAI, an NYC-based provider of a conversational AI platform for the housing industry, secured $75M in Series D funding, at a valuation in excess of $1B, led by Sapphire Ventures alongside Navitas Capital, Point72 Private Investments, DivcoWest Ventures, and Koch Real Estate Investments.

- Sahara AI, a Los Angeles, CA-based decentralized blockchain platform for open and equitable AI, closed $43M in funding, led by Pantera Capital, Binance Labs, and Polychain Capital, with contributions from Samsung NEXT, Matrix Partners, dao5, Geekcartel, Nomad Capital, SCB 10X, Canonical Capital, Mirana Ventures, Foresight Ventures, Dispersion Capital, Aegis Ventures, Alumni Ventures, and Tangent Ventures, among others.

- Guidewheel, a San Francisco, CA-based AI-powered productivity and performance optimization platform for manufacturers, raised $31M in Series B funding, led by Decarbonization Partners and supported by Ecolab, Rethink Impact, GSBackers, Greycroft, and Breakthrough Energy Ventures (BEV), among others.

- Encord, a San Francisco, CA-based AI data development platform for advanced vision and multimodal teams, closed $30M in Series B funding, led by Next47 alongside Y Combinator, CRV, and Crane Venture Partners.

- ITpipes, a Seattle, WA-based pipeline inspection software provider, secured $20M in funding, led by Trilogy Search Partners and Miramar Equity Partners.

- CruxOCM, a CA-based co-pilot technology provider for control room operators, closed $17M in Series A funding, led by M12 and joined by ONEOK, Raven Indigenous Capital Partners, EIC Rose Rock Fund, Angular Ventures, Bullpen Capital, Root Ventures, Industry Ventures, Cendana Capital, Pipeline Capital Partners, and Golden Ventures.

- CodeRabbit, a Walnut Creek, CA-based AI-powered code review platform for developers, raised $16M in Series A funding, led by CRV, alongside Flex Capital and Engineering Capital.

- UptimeAI, a San Francisco, CA-based AI-based plant monitoring software for industrial businesses, closed $14M in Series A funding, led by WestBridge Capital with contributions from Emergent Ventures and Aditya Birla Ventures.

- ArborXR, a Norman, Oklahoma-based enterprise-grade extended reality (XR) mobile device management, content management, and content distribution solution provider, secured $12M in funding, led by Mercury Fund and Cortado Ventures, with support from Impact Venture Capital and Lewis & Clark Ventures.

- Consensus, a Boston, MA-based AI-powered search engine provider for scientific research, raised $11.5M in Series A funding, led by Union Square Ventures and joined by Nat Friedman, Daniel Gross, Draper Associates, Kevin Carter, Path Ventures, and Alumni Ventures.

- Actuate, an NYC-based innovator in computer vision technology for remote video guarding, secured $11.5M in funding, led by Gray Line Partners, with contributions from Tribeca Venture Partners, Bling Capital, Tensility Venture Partners, and Upside Partnership.

- Livly, a Chicago, IL-based rental property management software provider, raised $10M in funding from undisclosed investors.

- Spline, a NYC-based collaborative 3D design platform, closed $10M in Series A funding, led by Third Point Ventures and joined by Gradient Ventures, Y Combinator, Firestreak, Jorn van Dijk (CEO of Framer), and Guillermo Rauch (CEO of Vercel).

- Bandana, a New York-based worker empowerment and work-life management platform, raised $8.5M in funding, led by General Catalyst, with contributions from Craft Ventures and Triple Impact Capital.

- Goodfire, a San Francisco, CA-based startup demystifying generative AI models, secured $7M in Seed funding, led by Lightspeed Venture Partners and joined by Menlo Ventures, South Park Commons, Work-Bench, Juniper Ventures, Mythos Ventures, Bluebirds Capital, and other angel investors.

- Garden, a New York City-based patent system software company, closed $6.8M in Seed funding, led by Spark Capital and joined by Craft Ventures, Mischief, Uncommon Capital, and angel investors.

