Anthropic Hires OpenAI Co-founder Durk Kingma & Peak XV Trims Fund Size And Fees

In partnership with

☕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

Durk Kingma, an OpenAI co-founder, is joining Anthropic, working remotely from the Netherlands. Kingma, with a Ph.D. in machine learning, previously worked at Google and led OpenAI's algorithms team. This move follows Anthropic's recent high-profile hires from OpenAI, including Jan Leike, John Schulman, and Instagram co-founder Mike Krieger.

OpenAI held its 2024 DevDay amid recent executive departures, introducing new tools including a public beta of the "Realtime API" for low-latency AI-generated voice responses. The company announced vision fine-tuning for GPT-4V, prompt caching, and model distillation features, aiming to compete with rivals like Anthropic and Google. OpenAI claims to have over 3 million developers using its AI models and has reduced API costs by 99% in two years. No new AI models were released at this event, with GPT Store updates and the anticipated OpenAI V1 and Sora video generation model still pending.

Other Major News

• Peak XV trims fund size and fees as Indian market overheats: Peak XV is reducing its $2.85 billion funds by $465 million. (Scroll To VC Updates)

• Microsoft gives Copilot a voice and vision (Scroll To Tech Updates)

• Oracle plans to invest over $6.5 billion to establish its first public cloud region in Malaysia (Scroll To Tech Updates)

• How to Start Your Own VC Fund. & Resignation Letter From Jerry Neumann. (Scroll To Featured Articles)

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

🤝 A Message from Our Partner: Oneleet

Want SOC 2 compliance without the Security Theater?

Question 🤔 does your SOC 2 program feel like Security Theater? Just checking pointless boxes, not actually building security?

In an industry filled with security theater vendors, Oneleet is the only security-first compliance platform that provides an “all in one” solution for SOC 2.

We’ll build you a real-world Security Program, perform the Penetration Test, integrate with a 3rd Party Auditor, and provide the Compliance Software … all within one platform.

Schedule a demo to get a quote! 🛡️

Partnership With US

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

• Reach 58,000+ Founders & Investors: Partner with our venture daily digest newsletter to reach a highly engaged audience.

• Get Your MVP In 15 Days: Have an Idea? Turn your idea into Reality. Move fast before your competitors.

🗞️ Startup Funding Updates

Runware, a San Francisco, CA-based media generation API startup, raised $3m in seed funding. Backers included A16Z’s Speedrun, LakeStar’s Halo II , Lunar Ventures, Begin Capital, Zero Prime and others.

Rogo, a NYC-based secure enterprise AI platform for finance professionals, raised $18.5m in Series A funding. The round was led by Khosla Ventures, with participation from Mantis VC, Jack Altman (CEO of Lattice and founder of Altman Capital), Eric Schmidt (former CEO of Google), and others.

Anaphite, a Bristol, UK-based developer of production technology for battery electrodes, raised $13.7m (£10.4m) in Series A funding. The round was co-led by World Fund, and Maniv, with participation from EEI, Nesta, and existing investors Elbow Beach Capital and Wealth Club.

DessIA, an Antony, France-based AI engineering automation startup, raised €3m in funding. The round was led by Matterwave Ventures, Supernova Invest, and the Orano Venture Fund.

Thread AI, a New York-based company providing a composable AI infrastructure platform for enterprises, raised $6M in seed funding. The round was led by Index Ventures, with participation from Greycroft and notable angels like Datadog CEO Olivier Pomel, former Roblox CTO Dan Sturman, and Homebrew also participated.

Nusano, a Valencia, CA-based physics company transforming the production of radioisotopes, raised over $115M in Series C funding. The round was led by The Wasatch Group, with additional participation by S32. Previous investors included Verily and the American Cancer Society’s BrightEdge.

Kailera Therapeutics, a Boston, MA-based clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, launched with $400M in Series A funding. The round was led by Atlas Venture, Bain Capital Life Sciences, and RTW Investments, with participation from Lyra Capital.

Enlaye, a Boston, MA-based provider of risk lifecycle management solutions for the “built world”, raised $1.7m in pre-seed funding. The round was co-led by Glasswing VC and Hannah Grey VC.

