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Meta Censorship, SpaceX, Nikita Bier, Lux
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Hello From a Fountain of Youth
As a bit of a health junky I have moderately tested more supplements, exercises, hot/cold therapies, woo-woo LA yoga classes than I probably need to (and sometimes my body can handle), but great news from my latest experiment with Function Health, I am 18 years old again, hallelujah. It works. I am officially younger than Bryan Johnson.
Function Health was co-founded by Dr. Mark Hyman, and covers 100+ biomarker lab tests to start each year of membership. No hidden cost. No insurance involved. 60+ lab tests 3-6 months later to see what’s changing. Insights from top doctors based on your results. Access to re-test at transparent prices, as needed. Access to purchase non-routine tests (e.g. Lyme, STDs, allergies), as needed. Access to purchase groundbreaking new diagnostics (e.g. Galleri Multi-Cancer Early Detection), as needed.. It’s pretty comprehensive, and surprisingly very affordable if you’re into this kind of thing.
No affiliation, just obviously very excited that I’ll have to start applying to colleges again. Link to tweet with some input from Function in comments. If you’d like an early-access code, reply, I might have some left!
Musings
Free Speech / Censorship
Pavel Durov, Founder of Telegram → High Profile Arrest in France
Sequoia’s Shaun Maguire on X: The World is underestimating the significance of the Pavel Durov arrest
The charges against Pavel Durov, the future of encryption, and secondaries are heating up [Jason Calacanis]
Mark Zuckerberg says White House pressured Meta over Covid-19 content [FT]
Says Biden administration was ‘wrong’ and is ready to ‘push back’ in future
Consumer
How to consistently go viral: Nikita Bier’s playbook for winning at consumer apps [Lenny’s Podcast]
VC
Josh Wolfe (Lux Capital): Predictions on Emerging Technologies, AI, and the Future of VC [Logan Bartlett]
Lux’s Q2 2024 LP Letter [Josh Wolfe on X]
Long Journey's Strategy for Chasing "Magically Weird" Companies [Turpentine VC]
Health
“American health has been destroyed” | Calley & Casey Means: How Big Pharma Keeps You Sick, and the Dark Truth About Ozempic and the Pill
Despite the scary title, check out some scarier stats we pulled on X
Space
SpaceX’s Polaris Dawn is set to launch 8/27 at 3:38am ET→ Livestream Here + Follow on X
During their multi-day mission to orbit, Dragon and the crew will endeavor to reach the highest Earth orbit ever flown since the Apollo program and participate in the first-ever extravehicular activity (EVA) by commercial astronauts wearing SpaceX-developed EVA suits.
This will also be the first time two SpaceX employees will be part of a human spaceflight crew, providing valuable insight to future missions on the road to making life multiplanetary.
Luis "Lue" Elizondo former head of the Pentagon’s Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program (AATIP), which investigated UFOs, now referred to as Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAP)
More
VC firm 1984 Ventures created this cool cap table worksheet so founders can see how much dilution they're taking [Elizabeth Yin]
Top Interviews
Last Week (8/19-8/23):
Relevant deals include the 90+ deals across stages below.
I've categorized the deals below into eight 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:
Grafana Labs, Story, Openwater, Frontera, AstroForge, Deep Fission, Savante Technologies, Slingshot AI, Solace, Eppo, Tilt
Acquisitions & PE
Dropbox/Reclaim.ai, AMD, Quantum Capital Group, EQT Private Capital Asia
Funds
Kian Capital, NextGen Growth Partners
Final Numbers
Final numbers on actual investment in manufacturing for clean energy technology in the U.S. and reports on weaker-than-expected U.S. job growth at the bottom.
VC Deals
This roundup was customized & powered by Wonder. Start your free trial here.
Fintech:
- Story, a San Francisco, Calif.-based IP blockchain, secured $80M in Series B funding, led by a16z and joined by Scott Trowbridge, Adrian Cheng, Cozomo de' Medici, and others.
