Apple's Vision Pro Struggling & Musk Denies Report Of Raising Money For AI Startup

🗞️ TODAY’S MAJOR UPDATES

• Apple’s Vision Pro Struggling as YouTube, Netflix, and Spotify, along with Meta, have chosen not to build for the platform.

• Musk denies report of raising $500M for AI startup out of $1M.

• VC Firm closing million dollar funds to focus on sustainability.

• Featured Article : Paul Graham: Are You Building Fake Product-Market Fit ?

• What Do You Think: Comparing two VC fund’s IRR?

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💰 MASSIVE FUNDING UPDATES

Build A Rocket Boy, an Edinburgh Scotland, UK-based independent gaming and entertainment company, closed on an over $110m Series D fundraising round. The round was led by RedBird Capital Partners with participation from Galaxy Interactive, NetEase Games, Endeavor, Alignment Growth, Woodline Partners LP, GTAM Partners, and others. Julia Wittlin, a Partner at RedBird Capital. More Here

ElevenLabs, a startup developing AI-powered tools to create and edit synthetic voices, closed an $80 million Series B at $1 billion valuation round co-led by prominent investors, including Andreessen Horowitz, former GitHub CEO Nat Friedman and entrepreneur Daniel Gross. More Here

Macrostreet, a Nairobi, Kenya-based finance news website, raised a seed funding of undisclosed amount. The backers were not disclosed. More Here

Bloom Nutrition, a Los Angeles, CA-based provider of health supplements aimed at helping consumers achieve their wellness goals, received $90m in financing. The round was led by Nutrabolt, which will take an ownership stake of approximately 20%, with participation from Clayton Christopher and Amberstone. More Here

Shamba Pride, Kenya based Agritech startup worked to enhance last-mile distribution for farm inputs and tackle price exploitation and quality issues for farmers through its merchant network dubbed digishops. It has raised a $3.7 million debt-equity pre-series A funding from the EU agriculture financing initiative EDFI AgriFI and Seedstars Africa Ventures (SAV). More Here

Bolt Navigation, a Concord, MA-based developer of Handheld Surgical Navigation systems, closed its Series B financing. The round was led by Grand Oaks Capital, the investment group for the family office of Paychex founder Tom Golisano, with participation from Impact Capital of New York. More Here

Bolden Therapeutics, Inc., a Providence, R.I.-based biotechnology company developing first-in-class therapeutics to promote neurogenesis for the potential treatment of central nervous system illnesses such as Alzheimer’s disease, closed a $1.5M pre-seed convertible note financing. The round was led by Resolute Venture Partners, and included investments from Slater Technology Fund, Lifespan Vision Ventures, and multiple angel investors. More Here

3Daughters, a Mansfield, MA-based clinical development company, raised over $2M in a first tranche of Seed funding. The round was led by Thairm Bio, with a group of life science investors, and joined by the Argosy Foundation, Wexford Science and Technology, UMass Amherst, and other undisclosed investors. More Here

MitoSense, a Plymouth, MA-based research and development company focused on neurodegenerative disease treatments, raised $3.5M in Seed funding. The round was led by Caydan Capital Partners. More Here

Acorai, a Helsingborg, Sweden-based medical device manufacturer, raised $4M in funding. The round was led by Solardis Health Ventures, with participation from KHP Ventures, Carma Fund and other US investors, including CerraCap Ventures. More Here

Everphone, a Berlin, Germany-based Device-as-a-Service platform for corporate smartphones and tablets, secured €270m in financing. Backers included Citigroup, Phoenix Insurance, and KfW. More Here

Huler, a Stoke on Trent, UK-based worktech company providing an employee experience platform (EXP), raised a further £1.5m in funding. The backer was MEIF Proof of Concept & Early Stage Fund, which is managed by Mercia Ventures and part of the Midlands Engine Investment Fund (MEIF), and Mercia’s EIS funds. More Here

Artisse AI, a Hong Kong-based company which specializes in human-centric AI image technology, raised $6.7M in Seed funding. The round was led by The London Fund. More Here

Sano Genetics, a Cambridge, UK-based provider of a software platform for precision medicine clinical trials, raised $11.4M in funding. The round, which brought the total amount to $22M, was led by Plural. More Here

Talofa Games, a San Francisco, CA-based gaming studio developing social fitness games, reportedly raised $6.3M in Seed funding. The round was led by Chamaeleon, with participation from a16z SPEEDRUN, Basis Set Ventures, Insight Partners, and 1Up Ventures, among others. More Here

Welcome to the Jungle, a Paris, France-based provider of a recruitment platform, acquired Otta, a London, UK-based provider of a candidate-first job search platform. More Here

