Amazon launches Temu and Shein rival & FBI's surprise visit to Polymarket's CEO

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

Scroll down to catch the latest tech drama:

• Musk's throwing Microsoft into his OpenAI beef,

• FBI's surprise visit to Polymarket's CEO, and

• Meta's whopping $840M EU smackdown!

• Plus, Amazon's gunning for Temu's crown while Spotify's cooking up a YouTube killer.

Ready for some mind-blowing numbers? Coding AI startup Cursor just casually 6x'd their valuation to $2.5B (in just 6 months!), and we've got the scoop on 52 future tech unicorns you need to watch. Bonus: Uber's master plan for the robot car revolution and a peek into how AI agents are about to flip the enterprise world upside down. Hot tech and VC gigs just dropped - time to make your move!

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Startup Funding Updates

TestSprite, a Seattle, WA-based AI-powered autonomous software testing company, raised $1.5M in Pre-Seed funding. Backers included Techstars, Jinqiu Capital, MiraclePlus, Hat-trick Capital, EdgeCase Capital Partners, and angel investor Rafael Barroso. Additional investment came from the founding team.

Bulgaria-based Team-GPT, offering an enterprise AI tools integration suite with privacy-focused deployment options, raised $4.5M in seed funding led by True Ventures with Pact and ex-OpenAI angel investors participating.

TRexBio, a San Francisco, CA-based biotechnology company decoding human tissue immune biology to create new therapeutics, raised $84M in Series B funding. The round was led by Delos Capital with participation from Avego BioScience Capital, Agent Capital, Eli Lilly and Company, SV Health Investors, Pfizer Ventures, Johnson & Johnson, Alexandria Venture Investments, and Polaris Partners.

Berlin-based Tourlane, a travel planning platform that combines flights, accommodations, activities and tickets with AI-powered personalization, secured €25M ($26M) in Series D funding led by Sequoia Capital.

Ecolectro, a NYC-based green hydrogen technology company, raised $10.5M in Series A funding. The round was led by Toyota Ventures with participation from Starshot Capital, DNX Ventures, Energy Revolution Ventures, New Climate Ventures, Banco Popular Impact Fund, and Techstars, among others.

Workflow, a London, UK-based company building AI software for design, marketing, and product teams, raised $3M in Pre-Seed funding. The round was led by Venrex with participation from 8VC, Will Taylor (Rota.com), Allis Yao (ex-Instagram, Spirito AI), and Paul Sangle (Mailwiz.app, ex-Yelp product lead).

Sunthetics, a San Marcos, TX-based AI technology company serving chemical and pharmaceutical companies, raised $4M in Seed funding. The round was led by L’ATTITUDE Ventures and joined by S3 Ventures, Hearst Level Up Ventures, and the Global Impact Fund II.

Homethrive, a Chicago, IL-based provider of technology-enabled caregiving solutions, raised $20M in funding. TELUS Global Ventures and 7Wire Ventures led the round, with participation from Pitango HealthTech, Human Capital, Outcomes Collective Growth Capital, Allianz, The K Fund, and other family offices.

BIT ODD, a Helsinki, Finland-based gaming studio, raised €17M in Seed funding. The round was led by Griffin Gaming Partners with participation from Makers Fund, Index Ventures, and others.

Impilo, a Philadelphia, PA-based provider of a digital health platform, raised $11.5M in Series A funding. The round was led by Construct Capital, with participation from GC 1 Capital, One Way Ventures, 2048 Ventures, and influential strategic angels.

Naturbeads, a Bath, UK-based startup commercializing sustainable and biodegradable cellulose ingredients, raised £7.8M in Series A funding. The round was led by Eos Advisory, alongside MITO Tech Ventures, CDP Venture Capital, PI-NB, and Paragon Capital Management.

Vaulted Deep, a Houston, TX-based biomass carbon removal and storage (BiCRS) company, raised $32.3M in Series A funding. The round was led by Prelude Ventures with participation from Lowercarbon Capital, Earthshot Ventures, and WovenEarth Ventures. Additional new investors included Fall Line Capital and Rethink Impact.

