Nvidia's $700M Run:ai Deal Faces EU Scrutiny & OpenAI launches its Google challenger, ChatGPT Search

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☕ Good Friday Morning. Welcome to today's quick rundown in the Venture Daily Digest Newsletter.

Scroll down to find

• How OpenAI is challenging Google with ChatGPT Search,

• Microsoft's AI revenue explosion, and

• The 26-year-old Gotbit founder indicted in a $25M crypto manipulation case.

• Plus, generative AI's leap into Google Maps, Earth, and Waze, while Nvidia's $700M Rundeal hits EU scrutiny, and

• Meta trains Llama 4 on the world's largest GPU cluster.

Today's startup excellence blueprint: Navigate AI investments with Kevin Zhang's framework, unlock insights from AI Europe's 2024 report, and master how VCs can actually add value. Plus, dive into the latest findings from the University of Oxford's 2024 Digital News Report. Fresh VC and startup job opportunities await!

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🗞️ Startup Funding Updates

Kalshi, based in San Francisco, operates a regulated exchange platform allowing users to trade commodity contracts based on event outcomes, including elections and cultural events. The startup has raised $106 million in equity funding and was last valued at $787 million. Notable investors include Sequoia Capital, Neo, Y Combinator, Henry Kravis, and Mantis VC, with recent emergency funding of $12.4 million from Neo/Ali Partovi ahead of the U.S. election.

Blue Earth Therapeutics Ltd, an Oxford, UK-based leader in the development of therapeutic radiopharmaceuticals, closed a $76.5M Series A financing. The round was led by Soleus Capital and co-led by Sands Capital Management with existing investor Bracco Imaging SpA also participating. Woodline Partners and PBM Capital also joined in the financing as new institutional investors.

Definition Health, a London, UK-based, clinician-led HealthTech company, raised £5.75m in pre-seed funding. Backers included Dr. David Redfern, CEO of David Redfern Surgery, Orthopedic Surgeon.

Decart, a San Francisco, CA-based AI research lab, raised $21M in funding. The round was led by Sequoia Capital, with participation from Zeev Ventures.

Ataraxis AI, a NYC-based AI precision medicine company, raised $4M in Seed funding. The round was led by Giant Ventures and Obvious Ventures.

MealMe, a San Francisco, CA-based provider of an API for food ordering, raised $8M in Series A funding. The round was led by Mercury Fund with participation from existing investors Palm Drive Capital and Gaingels.

OpenOrogins, a London, UK-based company founded to protect content authenticity through its provenance focused blockchain, raised $4.5M in funding. The round was led by Galaxy Interactive with participation from Galaxy Ventures and existing investor Unbound.

Motormia, a Scottsdale, AZ-based provider of an automotive enthusiast platform, raised $8M in funding. Backers were Lerer Hippeau, Seedcamp, QP Ventures, Verissimo Ventures, State of Mind Ventures, Deftly.vc and Alumni Ventures.

ContraForce, a Mckinney, TX-based security service delivery platform company, raised $3.25M in Seed funding. The round was led by Gallos Ventures and DataTribe. As part of the investment round, William Kilmer, Gallos General Partner, has joined ContraForce’s board of directors.

Lingo, a Springfield, MO-based edtech company, raised $2.25M in Seed funding. The round was led by Pinnacle Private Ventures with participation from 1863 Ventures, Sequoia Capital via the Scout program, and Dr. Joy Johnson.

Homethrive, a Northbrook, IL-based healthtech company, received an investment from Telus Global Ventures.

Flower, a Stockholm, Sweden-based energy tech company, raised additional €20M in funding, closing the total of Series A at €45M. The round was led by Northzone with additional investment from Giant Ventures, 82an Invest, Sony Innovation Fund, and angel investors Thomas von Koch and Sebastian Knutsson.