Acorai, a Helsingborg, Sweden-based company which specialized in cardiovascular health technology, received an undisclosed investment amount from CerraCap Ventures. More Here

💰 VENTURE CAPITAL UPDATES

ArcTern Ventures, a Toronto, Canada-based venture capital firm investing globally in breakthrough technology companies addressing climate change and sustainability, closed Fund III, at $335m.  Limited partners include TD Bank Group, Allianz, Church Pension Group, OPTrust, Credit Suisse Asset Management, and other large institutional investors. More Here

Plural, a European venture capital firm founded by entrepreneurs including Taavet Hinrikus, has raised a fresh €400 million fund to support early-stage "transformational" startups in the region. Despite the challenging VC landscape in Europe, Plural's latest fund exceeded its target, with a focus on AI (30% of investments), frontier tech (16%), and climate and energy startups (14%). More Here

AC Ventures, Jakarta-based venture firm has successfully closed its fifth fund, ACV Fund V, raising $210 million amid challenging times in the funding landscape. The fund, backed by the World Bank's IFC and various international investors, aims to invest in Southeast Asian startups, particularly in Indonesia, focusing on sectors like fintech, e-commerce, health tech, MSME enablement, and climate. More Here

𝕏 FEATURED: TODAY’S FEATURED ARTICLE

Paul Graham: Are You Building Fake Product-Market Fit ?

Nowadays - It's pretty common for companies to claim they've nailed product-market fit when, in reality, they're quite far from it. I'd argue this is a major cause of downfall, especially for post-seed companies.

Many founders often face a dilemma where they believe that they have achieved product-market fit based on some factor, but honestly, it’s just a "Fake Product-Market Fit." What are those factors?… Read More Here

💡 SARTUP’S LATEST BUZZ

Acquisition & Exits

PowerSchool (NYSE: PWSC), a Folsom, CA-based provider of cloud-based software for K-12 education in North America, acquired Allovue, a Baltimore, MD-based provider of K-12 financial planning, budgeting, and analytics software in the U.S. More Here

Layoffs & Shutdown

Terraform Labs, the Singapore-based company behind TerraUSD and Luna, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in Delaware following the collapse of its cryptocurrencies in 2022. The bankruptcy comes amid a $40 billion crypto industry collapse and legal challenges, with co-founder Do Kwon facing extradition to the U.S. or South Korea over alleged cryptocurrency fraud. More Here

League of Legends maker Riot Games said Monday it will cut around 530 jobs worldwide, describing the layoffs as "a necessity." More Here

Macy's has rejected a $5.8 billion offer to take the iconic department store private, as it prepares to slash costs amid ongoing struggles with 3.5% employee layoff. More Here

People

Elon Musk denies reports that his AI company, xAI, is halfway to a $1 billion investment goal, refuting the claim as inaccurate. Bloomberg had reported discussions about a $15 billion to $20 billion valuation. In December, xAI filed to raise $1 billion, with Musk now stating they are not currently raising money. More Here

🤖 LATEST IN EMERGING TECH

Despite the launch of Apple's Vision Pro mixed reality headset, app developers show a tepid response, with only 150+ apps specifically updated for the device out of 1.8 million on the App Store. Challenges include limited headset availability for testing, the high $3,499 price point, and negative sentiment post-Epic Games' lawsuit. Major apps like YouTube, Netflix, and Spotify, along with Meta, have chosen not to build for the platform. More Here

Elon Musk's social network, X, adds audio and video calls for Android users in an update, limited to paid users for initiating calls. X continues its ambition to be an "everything app" with plans for peer-to-peer payments and xAI-powered features, despite reported advertiser exits following Musk's controversial remarks in November 2023. More Here

📰 TODAY’S MUST READ ON: STARTUP, TECH & VC

• Why Entrepreneurs Try To Pump Up Their Market Size? Read More (Startups)

• NASA’s X-59 Fly Faster Than Speed Of Sound Without Any Noise. Watch Here (Technology)

• Steve Jobs - ‘Don’t Ask Your Customers What They Want, Why?' Read More (Startups)

• How to Talk About Valuation Numbers When Investor Ask? Read More (Startups)

🤔 WHAT DO YOU THINK?

📬 Newsletter / Channels That You Might Be Interested

• Tech Voyage: Get Daily Updates On Trendy Tech Innovation On Instagram.

• Transacted: Get the latest trends and transactions with the Street’s most informative M&A update.

That’s It For Today! Will Meet You Tomorrow!
Happy Tuesday! 🥂

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✍️Written By Sahil R | Venture Crew Team