- Arch Lending, an NYC-based crypto-backed loan provider, closed $75M in funding, led by Morgan Creek Digital and Castle Island Ventures, with support from Galaxy Ventures, BitGo Ventures, and others.
- Lettuce Financial, a San Francisco, CA-based automated accounting and tax solution platform for solopreneurs, raised $15M in Series A funding, led by Zeev Ventures.
- Efficient Capital Labs, an NYC-based revenue-based financing provider, secured $11M in Series A funding, led by QED Investors and 645 Ventures, with contributions from Riverside, Generalist, FJ Labs, and Eudemian Ventures.
- Skyfire Systems, a San Francisco, CA-based payment network provider for AI, raised $8.5M in funding, backed by Neuberger Berman, Brevan Howard Digital, Intersection Growth Partners, DRW, Inception Capital, Arrington Capital, RedBeard Ventures, Sfermion, Circle, FBG, Gemini, Crossbeam Venture Partners, EveryRealm, Draper Associates, ARCA, and Ripple.
- Sorella Labs, a San Francisco, CA-based crypto startup advancing tools to identify MEV activities and process Ethereum blocks, closed $7.5M in funding, led by Paradigm and joined by Nascent, Uniswap Ventures, Robot Ventures, and Bankless Ventures.
- Orderly Network, a New York City-based liquidity cloud for Web3 trading, secured $5M in funding, backed by OKX Ventures, Manifold Trading, Presto Labs, and others.
- Thera, an NYC-based payroll and payments platform, completed a $4M Seed funding round, backed by Combinator, 10x Founders, Amino Capital, Zillionize, Bayhouse Capital, and other angels.
Care:
- Openwater, a Newark, CA-based healthcare platform, raised $100M in funding, backed by Plum Alley Ventures, Khosla Ventures, BOLD Capital Partners, Esther Dyson, Peter Gabriel, among others.
- Caresyntax, a San Francisco, CA-based AI-powered surgical care platform, closed $80M in a Series C extension, backed by surgical.ai, Symbiotic Capital, MTIP AG, and others.
- XII Medical, a Union City, CA-based developer of therapies for obstructive sleep apnea, secured $45M in Series B funding, led by Omega Funds and joined by Intuitive Ventures, Cleveland Clinic, Ajax Health, Longview Ventures, Aperture Venture Partners, and JobsOhio Growth Capital Fund.
- Human Longevity, a San Francisco, CA-based longevity focused technology company, raised $39.8M in Series B funding, led by TVM Capital Healthcare and joined by Panacea Venture and Emerging Technology Partners.
- Slingshot AI, an Albany, NY-based mental health startup, secured $30M in Seed funding led by Andreessen Horowitz.
- Solace, a Redwood City, CA-based digital health platform, closed $14M in Series A funding, led by Inspired Capital, with support from Craft Ventures, Torch Capital, Anne Wojcicki, Susan Wojcicki, RiverPark Ventures, and Coalition Operators.
- Mindset Care, an NYC-based platform simplifying the application process for social security disability benefits for individuals with mental illnesses and their caregivers, secured $13M in funding, led by Science Inc., with support from Wellington Management, Tubbs Ventures, Enable Ventures, XYZ, and LivEdge Capital.
- BeMe Health, a Miami, FL-based digital behavioral health startup, secured $12.5M in funding, led by Flare Capital and Polaris Partners, with contribution from Fiore Ventures, BCBS of Kansas, and the California Health Care Foundation.
- Clarium, Inc., an NYC-based healthcare technology company supporting hospital supply chain operations, closed $10M in funding, led by General Catalyst, alongside Kaiser Permanente Ventures, Texas Medical Center Venture Fund, Yale New Haven Health, AlleyCorp, 1984 Ventures, Alumni Ventures, and others.
