AI superintelligence could arrive in 'few thousand days' & Tiktok Shutdown Music Service

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☕Hey there, Welcome to today's quick rundown in the Venture Daily Digest Newsletter. We've got the scoop on startup fundraising, VC funds, and some cool tech – all in just 5 minutes!

Top News

OpenAI is expanding Advanced Voice Mode (AVM) to ChatGPT Plus and Teams users, with Enterprise and Edu customers gaining access next week.

The update includes a redesigned interface, five new nature-inspired voices, and improvements in accent recognition and conversation flow.

Cybersecurity startup Wiz is considering a potential sale of existing shares at a valuation between $15 billion and $20 billion, allowing shareholders to tender $500 million to $700 million. This follows the company's decision to end discussions with Alphabet on a $23 billion deal. Investors in the possible transaction include G Squared, Thrive Capital, and Lightspeed Venture Partners.

Other Major News

• Sam Altman - AI superintelligence could arrive in 'few thousand days' (Scroll To Tech Updates)

• Bankman-Fried's ex-girlfriend Ellison over crypto fraud (Scroll To Startup & People Updates)

• TikTok to Shut Down Short-Lived Music-Streaming Service (Scroll To Tech Updates)

• Telegram will now provide user info to governments in response to legal requests (Scroll To Tech Updates)

• How do you build a VC fund deck to raise millions from LPs? (Scroll To Featured Article)

• VC & Startups Job Opportunities (Scroll To Today’s Opportunities)

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🗞️ Startup Funding Updates

EGYM, a Munich-based startup, creates connected fitness equipment and personalized training technology, along with a fitness marketplace connecting gyms and corporate wellness programs. The company has raised over $200 million in a Series G round, bringing its valuation to more than $1.2 billion. The funding was led by new investors L Catterton and Meritech.

Moxie, a US-based startup, provides nurses with tools and services to open and operate their own medspas, including billing software, marketing services, and discounted supplies. The company has raised a $10 million Series B led by Lachy Groom, bringing its total funding to $25.7 million. Moxie's other investors include SignalFire, and the latest round values the company at nearly triple its previous valuation.

Constructive Bio, a Cambridge, UK-based synthetic genomics company, raised $58M in Series A funding. The round was led by Ahren, OMX Ventures and Paladin Capital Group with participation from Fine Structure Ventures, +ND Capital and Jonathan Milner, bringing the total amount raised to date to $75M.

Dandelion Energy, an Arlington, VA-based home geothermal company, raised $40M in Series C funding. The round was led by GV (Google Ventures) and supported by Collaborative Fund, LenX, Breakthrough Energy Ventures, and NGP.

Apron, a London, UK-based business payments company, raised a $30m Series B funding round. The round was led by Zinal Growth, with participation from existing investors Index Ventures, and Bessemer Venture Partners, alongside investor Tony Fadell, inventor of the iPod and Principal at Build Collective.

Workera, a startup based in the United States, offers AI-powered skill assessment and personalized learning recommendations for enterprise employees. The company has introduced an AI agent called Sage, designed to automate certain aspects of mentorship. Workera has raised over $44 million from undisclosed investors.

Meridian, a Hong Kong-based decentralized liquidity marketplace and a liquid staking protocol built on Movement, raised $4M in Seed funding. The round was led by ParaFi Capital and Borderless Capital, with participation from Amber Group, Saison Capital, Interop Ventures, and Oak Grove Ventures.

CarePay International, an Amsterdam, The Netherlands based provider of next-generation health insurance platforms, raised €10m in funding. Backers included Reinsurance Group of America (RGA) and the Health Insurance Fund (HIF), a fund supported by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands.

Torq, a NYC-based AI-first security hyperautomation company, raised $70M in Series C funding. The round, which brought the total amount to $112M, was led by Evolution Equity Partners, with Bessemer Venture Partners, Notable Capital, Greenfield Partners, and Strait Capital participating.

LiveFlow, a NYC-based provider of an intelligent finance and accounting automation platform, raised $13.5M in Series A funding. The round was led by Valar Ventures.

StrataPT, a Sarasota, FL-based billing-aware practice management platform for outpatient therapy clinics, secured $25M in financing. The round was led by Council Capital. 

Ayrton Energy, a Calgary, Alberta, Canada-based developer of liquid organic hydrogen carrier (LOHC) technology, secured USD $6.8m in seed financing. The round was led by Clean Energy Ventures and the Business Development Bank of Canada’s investment arm, BDC Capital, with participation from Antares Ventures, EPSVentures, SOSV, the51, and UCeed Investment Funds.