Evommune, a Palo Alto, CA-based clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on immune-mediated inflammatory diseases, raised $115M in Series C funding. The round was co-led by new investors RA Capital Management and Sectoral Asset Management, along with participation from new investors B Capital, Marshall Wace, Avego Bioscience Capital, Longwood Fund, RTW Investments, ADAR1 Capital Management, NEXTBio Capital, Beiersdorf Venture Capital, FemHealth Ventures and Allostery Investments LP and existing investors, including Pivotal bioVenture Partners, EQT Life Sciences, Andera Partners, Amplitude Ventures, Symbiosis and Verition Fund Management.

Naphta AI, a Singapore, CA-based provider of a platform that orchestrates multiple AI agents to optimize performance and drive innovation, raised $6M in Pre Seed funding. The round was co-led by Arche Capital and Cyber Fund with participation from Seed Club Ventures, as well as Polymorphic Capital, GnosisDAO, Halo Capital, and many others.

Nuuron, a Berlin, Germany-based neurotech startup, raised €3.5M in Seed funding. The round was led by High-Tech Gründerfonds (HTGF) and included investors such as IBB Ventures, caesar., the Business Angel Club Berlin, other business angels and family offices.

GlassFlow, a Berlin, Germany-based startup enabling data teams to build event-driven data pipelines in Python, raised $4.8M in Seed funding. The round was led by Upfront Ventures, with participation from High-Tech Gründerfonds, Robin Capital, TinyVC, the CEO of Weaviate and operators at Fivetran, dbt Labs and Redis.

Bifrost AI, a San Francisco, CA-based provider of a generative 3D Data platform, raised $8m in Series A funding. The round was led by Carbide Ventures, with participation from Airbus Ventures, Peak XV’s Surge (formerly Sequoia Capital India & SEA), Wavemaker Partners, MD One, and Techstars.

Keel, a London, UK-based provider of a platform for building custom operational software, raised £4.6M in Seed funding. The round was led by Earlybird and LocalGlobe.

Bendi, a London, UK-based AI-driven platform that helps businesses manage and mitigate business challenges and reputational risks in their supply chains, raised £800K in Pre-Seed funding. The round was led by VC Midven, with participation from Heartfelt Capital, Chasing Rainbows, as well as angels and Innovate UK.

Buddy.ai, based in the U.S. and founded by former Siberian entrepreneur Ivan Crewkov, is an AI-powered educational platform that uses animated conversational characters to help children learn English as a second language. The startup recently raised an $11 million seed round, bringing in support from investors including BITKRAFT Ventures (lead), One Way Ventures, J Ventures, and Point72 Ventures.

📰 Venture Capital Updates

Janngo Capital, based in Abidjan, Mauritius, Tunis, and Paris, closed its second fund at €73M ($78M), surpassing its €60M target. Anchor investors like AfDB and EIB were joined by the Mastercard Foundation Africa Growth Fund and others. The firm plans to back 25-40 startups across sectors like healthcare, logistics, and fintech.

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🤖 Latest In Tech

OpenAI has launched ChatGPT Search, a new feature powered by its GPT-4o model that provides real-time web search capabilities integrated directly into the ChatGPT platform, offering timely answers, photos, and source links for queries. The feature is initially available to ChatGPT Plus and Team users on mobile and web, with plans to expand to enterprise and educational customers, followed by free users.

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced that the upcoming Llama 4 AI model is being developed on a massive GPU cluster, reportedly larger than 100,000 Nvidia H100s. The initial version of Llama 4 is expected to launch early next year, with smaller models likely to be available first, as powerful computing is crucial for advanced AI. Meta's Llama models are attractive to startups and researchers due to their availability for free download, although there are some restrictions on commercial use.

Nvidia's $700 million acquisition of Tel Aviv-based AI startup Run:ai faces EU regulatory review following an Italian competition watchdog request. The deal requires formal notification and clearance from the European Commission, which could delay completion by weeks or months. Nvidia says it will cooperate with regulators while maintaining its commitment to making AI widely accessible.

