Meta launches a stand-alone AI app to compete with ChatGPT & Microsoft says up to 30% of the company’s code was written by AI.

DAILY PICKS

🗞️ What else is brewing

• Frameworks to show investors your market has billion-dollar potential.

• Consumer Subscription Trifecta: What makes consumer AI subscriptions work?

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

• 8 Signs Your Startup Is a Zombie and how to avoid it.

• The only startup valuation guide you need as a founder.

• AI 100: The most promising artificial intelligence startups of 2025.

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

• From Weekend Project to Fortune 10 Adoption — Reducto’s Path to Product-Market Fit.

• 400+ French angel investors & venture capital firms contact database (Email + LinkedIn Link)

🤝 A MESSAGE FOR FOUNDERS…

We Write, Design And Model Your Pitch Deck Into Storytelling Book..

Decks don’t get you funded, they get you meetings. Without meeting you have no shot at getting funded. Investor meetings get you funded.

An investment associate gets 2000 decks in a year and they spend On average, 4 min on a deck. You have only a few minutes to wow investors. 

But don’t worry, We are here to help you to create a pitch deck into a storytelling book within 4-5 days that get investors attention.

Schedule a call with us today →

FEATURED YOUR STARTUP

💪 Get your startup in front of over 95,000+ 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

indiGOtech (GO), a Woburn, MA based new mobility tech company, closed a $54m Series BB funding round. Backers included FedEx (NYSE: FDX), Foxconn (2354.TW) and FM Capital.

Villa, a San Francisco, CA-based offsite homebuilding platform provider, raised $40m in funding. A $20m round was led by Unless with participation from existing investors Atomic and Tectonic Ventures, and other undisclosed strategic investors.

VSORA, a Paris, France-based provider of artificial intelligence (AI) inference chips, raised $46M in funding. The round was led by Otium and a French family office with additional participation from Omnes Capital, Adélie Capital and co-financing from the European Innovation Council (EIC) Fund.

Dex, a London, UK-based developer of AI voice talent agent and Machine Learning recruitment matchmaking engine, raised $3.1M in Pre-Seed funding. The round was led by a16z speedrun and Concept Ventures with participation from angel investors including Charlie Songhurst (Meta), Eric French (COO, Deliveroo), Nilan Peiris, (CPO Wise) and Stephen Whitworth (CEO Incident.io).

eeden, a Münster, Germany-based tech startup developing textile recycling technology, raised €18M in Series A funding. The round was led by Forbion, with participation from Henkel Ventures, NRW.Venture, TechVision Fund (TVF), High-Tech Gründerfonds (HTGF) and D11Z. Ventures.

DePoly, a Zurich, Switzerland-based sustainable PET-to-raw-material recycling company, raised $23M in Seed funding. Backers included MassMutual Ventures with participation from existing investors, including Founderful, ACE & Company, Angel Invest, Zürcher Kantonalbank, BASF Venture Capital, Beiersdorf Venture Capital, and Syensqo.

Utilidata, a Providence, RI-based company which specializes in edge AI technology, raised $60.3M in Series C funding. The round was led by Renown Capital Partners with participation from Quanta, NVIDIA, and existing investor Keyframe Capital.

Near Space Labs, a NYC-based stratospheric remote sensing company, raised $20M in Series B funding. The round was led by Bold Capital Partners, with participation from USAA, Climate Capital, Gaingels, and River Park Ventures, joined by existing investors Crosslink Capital, Third Sphere, Draper Associates, and others.

Blooming Health, a NYC-based social care technology platform, raised $26M in Series A funding. The round was led by Insight Partners, with participation from existing investors Afore Capital, Crossbeam Venture Partners, and Metrodora Ventures.

Apex, a Los Angeles, CA-based spacecraft manufacturer offering productized and configurable satellite bus platforms, raised $200M in Series C funding. The round was led by Point72 Ventures and co-led by 8VC, alongside existing investors including Andreessen Horowitz, as well as new firms Washington Harbour Partners and StepStone Group.