Popcorn AI, a Dubai, UAE-based conversational commerce company, raised $500K in Pre-Seed funding. Backers included Spring Studios and strategic angel investors from across the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Influur, a Miami, FL-based provider of a professional networking platform for influencers, raised $10M in Series A funding. The round was led by Point72 Ventures and HTwenty Capital.

Folks Finance, a remote DeFi platform where users can lend, borrow, trade, and manage their digital assets across multiple blockchains, raised $3.2m in Series A funding. The round led by Borderless Capital at a final valuation of $75 million with participation from SOVO Ventures, Mapleblock, Algorand Ventures, and others.

Serenity, a San Diego, CA-based provider of AI-powered Environmental, Health, and Safety (EHS) software solutions, closed a $5.5m Series A funding round. The round was led by Allegion Ventures, with follow-on participation from existing investor Base10 Partners.

SurePath AI, a Denver, CO-based company which specializes in governing generative AI for the enterprise, closed a $5.2M seed funding. The round was led by Uncork Capital with participation from Operator Collective, bringing the total funding to $6.3M.

Gitai, a Torrence, CA-based space robotics startup, raised additional US$15.5M in funding. The round was led by Maezawa Fund, a venture capital fund established and operated by Japanese entrepreneur and commercial astronaut Yusaku Maezawa.

Mundial Media, a Los Angeles, CA-baeed contextual marketing platform with a focus on multicultural audiences, raised $1.5M in Pre-Seed extension funding. Backers included existing and new investors, including Gerard Goetz, Managing Partner at New Day Industries, family offices and venture firms specializing in marketing automation.

Metsera, a NYC-based clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, raised $215M in Series B funding. The round was led by Wellington Management and Venrock, with participation from Fidelity Management and Research Company, Janus Henderson Investors, T. Rowe Price Associates.

Arbolus, a London, UK-based provider of an expert insights platform, raised $20M in Series B funding. The round was led by Kayne Anderson Partners Fund V, which is being sub-advised by Composition Capital.

Stepful, a NYC-based company dedicated to empower healthcare training for allied health professional jobs, raised $31.5M in Series B funding. The round was led by Oak HC/FT with participation from Y Combinator, Reach Capital, AlleyCorp, SemperVirens, Company Ventures, Green Sands, ECMC Education Impact Fund, Intermountain Ventures and Cedar Pine.

Venture Capital Updates

Thrive Capital is reportedly in discussions to acquire a $1 billion stake in Databricks through a tender offer, which would value the analytics software company at approximately $55 billion, up from its previous $43 billion valuation in 2023. Databricks, known for its data storage and analysis technology, would see this investment follow Thrive's recent participation in OpenAI's funding round, where the venture capital firm committed $1.2 billion with an option for an additional $1 billion.

Altos Ventures, a Silicon Valley venture capital firm founded 28 years ago, specializes in enterprise and consumer software investments with focus on SaaS, consumer and mobile technologies, serving as first institutional investor for high-growth founders. The firm has just secured $500M for their latest fund (their largest to date) and manages over $7B in assets across 15+ funds through Altos Ventures, Altos Hybrid, and Altos Korea Opportunitious Fund vehicles.

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Latest In Tech

FBI raids Polymarket CEO's home amid investigation: FBI agents raided the New York City apartment of Polymarket founder Shayne Coplan, and confiscated his personal electronics, though the specific reasons for the search have not been disclosed. Polymarket criticized the raid as "obvious political retribution," linked to its prediction that Donald Trump would win the presidency, especially as Biden's term ends. The incident has sparked debate about the motivations behind the search, with some suggesting it could be an attempt to crack down on offshore gambling or harassment of political opponents.

Amazon launches Temu and Shein rival: Amazon introduced a new feature called Haul, accessible in the Amazon app, offering a curated selection of products all priced under $20, appealing to budget-conscious shoppers. Haul provides an experience similar to a social media feed, showcasing a diverse array of items such as fashion, home goods, and tech gadgets, and encourages quick purchasing with its simplified layout. To enhance customer confidence, purchases through Amazon Haul are protected by Amazon’s A-to-Z Guarantee, offering more trust compared to competitors like Temu and Shein.