Nym, a NYC-based leader in autonomous medical coding, raised $47m in growth funding. The round was led by PSG, with participation from existing and new investors including GV, Addition, Samsung Next and Dynamic Loop Capital.

Impulse Space, a Redondo Beach, CA-based innovator in the development of in-space transportation services, raised $150M in Series B funding. The round, which brought the total amount to $225M, was led by Founders Fund and included participation from Lux Capital and Spring Tide, DCVC, Airbus Ventures, Alumni Ventures, Balerion Space Ventures, RTX Ventures, Tamarack Global, 137 Ventures, Elysium, First Principles Group, Island Green, Overmatch, and Trousdale Ventures.

Numa, a San Francisco, CA-based AI platform for auto dealerships, raised $32M in Series B funding. The round was led by Touring Capital, and Mitsui & Co., Ltd. Existing investors Costanoa Ventures, Threshold, and Gradient Ventures, also participated.

DocJuris, a Houston, TX-based company which specializes in AI contract review, raised $8M in Series A funding. The round was led by Silverton Partners, with participation from previous investors Watertower Ventures, Surface Ventures, and Seed Round Capital.

Air Doctor, a Tel Aviv, Israel-based company which specializes in travel health, raised $20M in Series B funding. The round was led by Moon, with participation from strategic investors Tokio Marine Holdings, Samsung Ventures (SVIC), and current shareholders Lightspeed Venture Partners, Vintage Investment Partners, Phoenix Insurance, and Munich Re Ventures.

xtype, a Covina, CA-based software company for multi-instance management on the ServiceNow platform, raised $21M in Series A funding. The round was led by Norwest Venture Partners, with participation from ServiceNow Ventures and existing investors including Columbia Capital, Inner Loop Capital, and SaaS Ventures.

Salient Motion, a Culver City, CA-based aerospace and defense component supplier, raised $12M in total funding. The Pre-Seed and Seed rounds were led by Cantos Ventures, with participation from Andreessen Horowitz, AE Ventures, Hummingbird Ventures, and BoxGroup.

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. 

Indiegraf, a Vancouver, BC, Canada-based platform dedicated to transforming the economics of local news and content businesses, raised US$2.2m in seed funding. The round was led by StandUp Ventures, with participation from Coralus and Mucker Capital.

JOYA, an Irvine, CA-based provider of an employee skin health and wellness benefit platform, raised $5M in Seed funding. Backers included LUX Capital, Mosaic General Partnership, Arsama Trust, and Joyance Partners.

Dexory, a London, UK-based robotics and data intelligence company, raised $80M in Series B funding. The round was led by DTCP, with participation from Latitude Ventures, Wave-X and Bootstrap Europe, along with existing investors Atomico, Lakestar, Capnamic and several angels from the logistics industry.

Notpla, a London, UK-based innovator in sustainable packaging, raised 20m in Series A funding. The round was led by UB Forest Industry Green Growth Fund with participation from Catalytic Capital for Climate & Health (C3H).

Family.cards, a Potsdam, Germany-based startup specializing in the development of simple digital participation solutions for senior citizens, raised €1.2M in Seed funding. Backers included Brandenburg Kapital, OHA Osnabrück Healthcare 7 Ventures, Antler and other investors.

Nesti, a Bristol, UK-based sales tech AI startup, raised £250K in Pre-Seed funding. The round was led by SFC Capital, with participation from Cognism, Onfido, Richard Fitzmaurice, Lee Durham and Richard Lane, and Ben Kent.

Vsim, a Manchester, UK-based robotics simulation startup, raised $21.5M in seed funding. The round was led by EQT Ventures with participation from Factorial Fund, Samsung Next, Tru Arrow, Xora (owned by Temasek), IQ Capital, Koro Capital, Concept Ventures, Lakestar Scout Fund, and Concept Venture Partner Carles Reina.

Raycast, a London, UK-based productivity software company, raised $30m in Series B funding. The round was led by Atomico with participation from Accel, Coatue, Y Combinator, Atlassian Ventures, World Innovation Lab and angels Guillermo Rauch, Thomas Dohmke and Tobi Lütke.