Growers Edge, a Johnston, IA-based company that provides financial products and data-driven tools for agricultural retailers, manufacturers, and lenders, raised $25M in funding. The round was led by S2G Investments, Cibus Capital, and Lowercarbon Capital, with participation from Otter Creek, iSelect, and Jeff Ubben.

Forge Nano, a Denver, CO-based technology company developing domestic battery and semiconductor solutions, raised $40M in new funding. The round was led by RockCreek and Ascent Funds. Additional participants included Top Material (KRX: 360070), Orion Infrastructure Capital and existing investors.

Basil Systems, a Boston, MA-based provider of an AI-powered product lifecycle intelligence platform for the life sciences industry, raised $11.5M in Funding. The round was led by Golden Ventures, with participation from Hearst Ventures and Argosy Capital.

GORGIE, a NYC-based energy drink brand, raised $24.5M in Series A funding. The round was led by Notable Capital, an existing seed investor, bringing total funding to $37M since launch.

Navro, a London, UK-based fintech improving international payments for businesses, raised $41M in Series B funding. The round was led by Jump Capital with participation from Bain Capital Ventures, Motive Partners, and Unusual Ventures.

Pistachio, an Oslo, Norway-based provider of an AI-powered cybersecurity awareness training platform, raised $7M in Series A funding. The round was led by Walter Ventures, with participation from Idékapital, Angel Invest, MP Pensjon, and J12 Ventures. Atanas Mukov, Partner at Walter Ventures will be joining the company’s board alongside Remo Mahler, Principal at Angel Invest.

Eden, a Seattle, WA-based provider of a digital sales enablement platform for contractors, raised $3.7M in funding. The round was led by Climactic, alongside other investors including Better Ventures and C2 Ventures.

node.energy, a Frankfurt, Germany-based software company providing green electricity services, raised €15M in Series B funding. The round was led by DeepTech and Climate Fund (DTCF) and eCAPITAL Entrepreneurial Partners. High-Tech Gründerfonds (HTGF), Bitstone Capital and BonVenture also participated.

FROM OUR PARTNER - VENTUROUS

🤝 The Fastest Way to Hire Healthcare Execs With Venturous.

Your startups don’t need another hiring backlog. They need traction.

Venturous connects your portfolio startups with pre-vetted, proven healthcare executives—whether fractional, full-time, or advisory. They've done it fast, effectively, and with zero upfront fees.

Why VCs and operators love it:

• Fractional or full-time execs matched in days, not months

• Partner-only discounts for your portfolio companies

• No upfront fees, ever

You invest in potential. Venturous helps unlock it—one hire at a time.

Tell us about your needs →

NEW VCs IN THE MARKET

🏦 Venture Capital updates

Sarah Tavel, a general partner at Benchmark since 2017, has transitioned to a venture partner role. She will continue investing and serving on boards while exploring “AI tools at the edge” and reflecting on AI’s broader direction. Tavel joined Benchmark after roles at Greylock, Pinterest, and Bessemer, and has led investments in Hipcamp, Chainalysis, and Supergreat.

KEY STORIES IN TECH

📜 Latest in tech

OpenAI rolls back GPT-4o update after sycophantic behavior sparks backlash:

• OpenAI reversed a recent GPT-4o update after users noticed ChatGPT became overly validating and sycophantic — praising even dangerous or problematic prompts.

• The issue stemmed from model tuning that overly prioritized short-term positive feedback, according to a company blog post.

• OpenAI is now refining training methods, adding honesty guardrails, and exploring user-selectable personalities and real-time feedback tools to prevent similar problems.

Microsoft CEO says up to 30% of the company’s code was written by AI:

• Satya Nadella said AI generates 20–30% of Microsoft’s internal code, with Python showing more progress than languages like C++.

• The comment came during a LlamaCon discussion with Mark Zuckerberg, who said he wasn’t sure of Meta’s AI-generated code percentage.

• Google recently reported over 30% of its code is AI-written, though metrics for measuring AI-generated code vary across companies.

Meta announces AI chatbot app and Llama API:

• Meta launched a Meta AI chatbot with a social feed and a developer-facing Llama API, making it easier to build AI apps directly on Meta’s cloud infrastructure.

