Epic Game's Battle Against Apple & Former Football Star Launching $100M VC Fund

👋 Hey, Sahil here! Welcome to today’s Venture Daily Digest Newsletter. Every day I share updates on startup funding, new VC funds launched, tech, and more to read in 5 mins! Today we have major updates on -

• Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney criticizes Apple's new App Store rules, labeling them "malicious compliance"!

• Indian food delivery startup Swiggy is cutting about 400 jobs ahead of IPO.

• People Spending More Time On TikTok Than YouTube - TikTok Launched Long Form Videos.

• Featured Article : YC Partner: Avoid These Tempting Startup Ideas - Tarpit Ideas.

• What Do You Think: What’s the most effective way to connect with investors for fundraising?

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💰 MASSIVE FUNDING UPDATES

AiCure, a NYC-based AI and advanced data analytics company focused on clinical trials, raised $12M loan refinancing and has also raised an additional $4M+ from its existing investors. More Here

Digs, Washington–based , a collaboration platform that provides homebuilders, vendors, has extended its $7 million seed round from 2023 with another $7 million. The new round was led by the Oregon Venture Fund (OVF) and Legacy Capital Ventures. More Here

Kao Data, a London, UK-based developer and operator of data centres engineered for AI and advanced computing, completed a new £206M debt raise, with an accompanying accordion facility extendable to £356M from Deutsche Bank. More Here

Chunk Foods, a company making plant-based whole cuts of alternative protein, closed on another $7.5 million in seed extension funding amid a new strategic partnership with one of Latin America’s largest meat and dairy producers. More Here

Marstone, a NYC-based digital investment and wealth planning firm, raised $8M in Series B funding. The round was led by Mendon Venture Partners and South Rose Capital, alongside new investors including the Castle Creek Launchpad Fund and existing investor Equity Bank (NYSE: EQBK). More Here

Bitflow Labs, a Wilmington, DE-based decentralized exchange company, raised $1.3M in Pre-Seed funding. The round was led by Portal Ventures, with participation from Bitcoin Frontier Fund, Bitcoin Startup Lab, Big Brain Holdings, Newman Capital, Genblock Capital, Tykhe Block Ventures, and more. More Here

Prompt Security, a Tel Aviv, Israel-based provider of a platform for enterprise generative AI security, raised $5M in Seed funding. The round was led by Hetz Ventures with participation from Four Rivers and angels including CISOs at Elastic, and Dolby. More Here

Being Health, a NYC-based psychiatrist-founded modern mental health practice provider, raised $5.4M in funding. The round was led by 18 Park and HDS Capital. More Here

Isaac Health, a NYC-based digital health company, raised $5.7M in Seed funding. The round was led by Meridian Street Capital and B Capital with participation from Primetime Partners, Co-Found Partners, VU Venture Partners, and AirAngels. More Here

Swift Medical, a Toronto, Canada-based digital health technology company, raised $US8M in funding. The round was led by BDC Capital’s Women in Technology Venture Fund and funds managed by Virgo Investment Group. More Here

Bastille, a Santa Cruz, CA-based supplier of wireless threat intelligence technology to high-tech, banking, and the intelligence community, raised $44M in Series C funding. The round was led by Goldman Sachs Asset Management with participation from existing investor Bessemer Venture Partners. Zartasha Chaudhry, of Goldman Sachs. More Here

Krepling, a Nashville, Tenn.-based e-commerce channel management platform, raised $3.3m in seed funding.Backers included Launch, Brickyard, Front Porch Ventures, 11 Tribes Ventures, Colabora Ventures, and Broadshade Investments. More Here

Attune, formerly known as Lendsmart, a NYC-based provider of an engagement banking platform, closed a seed funding round, raising $2.225m. The round was led by Tribeca Early Stage Partners, with participation from CastleCreek Launchpad, ICBA, and Mike Roffler. More Here

ViralMoment, a Menlo Park, CA-based provider of AI-powered social video insights and analytics solutions, raised $2.5M in Seed funding. The round was led by Supernode Global, with participation from Crush Ventures, Duo Partners, Carnegie Mellon University, and Techstars. More Here