- Ragie, a San Francisco, CA-based AI application development platform, raised $5.5M in funding, led by Craft Ventures, Saga VC, Chapter One, and Valor.

- DSTLRY, a New York-based digital comics marketplace, raised $5M in seed funding, led by 1AM Gaming alongside Kodansha USA and Groupe Delcourtalso.

- definity, a Chicago, IL-based data application observability & remediation platform for spark data analytics environments, closed $4.5M in Seed funding, led by StageOne Ventures and joined by Hyde Park Venture Partners and other angel investors.

- Heatmap, an NYC-based data analytics tool for e-commerce websites, secured $4M in Seed funding, led by Vine Ventures alongside Hawke Ventures, Pari Passu Venture Partners, el cap, and Mu Ventures, among other angel investors. 

- Reforged Labs, a San Francisco, CA-based video ad creation automation platform for games, completed a $3.9M Seed funding round, led by DCM and joined by Y Combinator, Epakon Capital, Goodwater Capital, Phoenix Fund, Asymmetry Ventures, and other angel investors.

- Cosine, a London, UK- and San Francisco, CA-based human-like, autonomous AI software developer, secured $2.5M in funding, led by Uphonest and SOMA Capital, with support from Lakestar, Focal, and others.

- Tedu, a Miami, FL-based EdTech company, raised $2M in Seed funding, led by Cofounders Capital alongside Greenwood Cavalier and other angel investors.

- Fair, a USA-based vehicle breakdown protection startup, secured $1.44M in Pre-Seed funding, led by Blue Collective, Antler, and Redbud.

- GoWit, an Irvine, CA- and Newark, DE-based retail media advertising platform, closed $1.3M in funding, led by Formus Capital, APY Ventures, Mindvest, and DCP.

- FuseBase, a Cleveland, OH-based comprehensive AI-powered workflow optimization platform, completed a $700K Seed funding round, led by AltaIR Capital, Yellow Rocks, Smart Partnership Capital, and I2BF Global Ventures.

- VoyceMe, an NYC-based manga and webtoon creator platform, closed an undisclosed amount in funding, led by Redpoint Ventures, with support from Torch Capital, Red Sea Ventures, and Clara Vista Partners.

HardTech:

- Re:Build Manufacturing, a Framingham, MA-based industrial manufacturing company, secured $120M in funding led by General Catalyst.

- Quantum Circuits, a New Haven, CT-based quantum computer developer, completed a $60M Series B funding round, led by ARCH Venture Partners, F-Prime Capital, Sequoia Capital, and Hither Creek Ventures, with support from Canaan Partners, Fitz Gate Ventures, In-Q-Tel (IQT), Osage University Partners, Connecticut Innovations, Tao Capital Partners, and Tribeca Venture Partners.

- Intramotev, a St. Louis, MO-based developer of autonomous, battery-electric railcars for freight transportation, secured $14M in Series A funding, co-led by Flybridge Capital Partners and Alpaca VC, with support from Advantage Capital, Cathcart Rail, Aera VC, Band Venture Partners, Cantos, Collide Capital, Decisive Point, and Idealab. 

- Vanilla, a Salt Lake City, UT-based estate planning software company, closed an undisclosed amount of funding, led by Insight Partners, with participation from Venrock, Vanguard, Edward Jones Ventures, and Alumni Ventures.

- Thintronics, Inc., a Berkeley, CA-based electronic materials startup, secured an undisclosed amount in a Series A extension funding round, led by Maverick Capital and Translink Capital, with support from M Ventures, TGVP, and Tallwood Venture Capital.

- Eliyan, a Santa Clara, CA-based semiconductor company, secured an undisclosed strategic funding investment, bringing the total raised to over $100M, led by VentureTech Alliance.

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Acquisitions & PE:

- Hadrian, a Torrance, CA-based advanced manufacturing company, acquired Datum Source, a Newport Beach, CA-based procurement management Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) platform and manufacturing network, for an undisclosed amount.