Amazon is ready to launch its Starlink competitor & Apple loses $250B in market value after Trump tariff announcement.

DAILY PICKS

🗞️ What else is brewing

• AI agent hype by CB Insights.

• Being human in the age of intelligent machines: Physicist and novelist Alan Lightman on consciousness, wonder, and emotions.

• ​What do Tariffs mean for startupland?

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

• Building a Deep Tech company? most startup advice doesn’t apply — read this instead.

• Excel Template: Early Stage Startup Financial Model For Fundraising.

• Startup evaluation with ChatGPT & More

• Startup legal document pack – essential legal docs for founders.

• Naval Ravikant: "Inspiration is perishable — act while the spark is fresh.”

• SaaS Startup Financial Model: All-in-One Excel Template.

• All-In-One term sheet guide for startup founders.

• 1000+ Euro Tech VC Firms Database.

• Raising money but struggling to connect with the right investors? We help startups reach 85,000+ investors and connect with members of our investor Slack community. Fill out this form to get started. it’s FREE!

• Start learning AI in 2025

  Keeping up with AI is hard – we get it!

  That’s why over 1M professionals read Superhuman AI to stay ahead.

  • Get daily AI news, tools, and tutorials

  • Learn new AI skills you can use at work in 3 mins a day

  • Become 10X more productive

  Sign up and start mastering AI

AI TOOL WORTH EXPLORING…

You’ve heard the hype. It’s time for results.

After two years of siloed experiments, proofs of concept that fail to scale, and disappointing ROI, most enterprises are stuck. AI isn't transforming their organizations — it’s adding complexity, friction, and frustration.

But Writer customers are seeing positive impact across their companies. Our end-to-end approach is delivering adoption and ROI at scale. Now, we’re applying that same platform and technology to build agentic AI that actually works for every enterprise.

This isn’t just another hype train that overpromises and underdelivers.
It’s the AI you’ve been waiting for — and it’s going to change the way enterprises operate. Be among the first to see end-to-end agentic AI in action. Join us for a live product release on April 10 at 2pm ET (11am PT).

Can't make it live? No worries — register anyway and we'll send you the recording!

Save your spot — register today

FEATURED YOUR STARTUP

💪 Get your startup in front of over 85,000+ audience

Our newsletter is read by thousands of tech professionals, founders, investors (VCs / Angel Investors) and managers around the world. Get in touch today.

STARTUPS RAISING MILLIONS

💰 Startup funding updates

Adaptive Security, a NYC-based AI-powered cybersecurity startup, raised a $43M Series A co-led by OpenAI's startup fund and Andreessen Horowitz.

Runway, a NYC-based generative AI media startup, raised $308M in Series D funding led by General Atlantic, with participation from Fidelity, Nvidia, SoftBank, and others. The company will use the funds to expand AI R&D and its Runway Studios production arm. Total funding now stands at $536.5M.

Redpanda, a San Francisco, CA-based data platform to integrate and process real-time data for analytical, operational, and agentic AI workloads, raised $100M in Series D funding at $1 billion valuation. The round was led by GV, with participation from Lightspeed Venture Partners.

Hydrolix, a Portland, Oregon-based provider of a data lake platform to enhance the economics of log data, closed an $80m Series C funding round. The round was led by QED Investors, joined by Blumberg Capital, Frontline Ventures, Pruven Capital and Sozo Ventures, alongside existing investors that include Akamai, AV8 Ventures, Ericsson Ventures, Nava Ventures, Oregon Venture Fund, S3 Ventures, Uncorrelated Ventures and Wing Venture Capital.

Phonic, a San Francisco, CA-based speech-to-speech platform for building lifelike, conversational voice agents, raised $4M in funding. Backers included Lux Capital and the founders of Replit (Amjad Masad), Hugging Face (Clem Delangue), Applied Intuition (Qasar Younis), and Modal (Erik Bernhardsson).

Mandos, a Greater Louisville, KY-based digital health platform built for the everyman, raised over $1M in funding. The round was led by Render Capital and Stone Mountain Ventures.

Unframe, a Cupertino, CA-based AI platform for global enterprises, raised $50M in funding. Backers included Bessemer Venture Partners, TLV Partners, Craft Ventures, Third Point Ventures, SentinelOne Ventures, Cerca Partners, and Terra Nova Ventures.