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman revealed in a Reddit AMA that compute limitations are significantly impacting product releases, with the company working with Broadcom to develop an AI chip by 2026 to address these constraints. Technical challenges have affected several projects, including delays in Advanced Voice Mode's vision capabilities, no clear launch timeline for the next DALL-E release, and setbacks with the Sora video generator which reportedly takes over 10 minutes to process a 1-minute video clip. Despite these challenges, Altman confirmed upcoming releases later this year, including improvements to o1 reasoning models with image understanding capabilities, though notably stated there won't be a GPT-5 announcement.

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🪄 Other News

Microsoft's AI business is expected to generate annual revenue of $10 billion next quarter, indicating rapid growth in the company's artificial intelligence sector. Key revenue drivers include a 33% increase in Azure cloud services and ongoing adoption of Microsoft 365 Copilot, now utilized by 70% of Fortune 500 companies. Although exact contributions from specific AI services remain undisclosed, Microsoft's CFO highlighted the steady growth in Microsoft 365's average revenue per user, particularly among small to medium businesses.

Delaware Chancellor Kathaleen McCormick plans to rule by year-end on whether Tesla shareholders' June vote successfully reinstated Elon Musk's previously voided $56 billion compensation package. McCormick had initially struck down the "unfathomable" pay package in January, finding it unfair to shareholders and negotiated by directors who appeared beholden to Musk. The judge is also considering a request for Tesla to pay up to $1 billion in legal fees to the lawyers who represented the shareholder in the initial lawsuit against Musk.

Google plans to enhance Google Maps, Google Earth, and Waze with generative AI using its Gemini model, initially available to selected testers. Generative AI will provide more detailed and contextual search results in Google Maps, offering suggested activities through conversational interactions, such as planning a night out with friends. Google's Gemini model ensures accuracy by fact-checking details using the company's own data sets and providing information while attributing third-party sources like blogs and reviews.

Aleksei Andriunin, the 26-year-old founder of cryptocurrency market maker Gotbit, faces federal indictment for allegedly manipulating crypto markets between 2018 and 2024. Along with Gotbit and two directors, Fedor Kedrov and Qawi Jalili, Andriunin is charged with wire fraud and conspiracy to commit market manipulation, facing up to 20 years in prison for wire fraud and 5 years for conspiracy. The charges are part of a larger crypto market manipulation crackdown that has led to four arrests, five guilty pleas, and the seizure of over $25 million in cryptocurrency.

🧐 In-Depth Insights

• Investing in the Age of Generative AI. Current AI investment landscape and present a framework that a typical early-stage fund (funds in the $100-500m scale) might want to adopt [Kevin Zhang]

  

• AI Europe report 2024. Startup and VC data in the AI arms race 🚀 [dealroom.com, Roosh]

• How to (actually) be helpful as a VC. A guide to delivering on your value-add as a Venture Capital investor [Signature Block]

• Overview and key findings of the 2024 Digital News Report [University of Oxford, Nic Newman]

📬 Venture Daily Digest Picks

• Elizabeth (Partner at Hustle Fund) on How One Startup Turned Things Around After Running Out of Money. (Read)

• a16z's Framework for Evaluating Startup User Growth Quality. (Read)

• The YC approach on how to pitch your company. (Read)

• Tactics to make an amazing product launch video (Read)

• Why this AI startup raised money when they didn’t need to (Read)

• 6 things startup founders should avoid doing (Read)

• More thoughts on why founder mode is so effective (Read)

💼 Today’s VC & Startup Job Opportunities

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• Senior Director of Marketing and Communications - Aegis Venture | USA - Apply Here

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• Analyst - SE Ventue | USA - Apply Here

• DeepTech & HealthTech Investment Analyst - Blume venture | India - Apply Here

• Strategic Investment Associate- Venture Capital - Wells Fargo | USA - Apply Here

• Biotech Network Partner - 2048 Ventrue | UK - Apply Here

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