China’s AI model beats OpenAI & xAI now worth more than what Musk paid for Twitter

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☕ Good Friday Morning. Welcome to today's quick rundown in the Venture Daily Digest Newsletter.

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• Apple is reportedly building a more conversational Siri powered by LLMs

• US calls for breakup of Google and Chrome

• xAI now worth more than what Musk paid for Twitter

• China’s AI model beats OpenAI

• Neuralink gets approval to start human trials in Canada

• OpenAI is reportedly exploring the development of a web browser integrated with ChatGPT

Fresh from the analyst desk: Score the ultimate playbook on raising your first fund from Mario Gabriele, crack the CFO code with Aleph's insider guide, and master the pre-seed game with DocSend. Oh, and Bain Capital's spilling the tea on that tricky founder-to-AE sales transition. Fresh VC and startup gigs just dropped!

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Venture Daily Digest Picks

• A Must-Read Guide for Aspiring Venture Capitalists. (Link)

• Promise-market fit is an early signal that product-market fit is possible. Why & How? (Link)

• Cap Table Guide for Founders (Link)

• Access to 10000+ VCs verified email contact database. (Link)

• Why you shouldn’t giveaway startup equity to advisors (Link)

• 14 ways the tax code is written in favor of business owners (Link)

• Marc Andreessen on the importance of startup timing (Link)

• Positive signals to look for when hiring engineers (Link)

• The 3 things your company needs to make AI act like an engineer (Link)

• Sam Altman on the early, difficult times at OpenAI (Link)

• Download Startup Fundraising Pitch Deck Templates. (Link)

Startup Funding Updates

Aviz Networks, a San Jose, CA-based company which specializes in AI-driven networking solutions, raised $17M in Series A funding. The round was led by Alter Venture Partners, with participation from existing investors Cisco Investments, Moment Ventures, Wistron and Accton and new strategic investors including Celestica and Qualcomm Ventures.

Crusoe Energy, a Denver-based startup building data centers for AI infrastructure, is raising $818M, having secured $686M from 70 investors to date. The round reportedly includes participation from Peter Thiel's Founders Fund and Felicis Ventures, which would value the company at over $3B. The startup recently announced a $3.4B joint venture with Blue Owl Capital to build a data center campus in Abilene, Texas.

Zepto, India-based quick-commerce startup specializing in 10-minute grocery delivery, raised $350M in a domestic funding round. The round saw participation from Motilal Oswal, family offices of Mankind Pharma, RP-Sanjiv Goenka, Cello, Haldiram's, Sekhsaria, and Kalyan, as well as notable investors Amitabh Bachchan and Sachin Tendulkar.

Trustero, a Palo Alto, CA-based company which specializes in AI-powered security and compliance, raised $10M+ in Series A funding. The round was led by Bright Pixel Capital, with participation from existing investors Engineering Capital, Zetta Ventures Partners, and Vertex Ventures US.

Lighthouse, a London, UK-based provider of a commercial intelligence platform for the travel and hospitality industry, raised $370M in Series C funding. The round was led by KKR through its Next Generation Technology III Fund. Existing investors Spectrum Equity, F-Prime Capital, Eight Roads Ventures, and Highgate Technology Ventures will continue their participation in the business.

Clean Skin Club, a Weston, FL-based brand at the intersection of skincare and hygiene, raised $32M in funding. The round was led by Astō Consumer Partners and Amberstone.

Teleo, a construction robotics startup specializing in semi-autonomous heavy machinery retrofitting, raised $16.2M in Series A extensions. The funding was led by UP.Partners, with participation from new investors Trousdale Ventures and Triatomic Capital, along with existing investors F-Prime Capital and Trucks VC.

KeySavvy, a Seattle, WA-based provider of a platform that simplifies and secures private-party car transactions, raised $4.25M in funding. The round was led by Bonfire Ventures. Experian Ventures, Daher Investments and Founders’ Co-op all participated in the latest cycle of financing.

DANNCE.AI, a Boston-based company transforming patient care with its AI biomarkers platform designed to characterize drug effects and optimize neurological care, has raised $2.6 million in a pre-seed round. The funding was led by LDV Capital, following an initial investment from Glasswing Ventures, with additional participation from The Leo Lion Company, Duke Capital Partners, and Merck Digital Sciences Studio.

OpenYield, a NYC-based operator of the FINRA and SEC-registered OpenYield ATS, raised an undisclosed amount in new funding. The round, which brought OpenYield’s total funding to $7M, was led by Canapi Ventures, with participation from Clocktower Ventures, Flow Traders, Fin Capital and TD Bank.

