OpenAI plans to charge up to $20K/Month for AI ‘agents’ & Apple launches new MacBook Air with M4 chip.

DAILY PICKS

🗞️ What else is brewing

• How Duolingo works: 14 years of big learnings in one little handbook.

• How to negotiate your first term sheet – A step-by-step guide.

• Y-Combinator guide: How to design a better pitch deck.

• Jen Abel on when to hire Head of Sales.

• Peter Yang on what software's next chapter is really about.

• Bedrock’s Investment strategy: The best time to invest in a company is when it’s most in violation of a popular narrative.

• Write your monthly investor update (Email Template Download).

• Sam Altman’s three observations for Upcoming AGI.

• Questions VCs may ask you - The only guide you need.

• Ready-to-go financial modelling template to build your startup financial model that every investor wants to see.

• Verified 2700+ US angel investors & VC firms contact database (email + LinkedIn link).

• Product stickiness framework: Triggers, Constraints, and Rituals.

• AI resources: Must-have resources to stay updated on AI tools, trusted by MIT students and tech professionals from OpenAI and NVIDIA.

INVESTMENT OPPORTUNITY WORTH EXPLORING

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STARTUPS RAISING MILLIONS

💰 Startup funding updates

Ataraxis AI, a New York-based AI startup optimizing cancer treatment decisions, raised a $20.4M Series A led by AIX Ventures, with participation from Thiel Bio, Founders Fund, Floating Point, Bertelsmann, Giant Ventures, and Obvious Ventures. The company’s AI model predicts long-term cancer outcomes to help oncologists determine if aggressive treatments like chemotherapy are necessary. Ataraxis plans to launch its first commercial test for breast cancer in the U.S. in the coming months.

Graid Technology, a Santa Clara, CA-based company which specializes in GPU-based RAID for NVMe storage performance, raised $30M in Series B funding. The round was led by HH-CTBC Partnership, alongside Yuanta Ventures with participation from Delta Electronics Capital, Harbinger Venture Capital, and returning investors from its 2022 Series A round.

Ceramic, a San Francisco, CA-based AI model training company, raised $12M in Seed funding. The round was led by NEA, with participation from IBM, Samsung Next, and Earthshot Ventures.

Mode, a San Mateo, CA-based provider of AI-driven data management solutions for building management, manufacturing, and construction, raised $5.3M in funding. Backers included KDDI Open Innovation Fund III L.P., Canon Marketing Japan Inc., KIRIN-GB Fund I L.P., and Safie Ventures Inc.

Trimtech Therapeutics, a Cambridge, UK-based biotech company harnessing targeted protein degradation (TPD) for the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases, raised $31M in Seed funding. The round was led by Cambridge Innovation Capital (CIC) and SV Health Investors’ Dementia Discovery Fund (DDF), with M Ventures and Pfizer Ventures joining.

Bluebird Kids Health, a Boston, MA-based healthcare services company, raised $31.5M in funding. The round was led by F Prime and .406 Ventures, with participation from AIF and founding partner Juxtapose.

Watter, a Dallas, CA-based company empowering compute efficiency through energy repurposing, raised $5M in Seed funding. The round was led by Hunt Innovative Technologies and 17Shoals Inc.

Flex, a NYC-based fintech company that empowers business owners to automate their back offices and grow, raised $225M in Equity and Debt funding. The round consisted of a $25M equity round led by Titanium Ventures, with participation from Companyon Ventures, Florida Funders, MS&AD Ventures, AAF Management and First Look Partners, and a $200M credit facility from Victory Park Capital.

Freed, a San Francisco, CA-based AI clinician assistant for medical documentation, raised $30M in Series A funding. The round, which brought total funding to $34m, was led by Sequoia Capital with participation from Scale Venture Partners, Daniel Gross, Gokul Rajaram, and Ted Zagat.

CoverForce, a NYC-based provider of infrastructure platform for commercial insurance, raised $13M in Series A funding. The round was led by Insight Partners with participation from Nyca Partners.

Auxia, a Palo Alto, CA-based agentic customer journey orchestration platform provider, raised $23.5M in Series A and Seed funding. The round was led by VMG Technology Partners with participation from Google CMO Lorraine Twohill, Booking.com CMO Arjan Dijk, and former Meta Chief Business Officer David Fischer.

MaxIQ, a San Ramon, CA-based provider of an AI-powered customer journey management platform, raised $7.8M in Seed funding. The round was led by Dell Technologies Capital, with participation from Intel Capital.

Mote, a Los Angeles, CA-based technology company which specializes in carbon-negative energy production, announced the first close of its Series A funding round, securing $7M. The round was led by Nella Next and Preston-Werner Ventures, including Counteract and others.

Decibel Bio, a Berkeley, CA-based epigenetic reprogramming platform provider, raised $12M in funding. Backers included Breakthrough Energy Ventures, Future Ventures, Bayer and Syngenta.

Cercare Medical, an Aarhus, Denmark-based leader in perfusion software for stroke and neurodegenerative diseases, raised €7.4m (£6.17m GBP / $7.77m USD) in its latest funding round. The round was led by UK-based West Hill Capital.

GoodSam Foods, a Greenwich, CT-based driven food brand dedicated to regenerative agriculture, transparency, and farmer empowerment, raised $9M in Series A funding. The round was led by Alive Ventures in Bogotá, Colombia and Desert Bloom in the U.S., with participation from LATAM Impact Fund (Sonen Capital & Fondo de Fondos, MX), Promotora Social Mexico, One Small Planet (Peterffy Family Foundation) and Connecticut Innovations.