- ModelOp, a Chicago, IL-based enterprise AI Governance software platform, raised $10M in Series B funding, led by Baird Capital and joined by existing investors.
- David, an NYC-based maker of food that increases muscle and decreases fat, secured $10M in Seed funding, led by CEO Peter Rahal alongside Valor Siren Ventures, Peter Attia, M.D., and Andrew Huberman, Ph.D.
- Photon Health, a New York City-based electronic prescription startup, secured $9M in funding, co-led by Notation Capital and Flare Capital Partners with contributions from Floating Point, GG1, Ritual, Headwater, Scrub Capital, Susa Ventures, BoxGroup, Long Journey, Cendana, and other angel investors.
- Great Many, an NYC-based company focused on hair growth treatments and solutions, raised $3.6M in Pre-Seed funding, led by BrandProject and joined by Midnight Venture Partners, Tonic Ventures, and other angel investors.
- Phrase Health, a Philadelphia, PA-based healthcare industry’s EHR workflow management company, secured $2M in NIH SBIR funding, backed by the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS).
- TMRW, a Miami-based Bitcoin startup, raised $1.3M in Pre-seed funding, backed by Maple VC and Brad Mills, among other prominent Bitcoin angel investors.
- TEAMology, a University Park, PA-based K-8 social-emotional support solution provider, received $1.2M in Seed funding, led by C 414 alongside Supes’ Fund, White Rose Ventures, 1855 VC, and Product 10X.
Enterprise/Consumer:
- Grafana Labs, an NYC-based open and composable operational dashboard provider, raised $270M in Series D extension, at $6B valuation, led by Lightspeed Venture Partners, with contributions from GIC, Sequoia Capital, Coatue, Lead Edge Capital, J.P. Morgan, K5 Global, and CapitalG.
- Opkey, a San Francisco, CA-based enterprise AI-enabled test automation platform, raised $47M in Series B funding, led by PeakSpan Capital and joined by other existing investors.
- Defcon AI, a Mclean, VA-based insights company building a new modeling, simulation, and analysis (MS&A) toolset for the modern military environment, secured $44M in Seed funding, led by Bessemer Venture Partners and joined by Fifth Growth Fund and Red Cell Partners, among others.
- Ema, a San Francisco, CA-based enterprise generative AI platform, closed $36M in a Series A extension funding round, led by Accel and Section 32 and joined by SCB 10X, Prosus Ventures, Hitachi Ventures, and others.
- Siepe, a Dallas, TX-based software and technology-enabled services provider for asset managers, completed a $30M Series B funding round, led by WestCap.
- Eppo, a San Francisco, CA-based experimentation platform, secured $28M in Series B funding, led by Innovation Endeavors and joined by Icon VC, Menlo Ventures, and Amplify Partners.
- The Rounds, an NYC-based inventory management platform providing recurring grocery and household essentials in reusable packaging, closed $24M in Series B funding, led by Moderne Ventures and joined by FJ Labs and other existing investors.
- Redo, a Draper, Utah-based shopping returns management software, raised $24M in Series A funding, led by Pelion and joined by Cervin, Epic, Kickstart, Aglaé Ventures, and angel investors.
- Home Run Dugout, a baseball-focused eat-entainment concept, closed $22.5M in Series A funding, led by Lagniappe Capital Partners.
- Trunk Tools, an NYC-based AI Platform for the construction industry, received $20M in Series A funding, led by Redpoint Ventures and joined by Innovation Endeavors.
- Admiral, an NYC-based visitor relationship management (VRM) company, secured $19M in funding, led by Harbert Growth Partners, with support from Bridge Bank and others.
- Tilt, a real-time shopping app for fashion, completed an $18M Series A funding round, led by Balderton Capital and joined by insiders TQ Ventures, Earlybird, and Seedcamp.
