11x, backed by $50M from a16z caught faking clients & DeepSeek drops major upgrade to DeepSeek V3.

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STARTUPS RAISING MILLIONS

💰 Startup funding updates

CamGraPhIC, a Cambridge, UK and Pisa, Italy-based high-bandwidth optical interconnect technology company and a wholly owned subsidiary of 2D Photonics SpA, raised €25M in Series A funding. The round was led by CDP Venture Capital, NATO Innovation Fund, Sony Innovation Fund, Join Capital, Bosch Ventures, Frontier IP Group plc, and Indaco Venture Partners.

Nace.AI, a Palo Alto, CA-based AI company providing precision-driven enterprise models, raised $5M in funding. The round was led by General Catalyst.

The Bot Company, founded by ex-Cruise CEO Kyle Vogt and former Tesla and Cruise engineers, has raised $150M led by Greenoaks, valuing the AI-powered robotics startup at $2B.

Mundimoto, a Barcelona, Spain-based provider of a motorcycle trading and renting platform, raised $21.1M in funding. Specifically, the financing round included €8.1M in equity, complemented by €13M in bank financing from Santander Consumer Finance, Banco Sabadell, and La Caixa.

Rain, a NYC-based provider of a card issuing platform, raised $24.5M in funding. The round was led by Norwest Venture Partners with participation from Galaxy Ventures, Goldcrest, Thayer, Hard Yaka and existing investors Lightspeed Venture Partners, Coinbase Ventures, Vinyl Capital, Canonical Crypto, and Latitude Capital.

Campus, a NYC-based ed tech company, raised $46M in Series B funding. The round, which brought the total amount to $100M, included participation from Founders Fund, Sam Altman, 8VC, Discord Founder Jason Citron, Bloomberg Beta, Rethink Education, Figma founder Dylan Field, Max Altman, and Notion founder Akshay Kothari.

Aura, a Boston, MA-based provider of an AI-powered online safety solution for individuals and families, closed its Series G funding. The round, which had an initial close in August 2024, marks Aura’s first funding round following its separation from Pango Group via tax free spinoff. The newly independent Aura raised $140M in equity and debt at a valuation of $1.6 Billion.

Brevel, a Kiryat Gat, Israel-based climate food-tech company, raised over US$5M in Seed extension funding. NevaTeam Partners, Siddhi Capital, European Union’s EIC Fund, Good Protein Fund, The Food Tech Lab and PVS Investments are among the investors.

Tempero Bio, an Oakland, CA-based clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing treatments for substance use disorders, raised $70M in Series B funding. The round was led by 8VC with participation from Aditum Bio, Khosla Ventures, and other investors.

evroc, a Stockholm, Sweden-based company providing cloud and AI services for European businesses, raised over €50M in Series A funding. The round was led by blisce/ with participation from EQT Ventures, Norrsken VC and Giant Ventures.

Buynomics, a Cologne, Germany-based company which specializes in AI-powered pricing and revenue optimization, raised $30M in Series B funding. The round was led by Forestay Capital, with participation from Anais Ventures, VI Partners, and existing investors Insight Partners, Seedcamp, DvH Ventures, and Tomahawk Ventures.

doinstruct, a Berlin, Germany-based provider of a compliance platform for frontline worker training, raised €16.5M in Series A funding. The round was led by HV Capital with participation from existing investors including Creandum, HTGF, D11Z and others, bringing the total amount to €26M.

Vouchsafe, a London, UK-based provider of an identity verification platform, raised £1M in pre-seed funding. The round was led by Bethnal Green Ventures (BGV) and supported by Biometric Ventures, Fuel Ventures, Seed X Liechtenstein, along with angel investor Andrew Chevis, CEO of CitizenCard.

NEW VCs IN THE MARKET

🏦 Venture Capital updates

Founders Future, a Paris-based VC firm with €300M AUM, has sold a 25% stake in its holding company to MACSF, the Dassault family, and CMA CGM Group. With plans to hit €1B AUM by 2030, the firm is expanding to the U.S. with East and West Coast offices and will raise a $250M growth fund to back American startups. Since 2018, it has backed 110 startups including Lydia, Alma, and Yuka.

KEY STORIES IN TECH

📜 Latest in tech

DeepSeek drops major upgrade to DeepSeek V3:

• DeepSeek has released a new version of their large language model, DeepSeek-V3-0324, with an MIT license and 641 GB of files, marking a change from their previous custom licensing approach.

• Developer Awni Hannun has already demonstrated the model running at over 20 tokens per second on high-end consumer hardware using a 4-bit quantization that reduces the model size to 352 GB.