Platformatic, a San Francisco, CA-based provider of a cloud-native Node.js application platform, raised additional $4.3M in Seed funding. The round was led by Rialto Ventures with participation from Decibel and Panache Ventures, bringing the total seed funding to $7.8M.

InDebted, a Sydney, Australia-based debt collection fintech company, raised US$40M in Series C funding, at US$250M valuation. Primary investors included Airtree, Australian Retirement Trust and new growth fund Premier Capital Partners.

Atomicwork, a San Francisco, CA-based provider of a modern service management platform, raised over $3M in funding. Backers included Storm Ventures, Z47 (formerly Matrix Partners India), Blume Ventures, and Neon Fund.

Knownwell, a Washington, DC-based AIaaS (Artificial Intelligence as a Service) company, raised $4M in funding. The round was led by Sovereign’s Capital, which also included Studio VC and private investors.

Arya Health, a NYC-based provider of a healthcare workforce automation platform, raised $4.0M in Seed funding. The round was led by Twelve Below. Other investors included Nebular and existing investors Oceans and Ridge.

Sandgarden, a NYC-based company providing an enterprise AI runtime engine, raised $4.5M in funding. The round was led by Resolute Ventures and Crane Venture Partners, with participation from Panache Ventures, RMS, HearstLab, Locke Mountain Ventures, Jerry Neumann, and other angels.

Mesa, an Austin, TX-based provider of a homeowner membership platform, raised $9.2M in Seed funding. The round was led by Streamlined Ventures with Starting Line, Assurant Ventures, Vera Equity, Redwood Trust Horizons, Clocktower Ventures, and several other firms and strategic investors participating.

Scribenote, a startup that uses AI to automate medical record documentation for veterinarians, has raised $8.2 million in an early-stage funding round. The company, founded in 2019, secured investments from lead investor Andreessen Horowitz, along with Inovia Capital and Velocity Fund, though the valuation was not disclosed.

PropEco, a Glasgow, Scotland, UK-based proptech startup, secured a seed funding of £275k. The round was led by Symvan Capital with participation from The University of Strathclyde’s Inspire Entrepreneurs Fund.

Nmbr, a Toronto, Canada-based embedded payroll software provider, raised CAD $7.6m in seed funding. The round was led by Panache Ventures, Golden Ventures, Motivate Venture Capital, and Luge Capital.

Vela, a French wind-powered boat maker, raised €40m ($43) in funding. The round was led by Crédit Mutuel Impact, 11th Hour Racing, and BPI – French Public Investment Bank.

Reframe, a NYC-based startup dedicated to redefining the human-computer relationship, raised $5M in Seed funding. The round was led by Primary Venture Partners, and Eniac Ventures, with participation from Founder Collective and Operator Partners.

Aptadir Therapeutics, a Milan, Italy-based biotech company developing RNA inhibitor-based therapeutics for treating intractable cancers and genetic conditions, raised $1.6M in Pre-Seed funding. EXTEND provided the funding.

VerImmune, a Bethesda, MD-based biotechnology company developing virus-inspired particle (ViP™) platform technology, raised $4.5M in first closing of Pre-Series A funding. The round was led by Beiley Biofund. New investors, including Dr. John Ballantyne, PhD, co-founder and former CSO at Aldevron, alongside returning investors Proxima Ventures, Mana Ventures, Gaingels and others, also participated.

GenLogs, a Washington, D.C.-based provider of a network of roadside sensors collecting data on truck movements, raised over $6M in Seed funding. The round was led by Autotech Ventures and Steel Atlas with participation from Venture53, TitletownTech, Plug and Play Ventures, BBQ Capital, ASC Ventures, and JHH Ventures.

Eion, an Oakland, CA-based carbon removal company, raised $3M in Series A extension funding. Backers included Growmark, AgFunder, Ridgeline, Trailhead Capital, Overture Partners, Mercator Partners, Exelon Foundation, and others.

Qist Bazaar, a Karachi, Pakistan-based “buy now pay later” (BNPL) fintech startup, raised US$3.2M in Series A funding. The round was led by Indus Valley Capital, with participation from Gobi Partners. Bank Alfalah has already invested, leading the seed round.

📰 Venture Capital Updates

All Iron Ventures, a Spanish venture capital firm, has rebranded as Acurio Ventures and closed its third fund of €150 million ($166 million). Based in Bilbao, Madrid, Barcelona, and London, Acurio Ventures will focus on follow-on investments across Europe, with a generalist thesis and no sector focus.

