Billionaire Groupon Founder's Startup IPO & Terraform Labs Founder Facing Billion Dollar Fine

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👋 Hey, Sahil here! Welcome to today's quick rundown in the Venture Daily Digest Newsletter. I've got the scoop on startup fundraising, fresh VC funds, and some cool tech – all in just 5 minutes ☕! Today’s major updates include -

• The founder of investment bank Ferghana Partners and physician Mitchell Ng have launched $30 Million Hippocrates Opportunities Fund.

• Billionaire Groupon founder Eric Lefkofsky's company Tempus, a genomic testing and data analysis firm, is preparing for an IPO.

• Donald Trump became the first former U.S. president to be convicted of a crime when a New York jury found him guilty of 34 felony counts for falsifying business records.

• Terraform Labs and Do Kwon reached a settlement with the SEC over misleading investors before TerraUSD's collapse, avoiding potential billions in fines and a crypto ban.

• Featured Article : How Successful Startups Solved the Chicken and Egg Problem: A Case Study of Tinder, Uber and Airbnb!

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STARTUP FUNDING UPDATES

 OneScreen.ai based in Boston, helps startups advertise on billboards and other out-of-home (OOH) advertising slots. The company has raised $4.7 million from investors including Asymmetric Capital Partners, Techstars, and Impellent Ventures. More Here

EthonAI, a Swiss startup based in Zurich, has develops an AI platform that helps manufacturers analyze data from various sources, such as sensors and equipment, to identify defects, bottlenecks, and areas for improvement in the manufacturing process. It has raised CHF 15 million ($16.5 million) in a Series A funding round led by Index Ventures, with participation from General Catalyst, Earlybird, and Founderful. More Here

Babylon, a Palo Alto, CA-based company that aims to build a Bitcoin-secured decentralized world, raised $70M in funding. The round was led by Paradigm with participation from Bullish Capital, Polychain Capital and other investors. More Here

Kintsugi AI, a Francisco, CA-based provider of a tax automation platform, raised $6M in Series A funding at a $40M valuation. The round was led by Link Ventures, Venture Highway, KyberKnight, Plug and Play, DeVC and angels investors. More Here

Plannin, a global travel booking platform based in Connecticut, co-founded by Andrew Loewen and Randy Schartner, former Priceline executives. It empowers creators to monetize their hotel recommendations and share travel-focused content, allowing travelers to book hotels directly through the platform. The company secured $2.5 million in funding last year, led by Golden Ventures, N49P, and former Booking Holdings CEO Jeffery Boyd. More Here

Exactly.ai is a London-based startup that uses generative AI to help artists retain legal ownership of their art and reproduce their designs faster and at scale. It has raised $4.3 million in a seed funding round led by Speedinvest, with participation from InReach Ventures, Cornerstone VC, GuruDev Capital, and angel investors. More Here

Frich, a New York City-based startup that aims to serve as a social financial community for Gen Z. Founded by Katrin Kaurov and Aleksandra Medina, it allows users to anonymously ask questions and share financial data to understand how they compare with their peers. The company has raised $2.8 million in seed funding led by Restive Ventures. More Here

DataHow, a Zurich, Switzerland-based provider of AI-powered solutions for bioprocess development and manufacturing, raised an undisclosed amount in Series A funding. The round was led by Momenta, with participation from Rockwell Automation and Zürcher Kantonalbank. More Here

NexGami, a Vancouver, Canada-based provider of a Web3 gaming platform, raised $2.5M in Seed funding. The round was led by Metalpha, with participation from KuCoin Ventures, HTX Ventures, Gate Labs, Ledger Capital, Tide Group, OIG, XT.com, Lbank, Kekkai, IBC Group, and angel groups. More Here

Plural Energy, a San Francisco, CA-based provider of an on-chain investing platform empowering the global transition to clean energy, raised $2.33M in Pre-Seed funding. The round was led by Necessary Ventures and Compound, with participation from Volt Capital and Maven11. More Here

Basalt Technologies Corp., a San Francisco, CA-based spacecraft OS company, raised $3.5M in Seed funding. The round was led by Initialized Capital. More Here

Remark, a New York-based product guidance startup for online stores, raised $10.3m in funding. Backers included Spero Ventures, Stripe, Shine Capital, Neo, Sugar Capital, and Visible Ventures. More Here

Oscar, a Lisbon, Portugal-based home services app provider, raised $6.5m in funding. The round was co-led by Lince Capital and Indico Capital Partners, with participation from Failup Ventures, Olisipo Way, Boost Capital Partners, and Quiet Capital also investing. More Here

Kalogon, a Melbourne, FL-based company which specializes in smart seating solutions, raised $1.2M in funding. Backers included Sawmill Angels, M7, SeedFundersOrlando, and AARP. More Here