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NEW VCs IN THE MARKET

🏦 Venture Capital updates

Foundation Capital, a Palo Alto, CA-based venture firm, closed a $600M Fund XI, 20% larger than its previous $500M fund. The firm remains focused on seed-stage investments in AI, fintech, enterprise, and crypto, with past bets on Cerebras and Solana. The raise follows $1.4B in LP distributions over the last three years, driven by exits like EvolutionIQ ($730M) and Venafi ($1.5B).

LoftyInc Capital, a Lagos-based venture firm, closed a $43M first close for its third fund, LoftyInc Alpha, targeting late-seed and Series A startups in Africa. The round saw participation from Egypt’s MSMEDA, Tunisia’s Anava Fund of Funds, FMO, Proparco, IFC, First Close Partners, and European family offices. The fund will focus on fintech, logistics, health tech, retail, climate, and deep tech across Nigeria, Egypt, Kenya, and Francophone Africa.

KEY STORIES IN TECH

📜 Latest in tech

OpenAI plans to charge up to $20K/Month for AI ‘agents’ :

• OpenAI is reportedly developing specialized AI agents with pricing ranging from $2,000 to $20,000 per month, per The Information.

• Agent offerings include sales lead sorting, software engineering ($10K/month), and PhD-level research support ($20K/month).

• SoftBank has committed $3B to OpenAI’s agent products this year as the company seeks to offset its reported $5B loss in 2024.

Google tests an AI-only version of its search engine:

• Google launches an experimental AI Mode that removes traditional 10 blue links in favor of AI-generated summaries.

• Available to Google One AI Premium subscribers ($19.99/month), it offers a more comprehensive AI summary with cited links.

• The move intensifies competition with OpenAI's ChatGPT search, as Google shifts its core search strategy toward AI-driven results.

Anthropic quietly removes Biden-era AI policy commitments from its website:

• Anthropic deleted voluntary AI safety commitments made under the Biden administration, per The Midas Project.

• The removed commitments included AI risk-sharing, bias research, and transparency, though some content moderation policies remain.

• Anthropic claims it still upholds these commitments but will revise its transparency center to clarify alignment.

EU must ‘fully’ apply its market fairness rulebook on Google, search rivals urge:

• DuckDuckGo, Seznam.cz, and consumer groups urge the EU to fully enforce the Digital Markets Act (DMA) against Google.

• Critics say Google’s search data sharing and choice screen practices violate DMA’s fairness rules.

• The EU faces competing pressures—rivals demand stricter enforcement, while the Trump administration warns of potential U.S. retaliation.

AI pioneers win Turing Award for reinforcement learning advancements:

• Andrew G. Barto and Richard S. Sutton received the 2024 Turing Award for their groundbreaking contributions to reinforcement learning, where machines learn through a reward-driven trial-and-error method.

• Their influential work, including the development of temporal difference learning, began in the 1980s and was encapsulated in their textbook, "Reinforcement Learning: An Introduction."

• The Turing Award, often considered the "Nobel Prize for computing," acknowledges significant advancements in computer science, with Barto and Sutton's work having substantial impact on AI, including Google's AlphaGo.

Eric Schmidt argues against a ‘Manhattan Project for AGI’:

• Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt, Scale AI CEO Alexandr Wang, and CAIS Director Dan Hendrycks caution against a U.S.-led AGI arms race in a new policy paper.

• They argue that aggressively pursuing AI superintelligence could provoke hostile countermeasures from China, including cyberattacks.

• The paper proposes a strategy of deterrence, limiting adversaries’ AI access and expanding cyber defenses instead of racing toward AGI dominance.

Apple launches new MacBook Air with M4 chip:

• Apple introduced an upgraded MacBook Air featuring the new M4 chip, available in 13-inch and 15-inch models.

• The 13-inch version starts at $999, $100 less than its predecessor, with preorders open now and shipments beginning March 12.

• Updates include Thunderbolt 4 ports, Center Stage for the webcam, and a new sky blue color, while retaining 16GB base RAM and MagSafe 3 charging.

LAST COFFEE SIP

☕Other news

New AI voice raises emotional attachment fears:

• Sesame's new Conversational Speech Model (CSM) has impressed users with its human-like voice, leading to mixed feelings of fascination and discomfort over its potential for emotional attachment.

• The AI voice demo features expressive and dynamic speech, including intentional imperfections like breath sounds, laughter, and self-correction, making interactions feel more authentic.

• Sesame aims for "voice presence" to create conversational partners that foster trust and confidence, making voice a powerful interface for communication and understanding.

HIRING ALERT: STARTUPS & VC ROLES

💼 Today’s VC & startup job opportunities

• HealthTech Associate - MunichRe Venture | USA - Apply Here

• Senior Associate - Adam Street Partners | USA - Apply Here

• Associate - Novo Holdings | USA - Apply Here

• Fund Operations Intern - Startmate | Australia - Apply Here

• Associate - Omerse Venture | USA - Apply Here

• Student Venture Scout - Boomerange Venture | USA - Apply Here

CURATED RESOURCES

🎁 Don’t miss - Curated Resources for Founders.

• 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.

• 1000+ Euro Tech Angel Investors & VC Firms Database.

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

• 250+ Latin America VC Firms & Angel Investors Database

• 150+ African Angel Investors Contact Database (Email + LinkedIn Link).

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