• The announcements are part of Meta’s strategy to undermine “closed” model providers like OpenAI and support an open-source AI ecosystem, including allies like DeepSeek and Alibaba’s Qwen.

• Meta did not release a top-tier reasoning model, instead focusing on regulatory advantages and broader adoption of its open Llama models under the EU AI Act.

Google Play sees 47% decline in apps since start of last year:

• Google Play’s global app count dropped from 3.4 million to 1.8 million in 2024, a 47% decline driven by stricter quality policies and expanded human reviews.

• Google began removing low-functionality apps like static content apps, single-wallpaper apps, and test builds, and enhanced developer verification and threat detection.

• Unlike Apple’s App Store, which saw slight growth in app count, Google’s cleanup aims to reduce scammy and low-quality apps while boosting safety and visibility for users and developers.

Amazon denies tariff label plans after White House criticism:

• The White House condemned Amazon after news emerged the retailer reportedly intended to display how much specific tariffs contribute to the final cost of items sold online.

• A presidential spokesperson labeled the alleged scheme a “hostile and political act,” questioning why similar cost details were absent during previous periods of high inflation under another administration.

• The e-commerce company subsequently explained this tariff cost display was only ever considered for its budget shopping service, Amazon Haul, and has not been activated anywhere.

Duolingo will replace contract workers with AI:

• Duolingo revealed plans to progressively stop using contract workers for jobs that artificial intelligence is now competent enough to perform, according to its chief executive.

• This operational change aligns with a new "AI-first" direction where teams must explore automation possibilities thoroughly before requesting additional human resources for tasks.

• The company's leader clarified the goal is accelerating educational content generation for learners through technology, not displacing its permanent workforce with automated systems.

Meta says its Llama AI models have been downloaded 1.2B times:

• Meta announced at its first LlamaCon that its Llama AI models have been downloaded 1.2 billion times, up from 1 billion in March and 650 million in December 2024.

• The company credits the growth to strong developer activity, with thousands contributing derivative models downloaded hundreds of thousands of times monthly.

• Meta AI, the assistant powered by Llama, has also reached around 1 billion users, though it now faces rising competition from new open-source challengers like Alibaba’s Qwen3.

Banks sell final $1.2B in Twitter/X debt nearly two years after Musk’s buyout:

• A group of banks, including Morgan Stanley and Bank of America, sold the last $1.2 billion of debt tied to Elon Musk’s $44B acquisition of Twitter (now X) at 98 cents on the dollar, yielding 9.5%.

• The debt sale concludes efforts to offload $13B in loans from the 2022 deal, helped by Musk’s ties to President Trump and improved revenue prospects for X.

• Musk recently said his AI firm xAI acquired X in a deal valuing the platform at $33 billion.

LAST COFFEE SIP

☕Other news

Figure AI cracks down on secondary stock sales amid valuation surge:

• Robotics startup Figure AI has sent cease-and-desist letters to at least two brokers marketing its private shares without board approval, despite founder Brett Adcock recently touting high investor demand.

• Brokers speculate Figure’s crackdown is due to secondary shares being offered below its target $39.5B valuation — a potential threat to its upcoming $1.5B primary funding round.

• Figure maintains that unauthorized trading violates company policy, while critics argue active secondary trading could boost interest in new raises if the valuation is realistic.

HIRING ALERT: STARTUPS & VC ROLES

💼 Today’s VC & startup job opportunities

• Venture Fellows - Kalea Venture | UK - Apply Here

• Innovation Program Manager - Caret Capital | India - Apply Here

• Venture Capital Analyst - 137 Venture | USA - Apply Here

• Visiting Analyst - Alstin Capital | Germany - Apply Here

• Principal - Fitch Group | USA - Apply Here

• Corporate Development & Strategy - Figma Venture | USA - Apply Here

• Venture Analyst - AO Venture | Australia - Apply Here

• Executive Assistant - Enkadon Capital | UK - Apply Here

• Investment Analyst - Endiya Parrtnes | India - Apply Here

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. Don’t miss this. (Access 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