Fortunafi, a Miami, FL-based onchain financial company, raised $9.5M in total funding. Backers included Shima Capital, Manifold, Cobie, Evanss6, Scott Lewis, Ari Litan, Austin Green, and many more. More Here

Weave Bio, a New Haven, CT-based provider of a AI-native life sciences platform, raised $10M in funding. The round was led by Innovation Endeavors and Magnetic Ventures. More Here

Plenful, a San Francisco, CA-based provider of an AI workflow automation platform streamlining pharmacy and healthcare operations, raised $17M in Series A funding. The round, which brought the total amount to $25M, was led by TQ Ventures, with participation from Bessemer Venture Partners, Mitchell Rales (Co-founder and Chairman of Danaher), Susa Ventures, and existing investors. More Here

Rows, a Porto, Portugal, and Berlin, Germany-based spreadsheet platform provider, raised $8.7m in funding. The round was led by Indico Capital Partners with participation from existing investors Cherry Ventures, Accel, Lakestar, and Armilar Venture Partners. More Here

HoundDog.ai, a San Francisco, CA-based startup implementing data security and privacy controls at the code level, raised a $3.1m in seed funding. Backers included E14 Fund, Mozilla Ventures, and Ex/ante. More Here

Viable, a London, UK-based intelligent fintech platform for consumer brands, raised $3.1m in seed funding. Backers included Episode 1, Haatch, and Portfolio Ventures. More Here

(Re)vive, a NYC-based provider of a solution addressing the challenges of unstockable and returned inventory for brands, raised $3.5M in Seed funding. The round was led by Equal Ventures and existing investor Hustle Fund. Banter Capital, Coalition Operators, Mute VC, and Veronica Chou also participated alongside existing investors Charge VC, Everywhere VC, and Hyphen Capital. More Here

Doconomy, a Stockholm, Sweden-based impact fintech company providing banks with tools to drive climate action and financial wellbeing, raised €34M in Series B funding. The round was led by UBS Next and CommerzVentures with participation from S&P Global, Motive Ventures, and PostFinance. More Here

CoreWeave, a Roseland, NJ-based provider of a customized solutions developing cloud infrastructure for AI workloads, raised $1.1 Billion in Series C funding. The round was led by Coatue, with participation from Magnetar who led the last primary round, as well as Altimeter Capital, Fidelity Management & Research Company, Lykos Global Management, funds managed by Blackstone, Eric Schmidt, and Jane Street Group. More Here

Welbe, a Mexico City-based healthtech startup, raised $7m in Series A funding. The round was co-led by Volpe Capital and the International Finance Corporation, with participation from Kortex, GreenRock, NAZCA, Marathon, and Parceiro Ventures. More Here

Faircado, a Berlin, Germany-based startup providing a browser extension that helps users find pre-owned items, raised €3m in funding. The round was led by World Fund with participation from Accel, General Catalyst, Lightspeed Venture Partners, NEA, Northzone, BackBone Ventures, Earlybird and Minc. More Here

Bootloader Studio, a Singapore-based affective AI and spatial computing startup, raised $5M in Seed funding. The round was led by Antler Elevate. More Here

Turno, a Bangalore, India-based EV distribution and financing company, raised $6M in Series-A extension funding. The round, which brought the total amount to $22.9M, was led by British International Investment (BII), Quona Capital, Stellaris Venture Partners and B Capital. More Here

FintechOS, a London, UK-based provider of an end-to-end financial product management platform, raised $60M in Series B funding. The round was led by Molten Ventures, with participation from Cipio Partners, and BlackRock, and fellow existing investors EarlyBird VC, OTB VC, and Gapminder VC. More Here

Syre, a Stockholm, Sweden-based textile impact company, raised $100M in Series A funding. The round was led by TPG Rise Climate who was joined by an additional investment from founder H&M Group as well as Giant Ventures, IMAS Foundation, Norrsken VC, and Volvo Cars. More Here

StructureFlow, a London, UK-based legal technology startup, raised $6M in Series A funding. The round, which brought the total amount to $15M, was led by FINTOP Capital, with follow-on investment from Venrex, part of Select Equity Group, a US asset management fund. More Here

Firefly, a Tel Aviv, Israel-based provider of a multi-cloud control plane solution, raised $23M in Series A funding. The round was led by Vertex and included participation from Hanaco, SoftBank, InMotion Ventures (the investment arm of JLR) and Redseed. More Here

ifeel, a Madrid, Spain-based provider of a mental health solution, raised $20M in Series B funding. The round, which brought the total amount to $40M, was led by FinTLV Ventures and Korelya Capital, with participation from existing investors SCOR Ventures, Nauta and UNIQA Ventures. More Here

Zendata, a San Francisco, CA-based provider of Artificial Intelligence (AI) governance and data privacy solutions, raised $2M in Seed funding. The round was led by PayPal Ventures, First-hand Alliance (operated by Salesforce Alumni), Geek Ventures, and Altari Ventures. More Here