HeroWear, a Nashville, Tenn.-based startup specializing in occupational exosuit solutions, raised $5m in Series A funding. Backers included White Road Investments, and Engage.

Solace, a Redwood City, Calif.-based digital health platform that connects patients with expert health advocates, closed a $60m Series B funding round. This round was led by Menlo Ventures with participation from existing backers Craft Ventures, Inspired Capital and Torch Capital, as well as new investor SignalFire.

Hello Soju, a Los Angeles, CA-based ready-to-drink sparkling soju brand born at the intersection of Korean and California culture, closed a $6.8m funding round. The round was led by a personal investment from Ted Schlein of Kleiner Perkins and Ballistic Ventures, and supported by Hello Soju parent company THG.

Daymark Health, a Philadelphia, PA-based cancer care company, raised $11.5m in seed funding. The round was co-led by Maverick Ventures and Yosemite, with additional participation from Oncology Ventures.

Linus, an Oakland, CA-based SAT prep startup, raised $5M in Seed funding. The round was led by Owl Ventures.

AutonomyAI, a NYC-based company focused on enhancing front-end software development for businesses, raised $4m in pre-seed funding. Backers included Inbound Capital, Gilad Shany of IoN Partners, and Vikram Makhiija, Senior Director at Google Cloud Security, among others.

Vivere Partners, a Laguna Beach, CA-based specialty insurance platform established to focus on niche lines of insurance, closed a $7.5m Series A funding. The round was led by General Catalyst, Pathlight Ventures and Greenlight Re.

Grid Edge, a Birmingham, UK-based company whose AI-powered software helps reduce carbon emissions and energy costs in commercial buildings, raised £2.8m in funding. Backers included the Midlands Engine Investment Fund II, Mercia Ventures, Centrica, bp Ventures, and private investors.

Ultra, a London, UK-based destination for gamers, publishers, and developers, closed $12m funding round. The round was led by Luxembourg-based multi-family office NOIA Capital through its NOIA Digital Assets fund.

Unravel, a London, UK-based provider of an AI-powered video commerce platform, raised $7M in Series A funding. The round was led by Nauta Capital, with participation from Active Partners, Slingshot Ventures and Olivier Bisserier, as well as Antler, Nodes, Upscalers, Brook Bay Capital and The Players Fund (whose backers include sports icons Ben Stokes, KL Rahul and Jessica Ennis-Hill).

LAUNCHING — A GLOBAL COMMUNITY FOR VCs & ANGEL INVESTORS

📢 100+ Investors receives verified startup deals every single day…

With 85,000+ existing newsletters subscribers, we’re now launching an exclusive Slack community for angel investors and venture capitalists from around the world.

By joining, you’ll get access to:

✅ Vetted early-stage startup deals
✅ Weekly networking sessions & LP-GP events
✅ Daily updates on startup fundraises, venture trends & market signals
✅ Investor-only tools, resources & deal rooms

💬 Is This Free? Yes — 100% free to join. No hidden fees.

 The goal: learn faster, invest smarter, build together. Don’t miss this opportunity!

Join our community for FREE →

NEW VCs IN THE MARKET

🏦 Venture Capital updates

Ballistic Ventures, a San Francisco-based cybersecurity-focused VC firm co-founded by Ted Schlein, is raising a new $100M fund, per an SEC filing. This follows its $360M second fund closed in 2023. Founded in 2021, Ballistic has backed 59 startups and made 6 exits to date.

KEY STORIES IN TECH

📜 Latest in tech

Amazon is ready to launch its Starlink competitor:

• Amazon's Project Kuiper is set to launch its first batch of 27 space internet satellites next week, with plans for 80 more missions to establish a constellation competing against Starlink and begin offering service later this year.

• The satellites will launch aboard an Atlas V rocket from Cape Canaveral, featuring a special reflective coating to reduce visibility to astronomers, while Amazon develops terminal antennas that will offer speeds up to 1Gbps.

• Amazon's internet constellation will eventually consist of more than 3,200 satellites orbiting 392 miles above Earth at 17,000 mph, significantly smaller than Elon Musk's Starlink network which already exceeds 7,000 satellites.

Microsoft rolls out Bing Copilot Search to compete with Google:

• Microsoft has widely rolled out "Copilot Search" on Bing, offering AI-generated search summaries that hide traditional blue links while providing web sources beneath the AI response.