- Allstacks, a Raleigh, NC-based software engineering intelligence platform, closed $10M in Series A funding, led by Quadri Ventures, alongside M12, Microsoft’s Venture Capital Fund, Companyon Ventures, Clutch VC, S3 Ventures, Tweener Fund, CreativeCo, and Hyperplane.
- BeyondMath, a San Francisco, CA-based AI-powered advanced engineering simulation platform, completed $8.5M in Seed funding, led by UP.Partners alongside Insight Partners and InMotion Ventures.
- Grid Status, a Chicago, IL-based modern data and analytics platform for the electric grid, closed $8M in funding, led by Energize Capital, with participation from NFDG Ventures, Rayburn Electric Cooperative, Evergreen Climate Innovations, and other individual investors.
- GenLayer, a Lewes, Del.-based AI-powered blockchain platform, secured $7.5M in Seed funding, led by North Island Ventures and joined by Node Capital, Arrington Capital, ZK Ventures, and others.
- Otto, a Seattle, WA-based intelligent and autonomous AI travel agent platform for business travelers, secured $6M in Seed funding, led by Madrona Ventures, with support from Direct Travel and other angel investors.
- Kubiya, a San Jose, CA-based conversational AI solution for DevOps teams, closed $6M in extension funding, led by Heavybit with support from Hyperwise VC.
- Trace Machina, a San Francisco, CA-based simulation infrastructure provider for safety-critical technologies, raised $4.7M in Seed funding, led by Wellington Management, with support from Samsung Next, Sequoia Capital Scout Fund, Green Bay Ventures, and Verissimo Ventures, among other popular angels.
- Stork Network, a New York City-based decentralized data solutions provider, secured $4.7M in Seed funding, led Lightspeed Faction and Lattice and joined by CMS and Wintermute Ventures.
- Your Money Line, an Indianapolis, IN-based employee financial wellness benefits company, completed a $4.5M in Series A funding, led by Allos Ventures, with support from First Trust Capital Partners, CareSource, and Elevate Ventures.
- Depot, a Portland, OR-based build acceleration platform, closed $4.1M in Seed funding, led by Felicis, with contributions from Y Combinator, Aviso Ventures, Tokyo Black, and angels.
- De Novo Foodlabs, a Raleigh, NC-based food technology company, completed a $4M funding, backed by Joyful Ventures.
- Mudstack, a Seattle, WA-based file versioning and asset management platform for the game industry, secured $4M in funding, led by Anthos Capital, and joined by Khosla Ventures, A16Z GAMES, Pioneer Square Labs, and Hyperplane.
- Cassidy, an NYC-based business automation platform, completed a $3.7M Seed funding round, led by The General Partnership and joined by Neo, Comma Capital, Spacecadet Ventures, Ride Ventures, and other angels.
- First Round’s On Me, a Los Angeles, CA-based social dating app, closed $3M in Seed funding, led by the Mahony Family Office and Manna Group and was joined by others.
- Revenew, a San Francisco, CA-based growth partner for platform businesses, completed $3M in Seed funding, led by Fika Ventures and joined by TTV Capital and Dash Fund.
- Pitchit, a San Francisco, CA-based AI-powered lead qualification as a service (LQaaS) platform, completed a $2.5M Seed funding round, led by Silicon Road Ventures and joined by Gray Ventures, Plug and Play, and Alchemist Accelerator.
- Harmonyze, an NYC-based AI-first platform for optimizing franchisor’s profit margins, secured over $2M in Pre-Seed funding, led by Bowery Capital, with contribution from Focal.VC and other investors.
- DL Software, an NYC-based software products company, raised $2M in Pre-Seed funding, led by dao5, Naval, and Evolve Ventures, with contributions from other angel investors.
- Adelaide, an NYC-based attention-based media quality measurement platform, closed $1.4M in Seed funding, led by AperiamVentures, with contributions from GOAL Ventures, Nishat Mehta, BlueTree, and Human Ventures.