• The model is available on OpenRouter for testing through their chat interface, where it can successfully handle creative requests like generating descriptions of pelicans with detailed factual information.

Apple is bringing lossless audio and low-latency audio to AirPods Max:

• Apple announced that AirPods Max with USB-C will receive a firmware update in April enabling 24-bit, 48 kHz lossless audio and ultra-low latency audio via the included cable.

• Lossless audio will apply to Apple Music’s 100M+ song catalog and work with Personalized Spatial Audio for a more immersive listening and production experience.

• The update, launching with iOS 18.4, iPadOS 18.4, and macOS Sequoia 15.4, will also enhance performance for musicians and gamers—but only for the USB-C version, not the Lightning model.

AI chip startup FuriosaAI turns down $800M acquisition offer from Meta:

• South Korea’s FuriosaAI reportedly turned down an $800 million acquisition offer from Meta due to disagreements over post-acquisition strategy and structure, not pricing.

• The startup, which makes AI chips like Warboy and RNGD, aims to stay independent and is currently raising around $48 million to support its roadmap.

• FuriosaAI has completed testing of its RNGD chips with partners like LG AI Research and Aramco, planning to launch them later this year as an alternative to Nvidia and AMD.

Ant group says Chinese Chips match Nvidia, cut AI training costs by 20%:

• Ant Group, backed by Jack Ma’s Alibaba, claims it achieved a 20% reduction in AI training costs using Chinese-made chips from Alibaba and Huawei, per Bloomberg.

• In internal tests, these local chips reportedly performed on par with Nvidia’s, threatening Nvidia’s dominance in AI hardware.

• While Nvidia GPUs remain in high demand — even in China despite export restrictions — breakthroughs like Ant’s could signal growing self-reliance in China’s AI ecosystem.

Meta spotted testing AI-generated comments on Instagram:

• Meta is testing a new Instagram feature that uses AI to suggest comments based on photos, offering users three suggested replies with an option to refresh for more.

• The feature, spotted by Jonah Manzano, shows a pencil icon labeled “Write with Meta AI,” aiming to enhance interaction but potentially at the cost of authenticity.

• While Meta says it’s testing AI in comments, feeds, groups, and search, many users may view AI-generated comments as inauthentic and unwelcome.

Apple could add AI cameras to the Apple Watch:

• Apple is developing Apple Watch models with integrated cameras that would analyze the wearer's environment and provide contextual information, with standard models featuring screen-mounted cameras and Ultra versions having cameras near the controls.

• The initiative extends Apple's existing "Visual Intelligence" feature from iPhone 16 to wearables, leveraging AI technology that can identify landmarks and translate text, with future plans to implement this in other devices including camera-equipped AirPods.

• Though these camera-enabled Apple Watches remain several generations away, they represent Apple's strategy of embedding AI capabilities into established products rather than creating standalone AI devices like the struggling AI Pin.

LAST COFFEE SIP

☕Other news

a16z & benchmark backed AI Sales Startup 11x Accused of Misleading Growth:

• Despite raising a $50M Series B from a16z and reporting $10M in ARR, AI sales platform 11x is now facing turmoil with high churn, underperforming products, and allegations of inflated growth metrics.

• Major companies like ZoomInfo and Airtable denied being customers despite being featured on 11x’s website, leading to legal threats over unauthorized use of logos and false advertising.

• Former employees cite a toxic, high-pressure work culture, misleading ARR calculations based on trial contracts, and actual retention rates as low as 20–30%, casting doubt on the startup’s claimed momentum.

HIRING ALERT: STARTUPS & VC ROLES

💼 Today’s VC & startup job opportunities

• Research Intern Abyro Capital | India - Apply Here

• Venture Partner - Node VC | Remote - Apply Here

• Associate - Crescent | UAE - Apply Here

• Visiting Analyst - Blume Equity | UK - Apply Here

• Senior Analyst - Elevate Venture | USA - Apply Here

• Content and Design Associate - Eximius Ventures | India - Apply Here

• Partnerships, Events & Outreach Intern - Succeed Venture | India - Apply Here

• Senior Associate - Hubspot Venture | USA - Apply Here

• Associate - IIFL Capital | India - Apply Here

• Associate - TenOneTen | USA - Apply Here

• Venture Partner - Pressplay Venture | Remote - Apply Here

CURATED RESOURCES

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• 350+ Indian Angel Investors & Venture Capital Firms Contact Database (Email + LinkedIn Link).

• Write Your Monthly Investor Update (Email Template Download).

• Building Cap Table As A Founder: Template to Download.

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