BlackRock Layoff 600 Employees & Biotech VC Firms Launch $1B+ Funds

🗞️ TODAY’S MAJOR UPDATES

• Biotech VC Firms Launch $1B+ Funds, funding winter?

• BlackRock, the world's largest money management firm layoff about 600 employees

• OpenAI Backer Thrive Capital, A Venture firm is looking to raise at least $3 billion.

• Featured Tweet : How Can One Build Conviction Over An Idea?

• What do you think: Father of Venture Capital?

Carta, Cap Table Management, Is Accused Of Unethical Tactics!

Carta, a Silicon Valley startup, faces accusations of misusing sensitive information by reaching out to investors of its customer, Linear, with a purported buy order without consent.

Linear's CEO, Karri Saarinen, posted on LinkedIn, stating the incident may mark the end of Carta as a trusted platform for startups, prompting an apology from Carta's founder, Henry Ward. Saarinen alleges the issue is not isolated, with reports of similar incidents spanning months or years, raising concerns about Carta's practices and potential impacts on its reputation… More Here

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💰 MASSIVE FUNDING UPDATES

Credo Health, a Denver, CO-based company which specializes in technology for value-based care, raised $5.25M in Seed funding. The round was led by FCA Venture Partners with existing investors including Hannah Grey VC, FirstMile Ventures, and Springtime Ventures. More Here

Knownwell, a Washington, DC-based AIaaS (Artificial Intelligence as a Service) platform company, raised $2M in Pre-Seed funding. The backers were not disclosed. More Here

Medallion, a NYC-based provider of a direct artist-to-fan platform, raised $13.7M in Series A funding. The round was led by Dragonfly and Lightspeed Faction, alongside technology investors such as Coinbase Ventures, Infinite Capital, J17, The Chernin Group, Third Prime, and Zeal Capital, as well as music industry investors including Bill Silva Entertainment, Black Squirrel, Guy Lawrence of Disclosure, Foundations Artist Management, Jungle, Mt. Joy, Method, Tiga, and TAG Music. More Here

Clarametyx Biosciences, a Columbus, OH-based clinical stage company developing targeted, immune-enabling biologic therapies to counter persistent infections associated with biofilms, raised $33M in Series A funding. The round was led by Ohio Innovation Fund, with participation from current investors Nationwide Children’s Hospital, Rev1 Ventures, JobsOhio Growth Capital, C Bio Investors and 1776 Fund. More Here

Vico Therapeutics, a Leiden, The Netherlands-based clinical-stage genetic medicines company developing therapies for severe neurological diseases, raised $60M in Series B funding. The round was led by Ackermans & van Haaren along with Droia Ventures, EQT Life Sciences and Kurma Partners with participation from Polaris Partners, Pureos Bioventures and Eurazeo. More Here

Hatz AI, a NYC-based provider of a platform that allows MSPs to deliver AI to their customers, raised $2.5m in funding. The round was led by Vestigo Ventures, with participation from Alex Weiss from ClearSky, Matt Higgins from Shark Tank and RSE Ventures, Jim Brown from Long Ridge, Jon McNeill, founder of DVx Ventures and former president of Tesla and former COO of Lyft, Iqram Magdon-Ismail, musician and Co-founder of Venmo, and Aidan Kehoe, Nadia Partners. More Here

Nabla, a Boston, MA-based provider of an ambient AI assistant for practitioners, raised $24M in Series B funding. The round, which brought the total amount to $43M, was led by Cathay Innovation with participation from Zebox Ventures. More Here

Moonwalk Biosciences, a San Francisco and San Diego, CA-based genomic medicine company, raised $57M in Seed and Series A funding. The rounds saw participation from Alpha Wave Ventures, ARCH Venture Partners, Future Ventures, GV, Khosla Ventures and YK Bioventures. More Here

Resalis Therapeutics, a Torino, Italy-based ncRNAs and RNA-targeted therapeutics company, raised €10M in Series A funding. The round was led by Sunstone Life Science Ventures with participation from existing investors including Claris Ventures and angel investors. More Here