- Onebrief, a Honolulu, HI-based software platform for military staff workflows and collaboration, closed an undisclosed amount in Series B funding, bringing the total amount raised to $53M, led by Human Capital, with contributions from 9Yards Capital and Caffeinated Capital.
- Symmera, a Stamford, CT-based device authentication and data protection startup, secured an undisclosed investment funding from Emerson Ventures.
- Lazarus AI, a Cambridge MA-based document understanding company, secured an undisclosed investment amount from WaveFx.
- ALLCITY Network, a Denver, CO-based operator of multi-platform local sports networks, closed an undisclosed amount in Series B funding, led by TEGNA (NYSE: TGNA), with support from Mosaic General Partnership and Bullpen Capital.
- Learning.com, a Portland, OR-based company helping K-12 students develop healthy relationships with technology, secured an undisclosed growth financing from CIBC Innovation Banking.
- Nucleus Security, a Sarasota, FL-based unified vulnerability management company, secured an undisclosed investment funding from Dcode Capital.
- Snack King, a CA-based snack food manufacturer, secured an undisclosed investment funding from Falfurrias Management.
HardTech:
- Fortera, a San Jose, CA-based materials technology company, completed an $85M Series C funding, backed by Khosla Ventures, Temasek, Wollemi Capital, NOVA by Saint-Gobain, Presidio Ventures, and Alumni Ventures.
- AstroForge, a Huntington Beach, CA-based asteroid mining startup, closed $40M in Series A funding, led by Nova Threshold, with support from 776, Initialized, Caladan, YC, Uncorrelated Ventures, and Jed McCaleb.
- Fabric Cryptography, a San Francisco, CA-based verifiable processing unit (VPU) startup, raised $33M in Series A funding, co-led by Blockchain Capital and 1kx, with support from Inflection, Protocol Labs, Offchain Labs, Polygon, Matter Labs, Illia Polosuhkin, Sreeram Kannan, and other individual investors.
- LIS Technologies, an Oak Ridge, TN-based proprietary developer of advanced laser technology, raised $11.88M in its expanded Seed funding round, backed by 28 Ventures Fund and active nuclear technology investors.
- Deep Fission, a Berkeley, CA-based nuclear energy company, secured $4M in funding, led by 8VC.
- Gimbal Space, a Union City, CA-based maker of spacecraft parts, closed $1.2M in funding, led by AUM Ventures alongside Shakti VC and Z21 Ventures.
Sustainability:
- Svante Technologies, a Vancouver, BC, Canada-based carbon capture and removal solutions provider, secured a $100M investment funding from Canada Growth Fund.
- Power to Hydrogen Inc., a Columbus, OH-based advanced electrolysis technologies company, closed over $18M in funding, led by Rev1 Ventures and Worthington Enterprises, alongside, Finindus, JERA, Asahi Kasei, American Electric Power, EDP Ventures, E.ON, ESB, FH Capital, INP Capital, and others.
- Enteligent, a Morgan Hill, CA-based solar-powered DC-to-DC charger developer for electric vehicles (EVs), closed $6M in funding, led by Taronga Ventures.
Acquisitions & PE:
- AMD is set to acquire ZT Systems, a Secaucus, NJ-based AI infrastructure provider for hyperscale computing companies, for $4.9B.
- Dropbox (Nasdaq: DBX) acquired Reclaim.ai, an SF-based scheduling tool, for an undisclosed amount.
- Quantum Capital Group, through its portfolio companies, QB Energy and KODA Resources, acquired the oil and gas operations of Caerus Oil and Gas, a Denver, CO-based natural gas producer, from the Caerus Investor Group for about $1.8B.
- EQT Private Capital Asia is set to acquire PropertyGuru Group, a Singapore-based property technology company, for $1.1B in cash.
- TickPick, an NYC-based event ticket marketplace, secured $250M from Brighton Park Capital.
- Zomato, a listed Indian food delivery company, acquired the movie and events ticketing unit of Paytm for $244M.
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