Epic Cleantec, a San Francisco, CA-based innovator in water reuse technology for the built environment, raised $12M in Series B funding. The round was led by the family office of Drs. Kathy Fields and Garry Rayant.

DANNCE.AI, a Boston, MA-based company providing clinicians and drug developers a digital phenotyping platform, raised $2.6M in Pre-Seed funding. The round was led by LDV Capital, following initial investment from Glasswing Ventures, with participation from The Leo Lion Company, Duke Capital Partners, and Merck Digital Sciences Studio.

Nivoda, a NYC- and London, UK-based digital marketplace and supply chain for the diamond industry, raised $51M in funding. The round, which brought the total amount to $96M, was led by Northzone who join existing investors, including Avenir, Headline, Abstract Ventures, and Canaan Partners. This latest round takes the total raised by Nivoda to $96 million.

Faircraft, a Paris, France-based a provider of a lab-grown leather using patented tissue engineering techniques, $15.8M in funding. Backers included Kindred Ventures, Cap Horn, BPI, Sake Bosch, Entrepreneur First, Alliance for Impact, and Heirloom.

VISO TRUST, a San Francisco, CA-based company which specializes in AI-powered third-party risk management (TPRM), raised $24M in funding. Backers included existing investors Bain Capital Ventures, Work-Bench, Sierra Ventures, and Lytical Ventures, and new investors, Allstate Strategic Ventures, Cisco Investments, EnvisionX Capital, and Scale Asia Ventures.

Enveda, a Boulder, CO-based biotechnology company using AI to translate nature into new medicines, raised $130M in Series C funding. The round was led by Kinnevik and FPV with participation from new and existing investors Baillie Gifford, Premji Invest, Lingotto Innovation, Lux Capital, Dimension Capital, True Ventures, Cresset Partners, The Nature Conservancy, and Henry R. Kravis.

Pivot Energy, a Denver, CO-based national renewable energy provider and independent power producer, raised over $450M in debt warehouse facility. The facility was led by First Citizens Bank, with participation from ATLAS SP Partners, the warehouse finance and securitized products business majority owned by Apollo funds.

Virtue Drinks, a London, UK-based clean energy drink provider, raised £2M in funding. Backers included James Watt, co-founder of BrewDog, Eberechi Eze, Premier League footballer and England international, bringing the total funding to over £5M.

Echion Technologies, a Cambridge, UK-based supplier of niobium-based anode materials, received further £10M in funding. The round was led by Barclays Sustainable Impact Capital and existing investor BGF.

Iontra, a Centennial, CO-based battery charging technology company, raised $45M in Series C funding. The round was led by Volta Energy Technologies, with additional support from other investors.

Apaleo, a Munich, Germany-based provider of an API-first open property management platform, raised €20M in Growth Equity funding. The round was led by PSG Equity. Existing investors Redalpine, FOMCAP IV, and Rockaway Ventures also participated.

Shinami, a San Francisco, CA-based developer platform across Move-based blockchains (Aptos, Sui, and Movement), raised $5.645M in Seed funding. The round was led by Race Capital with participation from 6th Man Ventures, Coinbase, Circle, and Mysten Labs. In addition, Aptos Foundation provided an additional undisclosed investment.

CellPoint Digital, a London, UK-based provider of payment solutions to the airline and travel industries and a global developer of payment orchestration solutions, raised $30M in funding. The round was led by Toscafund and Penta Capital.

Toku, a Singapore-based provider of enterprise cloud communications and customer experience solutions, raised USD 5M in Series A extension funding. The round was led by Betatron Venture Group with participation from the Hong Kong Innovation and Technology Venture Fund (ITVF) and other investors.

CalmWave, a Seattle, WA-based creator of the Quiet ICU, raised $5.25M in funding. The round was led by Third Prime with participation from Catalyst by Wellstar, Silver Circle, Rebellion, Impulsum, and existing investors Bonfire Ventures, Tau Ventures, and Hike Ventures.

Inversion, a Los Angeles, CA-based precision delivery on-demand company from space to anywhere on Earth, raised $44M in Series A funding. The round was co-led by Spark Capital and Adjacent, with participation from Lockheed Martin Ventures, Kindred, and Y Combinator.

