ByteDance Seeks $9.5 Billion Loan & Start-up Unveils Most Realistic Robot Yet

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Top News

ByteDance is seeking a $9.5 billion loan, which would be Asia's largest dollar-denominated corporate facility outside Japan. Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, and JPMorgan are coordinating the three-year loan, with a possible extension to five years. The loan will partly refinance an existing $5 billion facility.

Norwegian robotics startup 1X has unveiled NEO Beta, a humanoid robot designed for home assistance, demonstrating its capabilities through two videos. NEO distinguishes itself with silent operation, exceptional dexterity, and the ability to respond intuitively to human gestures and commands without verbal communication. Weighing 66 pounds and featuring muscle-inspired anatomy and advanced AI, NEO has secured $100 million in Series B funding to transition from testing to widespread household deployment.

Other Major News

• SparkLabs, an early-stage VC firm closed a new $50 million AIM AI Fund. (Scroll To VC Updates)

• CrowdStrike faces legal challenges Delta suing for $500 million and shareholders filing a class action lawsuit. (Scroll To Tech Updates)

• Product Stickiness Framework: Triggers, Constraints, and Rituals. (Scroll To Featured Article)

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

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🗞️ Startup Funding Updates

Approveit, a San Francisco, CA-based provider of an operations and automation platform for businesses, raised $1M in funding. Backers included 10vc, Verras Capital, Telegraph Hills Capital and others. More Here

Signol, a London, UK-based sustainability startup using science to reduce emissions in shipping and aviation, raised £2.5M in funding. The round was led by TMV, with participation from Ultranav, MOL PLUS, and East Innovate. More Here

Pylon, a San Francisco, CA-based provider of a support platform for B2B companies, raised $17M in Series A funding. The round, which brought the total amount to $20M, was led by Andreessen Horowitz, with participation from General Catalyst, Y Combinator, and others. More Here

NxtQube, a Nashik, India-based drone infrastructure company, raised an undisclosed amount in Seed funding. The round was led by Venture Catalysts, with participation from Pontaq VC (STPI), Ananta Bizcon LLP, Rushikesh Bhandari, and other angel investors. More Here

Crafty Apes, a Los Angeles, CA-based visual effects company, received a strategic investment of undisclosed amount. The round was led by Morgan Stanley Investment Management and Camberline Capital Management. More Here

RevolKa, a Tokyo, Japan-based biotech company advancing an AI-driven protein engineering technology platform, raised US$0.7M and completed a US$1.7M in Series A funding. D3 co-led the Series A extension round along with DEEPCORE. More Here

Knowde, a San Jose, CA-based chemical software company, raised $60m in Series C funding. The round was led by Blue Cloud Ventures, Point72 Private Investments, and Socium Ventures with participation from existing investors Sequoia Capital. More Here

ThinkCyte, a Tokyo, Japan- and Redwood City, CA-based biotechnology company developing scientific instruments, raised raised an additional $15M in the extension round, bringing the total Series C to $32M. The round was led by Japan Green Investment Corp. for Carbon Neutrality (JICN), KIRIN-GB Fund I L.P., and SMBC Venture Capital No. 7 Investment Limited Partnership. The company also secured a loan from Japan Finance Corporation. This latest round brings ThinkCyte’s total funding to $91m. More Here

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📰 Venture Capital Updates

SparkLabs, an early-stage VC firm known for backing AI startups, has closed a new $50 million AIM AI Fund to invest in AI startups globally. The firm aims to invest in 50-70 companies in total, focusing on the best AI startups regardless of location, with a minority allocation for Saudi Arabia or MENA investments. More Here

📌 Featured Article

Product Stickiness Framework: Triggers, Constraints, and Rituals.

Many founders believe that a great app idea is enough to make it successful. But it’s not. What truly matters is the stickiness of your product.

Start thinking about your product in terms of where triggers, constraints, and user rituals exist within it.

The rise of AI means that more user experiences within the best products will be trigger-based, rather than static. And wide open experiences will be less desirable than opinionated, constrained ones.

I love this framework from Greg Isenberg. It’s the new strategy for thinking about how to keep users engaged with your product.

1. Trigger action with prompts

2. Ignite FOMO with constraints

3. Keep 'em coming back with rituals

We have shared a detailed writeup in our recent Venture Curator newsletter, check out here….

📑 Startup’s Latest Buzz

Acquisition & Going Public

Safran has acquired AI firm Preligens for €220 million ($243.3 million), rebranding it as Safran.AI within its Electronics & Defense division. Preligens specializes in AI for aerospace and defense, using algorithms to analyze satellite imagery for military purposes.

Public has acquired the brokerage accounts of Carta's secondaries business, following a controversy where Carta was accused of using private cap table data to broker sales without startups' consent. The backlash led Carta to exit the secondary marketplace brokerage business, finding a buyer in Public. Public confirmed customers can opt out of the transfer, while Carta will continue handling company-led secondary offerings through its SEC-registered transfer agent.

eProductivity Software (ePS), a Pittsburgh, PA-based company which specializes in transformational technology for the print and packaging industries, acquired EPMS, a US-based company developing print and packaging solutions.

Layoffs & Bankruptcy

Startups & People

Joshua Lu, an Andreessen Horowitz partner, is leading the Speedrun accelerator for gaming startups, investing in AI-driven innovations and new distribution platforms. Half of the current batch focuses on AI applications in gaming, exploring ways to reduce development costs and time. Lu also sees potential in building games on Discord, viewing it as a promising platform for social game discovery and distribution.

🤖 Latest In Tech

CrowdStrike faces legal challenges after a software update caused widespread disruptions, with Delta suing for $500 million and shareholders filing a class action lawsuit. The company hired Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan for defense, while contractual damage limits may protect CrowdStrike unless gross negligence is proven.

💼 Today’s VC Job Opportunities

• Relationship Manager - French Founders | France - Apply Here

• Ventures Associate, AI Investing - Point 72 Venture | USA - Apply Here

• Analyst- venture capital - D2C Insider | India - Apply Here

• Operations Associate - Entrepreneur First | USA - Apply Here

• Venture Capital Investor - Superspeed | UK - Apply Here

Exclusive Resources For Aspiring Venture Capitalists by VC Partners

We have launched our all-in-one VC Interview guide (how to answer) for aspiring venture capitalists. For the first 50 aspiring venture capitalists, we are offering a 50% discount. Check out here…

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