Spotify is making a major push into longform video by introducing new features designed to attract more viewers to video podcasts, expanding beyond its music and podcast offerings. The platform's latest updates include a plan to compensate content creators based on viewer engagement, and to provide ad-free videos for Premium subscribers, competing directly with YouTube. New tools such as Spotify for Creators, launching on January 2nd in select countries, will offer data insights and options for creators while helping them promote content using short clips.

Other News

Pony AI plans to raise $165M-$224M in its upcoming Nasdaq IPO (ticker: PONY), valuing the Chinese autonomous vehicle company at up to $4.48B - significantly below its 2022 valuation of $8.5B. The company operates 190 autonomous trucks and 250+ robotaxis across major Chinese cities, following recent Chinese tech IPOs like Zeekr and WeRide in the US market.

Elon Musk's lawsuit against OpenAI has been amended to include new defendants Microsoft, Reid Hoffman, and former OpenAI board member Dee Templeton, while adding Neuralink exec Shivon Zilis and Musk's xAI as plaintiffs. The 107-page complaint alleges OpenAI abandoned its nonprofit mission and merged "de facto" with Microsoft, harming competitors like xAI through exclusive licensing deals and preferential compute access.

The European Union has fined Meta nearly €800 million, accusing the company of anti-competitive behavior by linking its Marketplace service to its Facebook platform. Authorities claim that Meta's actions granted an unfair advantage to Facebook Marketplace over other classified ad services, resulting in illegal trading conditions. Meta plans to appeal the €797.72 million penalty, arguing that the decision does not consider current market conditions or provide evidence of harm to competitors or consumers.

In-Depth Insights

• Coding AI valuations: CB Insights shared that an interesting insights on coding AI valaution. AI coding assistant Cursor's valuation jumped from $400M to $2.5B in 6 months, while competitors like Codeium, Magic, and Cognition saw 2.5-6x valuation growth in similar timeframes.

• Future Tech Hotshots: 52 emerging tech startups that will have big, successful exits.

• Uber’s AV strategy: How the rideshare giant is redefining its core businesses in the age of autonomy We examine the near- and long-term implications of Uber’s activity in autonomous vehicles across its main business lines.

• Future of the workforce: How AI agents will transform enterprise workflows We dive into what agents are, their limitations, key companies, and implications for the future of work.

Venture Daily Digest Picks

• A helpful tip when hiring at an early-stage startup (Link)

• How to set aside space in your Series A for your customers and evangelists (Link)

• The amount of active investors is trending down (Link)

• Fun recap of “tech drama” of the week (Link)

• How to build an AI side project (Link)

• Product launch checklist (Link)

• Mastering TikTok to get millions in ARR (Link)

• How to promote your startup with $0 (Link)

• Why Do You Work - By David Spinks? (Link)

• How Netflix designs products for 250M+ users (growth design framework). (Link)

Today’s VC & Startup Job Opportunities

• Founder's Office Associate -Forest Hill Venture | India - Apply Here

• Associate - Redalpine | Germany - Apply Here

• Associate - Redalpine | UK - Apply Here

• Associate - Corporate Innovation - ivycap Venture |India - Apply Here

• Head fifty years | UK - Apply Here

• Manager, Venture Investing - Technical Investing Associate - Capital One | USA - Apply Here

• Marketing & Content Leader kalaari capital - India - Apply Here

• Investment Manager /Director -Enbw | Germany - Apply Here

• Associate - Bloomberg beta | USA - Apply Here

RESOURCES

• Get access to our all-in-one VC interview preparation guide—check it out. For a limited time, we are offering a 30% discount. Don’t miss this. (Access Here)

• Early Stage Startup Financial Model Template For Fundraising (Access Here)

• Building Cap Table As A Founder: Template to Download (Access Here)

• 2700+ US Angel Investors & VC Firms Contact Database (Email + LinkedIn Link) (Access Here)

• 1000+ Euro Tech Angel Investors & VC Firms Database (Access Here)

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

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

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