📌 Featured Article

How do you build a VC fund deck to raise millions from LPs?

Previously, I shared VC fund decks that raised $500 million from LPs. I received many queries about what the format should look like and what emerging fund managers should consider before building a VC fund deck. So, I'm sharing a few points that might be useful to emerging VC fund managers:

• The purpose of your pitch deck is to convince LPs of your ability to make outlier investments: Your pitch deck should break down how you do this effectively.

• Your pitch deck is the place to tell the most clear, concise, and convincing version of your fund’s story

• “Showing” is better than telling. Use examples, numbers (e.g. past performance metrics), screenshot evidence of how you’ve helped, and other visuals to add credibility to your deck. These can be very memorable and help create a more objective narrative.

• Let others speak to your strengths and establish social credibility. As with GPs investing in startups, many LPs value social proof, consciously or subconsciously. Highlight positive quotes from founders you’ve backed, testimonials from strong references, and LPs already committed to investing in your fund.

After considering these points, you can use the following template to create a VC Fund deck:

Also, if you are a solo GP, I would highly recommend checking the thread by Nichole Wischoff (Founder & GP of Wischoff Ventures) on what it takes to raise a VC fund round. Even check out the comments and replies on this thread.

[Check out our Venture Curator newsletter - to get insights on startups, AI and venture capital from leading founders & investors]

📑 Startup’s Latest Buzz

Acquisition & Going Public

Salesforce announced plans to acquire Zoomin, an enterprise knowledge platform that unifies company documentation, for an undisclosed amount.

Zema Global Data Corporation (fka ZE PowerGroup), a Richmond, BC, Canada-based provider of enterprise data management and analytics for the commodity and energy sectors, acquired Morningstar Commodity Data, a Chicago, IL-based provider of commodities and energy data and insights.

Commvault, a data protection software company, announced plans to acquire Clumio, a data backup provider specializing in AWS workloads, for an undisclosed amount.

Layoffs & Bankruptcy

Northvolt, a European battery startup, has halted factory expansion plans and laid off 1,600 employees due to lower-than-expected EV demand and execution challenges. Despite raising $14 billion, the company faces significant hurdles in competing with established Asian battery manufacturers and navigating the uncertain landscape of automaker commitments to EVs.

Startups & People

Bankman-Fried's ex-girlfriend Caroline Ellison, former head of Alameda Research, was sentenced to two years in prison for her role in the $8 billion fraud at FTX. While the judge acknowledged her extensive cooperation, he emphasized the severity of the crime. Ellison testified against FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried, who is serving 25 years in prison.

Telegram's updated privacy policy states the company will share a user's phone number and IP address with authorities if the individual is a criminal suspect, based on a legally valid request. The change follows the arrest of Telegram CEO Pavel Durov, who French authorities accused of allowing illegal activity on the platform, prompting Telegram to take measures against such abuses. Telegram’s announcement includes a commitment to disclosing user information to authorities in its quarterly reports and employing AI to identify and remove content that violates the platform's rules.

🤖 Latest In Tech

Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, believes that artificial superintelligence could be achieved within "a few thousand days," emphasizing this milestone as a pivotal moment in human history. Altman stresses the importance of investing in computing resources and infrastructural improvements to make AI widely accessible and prevent it from becoming a limited resource. Altman’s personal blog post on this topic coincides with OpenAI's efforts to raise $6.5 billion, though the timeline he suggests is not the company's official stance.

Microsoft will invest $1.3 billion over three years to expand cloud computing and AI infrastructure in Mexico, targeting 5 million people and 30,000 SMBs. The initiative includes partnerships with companies like Bimbo and Cemex, and a project with Viasat to connect 150,000 Mexicans by 2025. The investment aims to boost AI adoption and connectivity in the region.

ByteDance will shut down TikTok Music on November 28, 2024, affecting users in Indonesia, Brazil, Australia, Singapore, and Mexico. The service, rebranded from Resso, failed to expand globally, and ByteDance will now focus on partnering with streaming platforms like Spotify. Playlist transfers must be done by October 28, and refunds requested by November 28.

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• Venture Capital Intern - Pender Venture | CANADA - Apply Here

• Venture Capital Manager - Microventure | USA  - Apply Here

• Platform - Operations Associate - Systemeq Capital | UK - Apply Here

• Chief of Staff - Village Capital | USA - Apply Here

• Analyst - Angels Network - D2C Insider | India - Apply Here

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