Axus Technology, a Chandler, AZ-based global provider of chemical mechanical planarization (CMP) equipment, critical for manufacturing semiconductors and compound semiconductors, raised $12.5M in funding. Backers included IntrinSiC Investment. More Here

Natural Cycles, a Stockholm, Sweden-based women’s health company that developed a birth control app, raised $55M in Series C funding. The round was led by Lauxera Capital Partners, with participation from Point72 Private Investments and a revolving debt facility from J.P. Morgan. Investors also included EQT Ventures, Samsung Ventures, Heartcore Capital, Headline, and Bonnier Ventures. More Here

VENTURE CAPITAL UPDATES

The founder of investment bank Ferghana Partners and physician Mitchell Ng have launched Hippocrates Opportunities Fund, a new venture firm that seeks up to $30 million to finance privately held and publicly traded life sciences companies. More Here

FEATURED ARTICLE

How Successful Startups Solved the Chicken and Egg Problem: A Case Study of Tinder, Uber and Airbnb!

The Chicken and Egg problem it's a problem of marketplace-type businesses.

When you are launching a two-sided platform, you need supply and demand. And it creates a big problem for founders, putting a high barrier to entry. You need to find not just users, but two different types of users (which is x2 times harder).

Users on one side of the business model find the platform useful only if the other side also exists.

For example, people buy video game consoles only if there are games they can play. Game developers make games for a console only if there are enough people who use it.

A lot of founders have this question- How to solve The Chicken and Egg problem? So We have reviewed several very popular marketplaces, that everybody knows, to show how they successfully addressed this issue.

Tinder. 15,000 first users

We have shared in detailed writeup here, check it out.

WHAT DO YOU THINK?

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STARTUP’S LATEST BUZZ

ACQUISITION & GOING PUBLIC

Billionaire Groupon founder Eric Lefkofsky is back with another IPO: Eric Lefkofsky's company Tempus, a genomic testing and data analysis firm, is preparing for an IPO. Lefkofsky has a mixed track record with previous public companies like Groupon. Tempus is unprofitable but rapidly growing, with $531 million in revenue in 2023. Lefkofsky aims to maintain tight control over Tempus post-IPO through super-voting shares. More Here

LAYOFFS & BANKRUPTCY

Fisker announced another round of layoffs during an all-hands meeting on Wednesday, with CEO Henrik Fisker stating that he was not directly involved in the decision, which was made by the recently appointed chief restructuring officer. The latest staff cuts come as Fisker faces financial struggles and has repeatedly warned about the possibility of going out of business within the year if it cannot find a buyer or additional funding.

STARTUPS & PEOPLE

Paul Graham denied claims that Y Combinator fired Sam Altman due to conflicts of interest with OpenAI, stating Altman chose to leave when OpenAI became for-profit.

However, reports suggest disputes over Altman's priorities and OpenAI investments led to his Y Combinator exit. More Here

Donald Trump became the first former U.S. president to be convicted of a crime when a New York jury found him guilty of 34 felony counts for falsifying business records related to a hush money payment to a porn star before the 2016 election. The verdict thrusts the United States into uncharted waters ahead of the 2024 presidential election where Trump is a candidate. Though he could face jail time, the conviction does not legally prevent Trump from running for president or taking office if elected. More Here

Terraform Labs and its founder Do Kwon have reached a tentative settlement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission over allegations they misled crypto investors before the 2022 collapse of the TerraUSD stablecoin. The settlement terms were not disclosed, but the SEC had sought billions in fines and a ban on Kwon dealing in crypto securities after a jury found them liable for civil fraud charges. Kwon also faces related criminal charges in the U.S. and South Korea over the Terra collapse that caused massive investor losses. More Here

LATEST IN EMERGING TECH

Perplexity AI has launched a new feature called Perplexity Pages that allows users to generate detailed, visually appealing web pages on various topics using AI.

The tool helps curate information, format content, add media, and publish searchable pages shareable with others. More Here

TikTok is working to separate the code for its recommendation algorithm used in the U.S. from its Chinese parent company ByteDance, potentially paving the way for a split of its American operations. Hundreds of engineers are tasked with disentangling the millions of lines of code to create an independent version serving only U.S. users. The move aims to address U.S. national security concerns over TikTok's ties to China, though it risks impacting the app's performance. More Here

Apple's "Project Greymatter" aims to bring AI-powered convenience to everyday life. At WWDC, Apple will showcase AI tools for apps like Safari, Photos, and Notes, along with OS features like better notifications. Apple is working on a chatbot, but ChatGPT will be shown as an iOS add-on, likely through a deal with OpenAI. Apple's WWDC motto for AI is to catch up rather than overtake, capitalizing on its huge install base and emphasizing privacy. More Here

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HOW’S TODAY’S COFFEE ?

That’s It For Today! Will Meet You On Monday. Happy Weekend!☕

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