Ladder, an Austin, TX-based iOS app for training, raised $105M in Funding. The round consisted of $15M in Series B funding led by Point72 Ventures and ADvantage VC, with participation from Steve Pagliuca’s PagsGroup and Series A lead investors Tapestry VC and LivWell Ventures and a $90M growth investment from General Catalyst’s Customer Value strategy.

Anitian, a Palo Alto, CA-based provider of compliance automation solutions, raised $7M in Series Funding. The round was led by Sageview Capital with continued support from Forgepoint Capital.

New Lantern, a San Francisco, CA-based cloud-native AI radiology suite company, raised $19M in Series A funding. The round was led by Benchmark, bringing total funding to more than $23M. Benchmark General Partner Eric Vishria is joining the New Lantern board. Other participants included Afore Capital, Anthology Fund, Neo, SV Angel, Guillermo Rauch, Amjad Masad, Saji Wickramasekara, Jay Kreps, and Gokul Rajaram, among others.

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Venture Capital Updates

Blue Bear Capital, a software-focused climate tech venture firm, raised $160M for its third fund. The round saw participation from notable investors including McKnight Foundation, Rockefeller Brothers Fund, UBS, WovenEarth Ventures, and Zoma Capital, along with executives from private equity and infrastructure funds.

Latest In Tech

Apple is reportedly developing a next-generation version of Siri powered by large language models (LLMs), scheduled for release in spring 2026. The new AI assistant will replace the current Siri interface entirely, while in the interim, Apple is partnering with OpenAI, Google, and Anthropic to integrate their AI capabilities into Apple Intelligence.

DeepSeek, a Chinese AI research company, has introduced DeepSeek-R1, a reasoning AI model designed to compete with OpenAI’s o1 by effectively fact-checking itself and spending more time on queries. DeepSeek-R1 matches OpenAI’s o1-preview performance on AI benchmarks AIME and MATH, but struggles with some logic problems and can be prompted to bypass safeguards, revealing a detailed meth recipe when jailbroken. Political sensitivity appears to influence DeepSeek-R1’s refusal to respond to certain questions, likely due to China’s regulatory requirements for AI models to align with socialist values, which affects topic coverage.

The Department of Justice has recommended that Google divest its Chrome browser to dismantle what they describe as an illegal monopoly in the online search market. A decision on Google's punishment, potentially altering the global internet landscape, will be made by District Court Judge Amit Mehta, with proceedings expected to start in 2025. Google criticized the DOJ's proposal as excessively broad, arguing it would impair user privacy, product quality, and the company's competitive stance in AI technology.

Elon Musk's AI company, xAI, is now valued at $50 billion, which is $6 billion more than the amount Musk paid to purchase Twitter. The valuation of xAI has risen since the spring, doubling during a funding round that collected $5 billion from investors. Prominent investors like Sequoia Capital and Andreessen Horowitz are participating in xAI's current funding efforts, expecting to further support the company's growth.

Other News

Northvolt, the Swedish battery manufacturer, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the U.S. after burning through approximately $100 million monthly despite raising $14.26 billion in total funding. The company's downward spiral began with laying off 1,600 employees (20% of workforce) in September, followed by BMW's withdrawal from a $2 billion contract.

Wiz, a leading cybersecurity company, is acquiring security remediation specialist Dazz in a cash-and-share deal valued at $450M. The acquisition, which represents Wiz's largest to date, follows the company's earlier $1B fundraise for M&A purposes and builds upon a longstanding partnership between the two companies' leaders.

OpenAI is reportedly exploring the development of a web browser integrated with ChatGPT and discussing search partnerships with companies like Conde Nast, Redfin, Eventbrite, and Priceline, potentially challenging Google's market dominance. The AI company is also in talks with Samsung about powering AI features on their devices, building upon its existing partnership with Apple for Intelligence features.

In-Depth Insights

• What does it take to become a CFO? [Aleph]

• How to Raise Your First Fund. A tactical playbook to kickstart your investing journey and set you up for success [Mario Gabriele]

• The Pre-Seed Round Defined: How to Succeed as an Early-Stage Startup [DocSend]

• The MVP-ICP Handshake : Bain Capital explains how to transition from founder-led to AE-led sales with a focus on MVP-ICP alignment.

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Today’s VC & Startup Job Opportunities

• Partner 20, Compensation, Carried Interest - a16z | USA - Apply Here

• Investment Analyst (MatSci) - TDK Venture | USA - Apply Here

• Investment Team Intern - Antler | Germany - Apply Here

• Visiting Analyst (Venture Capital) - YZR Capital | Germany - Apply Here

• Program Manager - Plug and play tech center - Apply Here

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