CRISPR QC, a San Diego, CA-based biotechnology startup, secured funding from Xcellerant Ventures in its ongoing Series A funding round. The amount of the deal was not disclosed. More Here

💰 VENTURE CAPITAL UPDATES

TCG Crossover, a Palo Alto, CA- and NYC-based life sciences-focused investment firm with a flexible mandate to invest in both private and public companies, closed its second fund, TCGX Fund II, with $1B in capital. The fund received support from new and existing limited partners with commitments coming globally from investors in North America, Europe, the Middle East, and Asia. More Here

Banner Ridge Partners, a NYC-based multi-strategy private equity investment firm, has completed fundraising for Banner Ridge Secondary Fund V (“BRP V”), at £2.15 Billion. The fund was oversubscribed, receiving capital commitments from a wide range of institutional investors, including pension funds and several prominent family offices. More Here

Forward Consumer Partners, a Greenwich, CT-based private equity firm which invests in branded consumer businesses, closed its debut fund, Forward Fund I, at $425M. More Here

Thrive Capital, A Venture firm is looking to raise at least $3 billion amid a downturn in tech funding. Thrive — a major investor in OpenAI — one of few large growth funds pitching investors for more money. More Here

D1 hedge fund stung by venture bets: D1 Capital Partners faced a second consecutive year of hedge fund underperformance, with a mere 0.8% gain in 2023, attributing the lackluster results to markdowns in its private investments, particularly a 10% dip in the private book. The firm, heavily invested in venture capital, is optimistic about a market recovery, citing a "thawing" in private markets and anticipating increased liquidity opportunities. More Here

𝕏 FEATURED: TODAY’S FEATURED TWEET

How Can One Build Conviction Over An Idea?

Sam Altman shared an interesting perspective on how can someone build a conviction over an idea.

He gave the Airbnb example on how fonder Brian Chesky used this approach to build conviction over Airbnb..… Read More Here

💡 SARTUP’S LATEST BUZZ

Acquisition

Mimecast, a Lexington, MA-based email and collaboration security company, acquired Elevate Security, a San Francisco, CA-based provider of human risk management solutions. The amount of the deal was not disclosed. More Here

Platinum Equity, a Los Angeles, Ca-based investment firm, acquired Horizon Organic, and Wallaby, from Danone. The amount of the deal was not disclosed. More Here

Elevance Health, an Indianapolis, IN-based healthcare company, acquired Paragon Healthcare, Inc., a Plano, TX-based company specializing in life-saving and life-giving infusible and injectable therapies. More Here

Layoffs & Exits

BlackRock, the world's largest money management firm, plans to announce layoffs about 3 percent of its global workforce around 600 employees. More Here

CDW, llionis based IT solution provider company planning to layoff more than 100 employees in coming days due to revenue fall in first quater. More Here

Allogene, Biotechnology company cut of around 22% of its workforce today, citing the move as necessary in order to reduce the company’s cash burn. More Here

IPO

Avalon Pharma to launch an initial public offering (IPO) on the Saudi Stock Exchange, looking to raised $1.2 Billions. More Here

🤖 LATEST IN EMERGING TECH

Intel (INTC.O), forming a new independent company around its artificial intelligence software efforts with backing from digital-focused asset manager DigitalBridge Group (DBRG.N) and other investors. More Here

Building a viable pricing model for generative AI features could be challenging: Box adopts a consumption-based pricing model for its generative AI features, offering users 20 credits per month with additional credits available from a company pool. In contrast, Microsoft opts for a traditional flat rate of $30 per user per month for its Copilot features. SaaS companies face challenges in integrating generative AI, balancing customer demand with pricing strategies, and navigating compliance concerns. More Here

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

• Theory Ventures’ Tomasz Tunguz unveils 2024 predictions Read More (Tech & Startups)

• “ Y-Combinator Called Me Cockroach During Interview ” Airbnb Founder. Read More (Startups)

• What Does Marc Andreessen Look In Startup Founders? Read More (Startups)

• Before launching a product by Nikita Bier Read More (Startups)

🤔 WHAT DO YOU THINK?

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

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✍️Written By Sahil R | Venture Crew Team