• The company has started positioning Copilot Search as the first search filter in Bing's interface for some users, prioritizing it even above the full Copilot experience.

• This strategic move by Microsoft comes as Google prepares to launch its competing "AI Mode" feature, which was announced in early March.

TikTok quietly launches a new ‘TikTok for Artists’ platform:

• TikTok is testing a new “TikTok for Artists” platform in select markets, offering tools for artists to promote songs, launch campaigns, and access detailed performance and audience insights.

• The platform enables artists to run pre-save campaigns, highlight fan videos via a new “Fan Spotlight” section, and analyze fan demographics across regions.

• This launch follows ByteDance’s decision to sunset TikTok Music, aligning with its broader strategy to amplify TikTok’s influence on global music trends and streaming engagement.

ChatGPT users have generated over 700M images since last week:

• OpenAI’s upgraded image generator in ChatGPT has produced over 700 million images from 130 million users since launching on March 25, making it one of the company’s most popular releases.

• The tool’s viral Ghibli-style image generation has driven a surge in new user signups, especially from India — now ChatGPT’s fastest-growing market.

• The rapid growth has strained OpenAI’s infrastructure, causing product delays and degraded service as the company works to scale operations.

Studio Ghibli subreddit enforces AI art ban:

• Following ChatGPT's viral Ghibli-style image generation, moderators of the Ghibli subreddit reaffirmed their ban on AI-generated art, calling it unauthorized and disrespectful to the studio’s legacy.

• Fans resurfaced Hayao Miyazaki’s past condemnation of AI art, reinforcing the stance that generative AI lacks the emotional depth central to Ghibli’s storytelling.

• Despite backlash, OpenAI reports over 700 million images generated with the new feature, including countless Ghibli-inspired artworks, stretching the company’s system capacity.

Intel and TSMC are reportedly launching a joint chipmaking venture:

• Intel and TSMC have reached a tentative agreement to form a joint venture operating Intel’s chipmaking plants, with TSMC holding a 20% stake, per The Information.

• Instead of contributing capital, TSMC will train Intel employees and share manufacturing practices to help boost chipmaking efficiency.

• The Trump administration reportedly encouraged the deal to support Intel’s turnaround; it follows the recent appointment of Lip-Bu Tan as Intel’s new CEO.

LAST COFFEE SIP

☕Other news

Apple loses $250B in market value after trump’s sweeping tariffs hit tech stocks:

• Apple shares plunged 8.5% on Thursday, erasing over $250 billion in market value as Trump’s newly announced tariffs roiled the tech sector.

• The broad tariffs, effective April 5, raise China’s rate to 54% and impact Apple’s supply chain across Asia, including China, India, Taiwan, and Vietnam.

• Analysts warn the tariffs are worse than worst-case projections, forcing Apple to either raise prices or absorb profit losses on all major products.

HIRING ALERT: STARTUPS & VC ROLES

💼 Today’s VC & startup job opportunities

All-In-One VC Interview Preparation Guide: With a leading investors group, we have created an all-in-one VC interview preparation guide for aspiring VCs — offering a 30% discount for a limited time. Don’t miss this. (Access Here)

• Events and Operations Intern - Plug and Play tech | UK - Apply Here

• Principal, Ventures Fund - Forbion | USA - Apply Here

• Summer innovation Intern - Plug and Play tech | USA - Apply Here

• HealthTech Associate - Munich Re Venture | USA - Apply Here

• Investment Associate - bpventure | USA - Apply Here

• Marketing Intern - TNB Aura | Singapore - Apply Here

• Associate Director - Operations -Upaya Social Venture | India - Apply Here

• Junior Partner - Outlander VC | USA - Apply Here'

• Investment Associate - Galvanize Group | USA - Apply Here

• Principal - Stepstone Group | USA - Apply Here

• Deal Sourcing Manager - Tracxn | India - Apply Here

• Finance Associate - Thomvest | USA - Apply Here

WHEN YOU’RE READY, HERE’S HOW I CAN HELP:

💁 You might need our help!

• Reach 86,600+ Founders & Investors: Partner with our newsletter to reach a highly engaged audience.

• Build Your Pitch Deck: We write, design and model your pitch deck into a storyteller book within 4-5 days.

BEFORE YOU GO