Artisan, a San Francisco, CA-based company deploying human-like AI employees, raised $7.3m in seed funding. The round was led by Oliver Jung, with participation from Sequoia Scout, Y Combinator, Soma Capital, BOND Capital, Anu Hariharan, Paul Daversa, Fellow’s Fund, Mento VC and more.

📬 Access Curated Resources, Support Our Newsletter

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

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

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

• All in one guide of venture capital interview preparation. It’s created by GP and contain all possible questions and how to answer them. 50% for first 50 Aspiring VCs - Get Access Now…

• 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)

📰 Venture Capital Updates

DCVC, a Palo Alto and San Francisco, CA-based deep tech venture capital firm, closed its first dedicated climate fund and its newest DCVC Bio fund, raising over $700m in funding. This brings total funding closed over the last two-and-a-half years to over $1.6 billion.

Peak XV trims fund size and fees as Indian market overheats: Peak XV is reducing its $2.85 billion funds by $465 million, lowering management fees to 2% and carried interest to 20%. The firm has $9 billion in assets under management, $2 billion yet to deploy, and has made $10 billion in gains across 400+ companies, including 50+ unicorns and 40 businesses with $100M+ annual revenue.

Prospect Partners, a Chicago, IL-based pre-lower-middle market private equity firm, closed Prospect Partners Fund V, at $225m. Fund V received interest from a diverse group of new investors, successfully expanding and diversifying Prospect’s investor base. Investors include endowments and foundations, family offices, wealth managers, and fund of funds across the United States.

📌 Featured Articles

• How to Start Your Own VC Fund. NFX offers a detailed guide for aspiring VCs looking to launch their own fund.

• Resignation Letter. An interesting resignation letter from Jerry Neumann, diving into personal reflections on venture capital.

[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

Hotelrunner, a Wilmington, DE-based provider of a travel and hospitality technology platform, acquired Bookingate, a London, UK-based provider of a platform that enables travel service providers to access and distribute hotel inventory and 3rd party services.

Teamfront, an Austin, TX-based partner for founder-owned field services software companies, acquired Xcelerate, a Mesa, AZ-based provider of job management software for the restoration industry.

Layoffs & Bankruptcy

Drata, a security compliance automation platform, has laid off 9% of its workforce (40 people) despite reporting strong growth metrics earlier.

Startups & People

Russia fined Google and Discord 3.5 million roubles each for failing to remove or restrict access to content deemed illegal. The fines are part of Russia's ongoing efforts to penalize foreign tech platforms for non-compliance. Both companies have faced increasing pressure in Russia, especially after Google's blocking of YouTube channels related to Russian media following the Ukraine invasion.

🤖 Latest In Tech

Oracle plans to invest over $6.5 billion to establish its first public cloud region in Malaysia, outpacing recent investments by other tech giants in Southeast Asia. The venture aims to help Malaysian organizations modernize applications, migrate to the cloud, and innovate with data and AI. This investment is part of Oracle's broader expansion across Asia, with the company expecting to cross $100 billion in revenue by fiscal 2029 due to rising demand for cloud services.

Microsoft has unveiled a major overhaul to its Copilot experience, adding both voice and vision capabilities, transforming it into a more personalized AI assistant similar to OpenAI's Advanced Voice Mode. The redesign features a new card-based user interface inspired by Inflection AI’s Pi assistant, and Copilot now offers a virtual news presenter mode, tailored homepage and improved customization based on user interaction history. Initial releases of Copilot Voice and Copilot Daily will be available in select regions, while Copilot Vision features are in a limited preview phase, focusing on enhancing user safety and privacy through restricted website interactions.

💼 Today’s VC Job Opportunities

• Research Analyst, AI Kindred venture | USA - Apply Here

• Investment Analyst - Asylum Venture | USA  - Apply Here

• Program Associate - Adaptation - India Climate | India - Apply Here

• Talent Investor Analyst (internship) - eNTREPRENEUR FIRST | FRANCE - Apply Here

Do you have any news to share about your Startup or VC fund?
Please email us.

We’ll be back in your inbox On Tomorrow.