Cursor in talks to raise at a $10B valuation & Discord's plan for IPO.

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STARTUPS RAISING MILLIONS

💰 Startup funding updates

Anysphere (Cursor), a San Francisco, CA-based AI-powered coding assistant developer, is in talks to raise funding at a ~$10B valuation. The round, expected to be led by Thrive Capital, follows its $100M raise at a $2.5B valuation three months ago. Investors are increasingly valuing AI coding startups at high multiples, with Codeium also reportedly raising at a ~$3B valuation.

Flowdesk, a NYC-based digital asset trading and technology firm, raised $102m in equity funding. Backers included HV Capital and existing investors Eurazeo, Cathay Innovation and ISAI as well as a debt facility from funds and accounts managed by BlackRock.

Creatopy, a San Francisco, CA-based AI-powered ad automation startup, appointed Tammy Nam as CEO. Nam, previously COO and CMO at PicsArt, replaces Dan Oros, who moves into an advisory role. The company, which raised a $10M Series A led by 3VC and Point Nine, reported 400% mid-market and enterprise revenue growth over the past year, serving customers like AstraZeneca, NASCAR, and The Economist.

Across, an Ethereum interoperability startup, raised $41M in funding. The round was led Paradigm, with participation from Bain Capital Crypto, Coinbase Ventures, Multicoin Capital, and Sina Habinian.

‍Heidi Health, a Melbourne, Australia-based healthcare AI scribe company, raised USD $16.6M in Series A follow-on funding round. The round was led by Headline, with participation from Local Globe, Anthology (Menlo Ventures and Anthropic) and existing investors Blackbird, HESTA, Possible Ventures and Archangel Ventures.

Firsthand, a NYC-based AI-powered brand agent platform allowing brands to attract and engage with consumers, raised $26M in Series A funding. The round was led by Radical Ventures, a return investor, with participation from FirstMark Capital, Aperiam Ventures, Michael Ovitz’s Crossbeam Venture Partners, and angel investors including David Rosenblatt, Brian O’Kelley, and Bob Lord.

Coalition, a San Francisco, CA-based cybersecurity-focused insurtech company, raised $30m from Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance, a subsidiary of MS&AD Insurance Group Holdings, Inc.

Renaissance Fusion, a Grenoble, France-based nuclear fusion reactor company, raised €32M in first closing of its Series A funding. The round was led by Crédit Mutuel Alliance Fédérale’s societal dividend and managed by Crédit Mutuel Impact, alongside Lowercarbon Capital.

Momentic, a San Francisco, CA-based provider of an AI-powered software testing platform, raised $3.7M in Seed funding. The round was led by FundersClub (FCVC), with participation from Y Combinator, General Catalyst, AI Grant, and Karman Ventures, alongside angels like Aaron Levie (Box), Kulveer Taggar (Zeus), JJ Fliegelman (WayUp), Richard Aberman (WePay), and more.

Conveo, an Antwerp, Belgium-based multimodal AI video interviewer, raised $5.3M in funding. Backers included Y Combinator, 6 Degrees Capital, Entourage Capital, Pitchdrive, and Syndicate One.

Shield AI, a Washington, DC-based company building autonomy software products and defense aircraft, raised $240M in Series F-1 Funding, at $5.3 Billion valuation. Backers included strategic investors L3Harris (NYSE: LHX) and Hanwha Aerospace (KRX: 012450), and existing investors including Andreessen Horowitz, U.S. Innovative Technology, and Washington Harbour.

Faireez, a NYC-based provider of an AI-based housekeeping platform, raised $7.5M I funding. Backers included Aristagora VC, Longevity Venture Partners, Hetz Ventures, Secret Chord Ventures, including Gigi Levy-Weiss, RE Angels and other investors from the tech and real estate space.

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NEW VCs IN THE MARKET

🏦 Venture Capital updates

Coinvest Capital, a Lithuania-based sovereign VC fund, has invested €6.8M (~$7.37M) into aerospace, defense, and dual-use startups since 2023. Led by managing partner Viktorija Trimbel, the fund co-invests with angels and VCs, backing startups like Unmanned Defense Systems (UDS).

LoneTree, a NYC-based growth capital firm, announced the final close of LoneTree I, its inaugural $200M growth equity fund. Led by Matt Koven, Managing Partner, LoneTree invests in technology and tech-enabled services companies in high-growth markets.

KEY STORIES IN TECH

📜 Latest in tech

Discord is discussing an IPO:

• Discord is in early discussions with investment bankers about a potential IPO, though plans remain exploratory, per The New York Times.

• The chat app previously considered going public in 2021 after rejecting a $10B acquisition offer from Microsoft.

• With over 200M monthly users, Discord has expanded beyond gaming into AI communities, hosting platforms like Midjourney.

AI-powered ‘more personalized Siri’ is delayed:

• Apple announced that its upgraded Siri features, part of Apple Intelligence, are delayed and now expected to launch in the "coming year."

• Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman reports that Apple's planned smart home hub, which depends on the new Siri, has also been postponed.

• Despite the delay, Apple has begun internal testing of the hub, a wall-mounted device with a six-inch touchscreen for video calls and smart home control.

Hype around Manus ai agent manus clashes with reality:

• Manus, an AI platform claiming to handle complex tasks autonomously, gained massive hype, with invite codes reselling for thousands of dollars and major AI figures praising it.

• However, early users report frequent errors, crashes, and unfinished tasks, with Manus struggling on simple actions like booking flights or ordering food.

• Despite technical issues, exclusivity and media buzz fueled Manus’ rapid rise, though its actual capabilities remain far behind its marketing claims.

Microsoft reportedly ramps up AI efforts to compete with OpenAI:

• Microsoft is building its own AI “reasoning” models and developing a family of models called MAI, aiming to reduce reliance on OpenAI.

• Tensions between Microsoft and OpenAI have grown as OpenAI reportedly refused to share technical details about its o1 model.

• Microsoft is exploring alternatives from xAI, Meta, Anthropic, and DeepSeek to potentially replace OpenAI tech in its Copilot bot.

DOJ pushes google to sell chrome but drops ai divestment demand:

• The U.S. Department of Justice is still calling for Google to divest Chrome but has dropped its demand for mandatory AI investment divestitures, opting for prior notification instead.

• The DOJ argues that Google’s dominance harms market competition and wants to prohibit search-related payments to distribution partners.

• Google plans to appeal the antitrust ruling, calling the DOJ’s proposals excessive; a court hearing is scheduled for April.

LAST COFFEE SIP

☕Other news

SpaceX’s Starship explodes again:

• SpaceX's Starship experienced a malfunction and spiraled out of control during a test flight on Thursday, marking the second consecutive launch failure as the vehicle attempted to reach orbit.

• The Federal Aviation Administration temporarily halted flights into major Florida airports due to concerns about potential "space launch debris," affecting flight paths as a precautionary measure.

• During this mission, SpaceX aimed to deploy four dummy versions of its Starlink satellites, but the test ended unsuccessfully as Starship broke up over the Bahamas and the Dominican Republic.

HIRING ALERT: STARTUPS & VC ROLES

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CURATED RESOURCES

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