Taqtile, a Seattle, WA-based maker of Manifest®, a spatially-enabled work-instruction platform serving the industrial and defense sectors, received an undisclosed investment from Scout Ventures. More Here

Mondu, a Berlin, Germany-based B2B payments company, raised additional €30M in Debt funding. German bank Vereinigte Volksbank Raiffeisenbank (VVRB) provided the financing. More Here

Bluesheets, a Singapore-based AI automation software company, raised US$6.5M in Series A funding. The round was led by Illuminate Financial with participation from Insignia Ventures Partners, Antler Elevate and 1982 Ventures. More Here

Sygnum, a Zurich, Switzerland-, Singapore- and Abu Dhabi, UAE-based global digital asset banking group, raised more than USD 40M in interim close of financing, at USD 900M post-money valuation. The round was led by Azimut Holding, with participation from new and existing strategic and financial investors. More Here

Captura, a Pasadena, CA-based direct ocean capture company, raised US$21.5M in Series A funding. The round saw participation from Maersk Growth, Eni Next, EDP Ventures, Future Planet Capital, Equinor Ventures, Freeflow Ventures, Hitachi Ventures, Aramco Ventures, mTerra Ventures, and EIC Rose Rock Venture Fund. More Here

Axyon AI, a Modena, Italy-based AI fintech company, raised €3.9M in funding. The funding round will provide €2.3m in new cash led by Montage Ventures with participation from Techshop SGR, alongside other angel investors. More Here

Doppel, a San Francisco, CA-based AI-native digital risk protection company, raised $14M in Series A funding. The round was led by Andreessen Horowitz (a16z). More Here

OctaiPipe, a London, UK-based the end-to-end Edge AI platform, raised £3m in pre-Series A funding and a £500k grant from Innovate UK. The pre-Series A round was led by SuperSeed with Forward Partners, D2, Atlas Ventures, Martlet Capital, Gelecek Etki VC and Deeptech Labs also participating. More Here

Elo Life Systems, a Durham, NC-based food and ingredient company providing a molecular farming platform, raised $20.5M in Series A2 funding. The round, which brought the total amount to $45M, was led by DCVC Bio and Novo Holdings. More Here

Dupr, an Austin, TX-based provider of a pickleball’s international rating system, raised $8M in funding. Backers included David Kass, Andre Agassi, Raine Ventures, Jay Farner, Brian Yeager and R. Blane Walter. More Here

Circular Genomics, an Albuquerque, NM-based company which specializes in advancing circular RNA biomarkers for precision psychiatry and neurology, raised $8.3M in Series A funding. The round was led by Mountain Group Partners. More Here

💰 VENTURE CAPITAL UPDATES

Innovation Endeavors launched it’s fifth fund and a whopping $630 million in capital commitments, The firm intends to deploy capital into between 30 and 35 companies. More Here

Launchbay Capital, A London Based VC Firm announced the first close of funding for its $100 million venture capital secondary growth fund. VC firm focus on investing in software-as-a-service, FinTech, AI, health tech, space tech and blockchain. More Here

Keisuke Honda, Former star football player a rare Japanese athlete-turned-angel-investor, is in talks to raise as much as ¥15 billion ($100 million) for his first fund wholly dedicated to startups in his home country. The X&KSK Fund plans to invest in about 30 Japanese startups. More Here

Cross-Border Impact Ventures (CBIV), a Toronto, Canada-based women-owned impact venture capital firm, closed its first fund, at over US$90m. The Women’s and Children’s Health Technology Fund is focused on making investments in technology companies that address the health needs of women, children, and adolescents or make health systems more resilient. More Here

𝕏 FEATURED: TODAY’S FEATURED ARTICLE

YC Partner: Avoid These Tempting Startup Ideas - Tarpit Ideas

These types of ideas refer to those with an oversupply of founders relative to market demand. Some ideas attract a large pool of founders (more supply) due to their appeal—think partying with celebrities.

The demand side is crucial too. Unlaunched, undifferentiated social apps face minimal demand in a saturated market..… Read More Here

💡 SARTUP’S LATEST BUZZ

Acquisition & Exits

VidIQ, a San Francisco, CA-based provider of analytics suite for content creators, acquired Creator Now, a Los Angeles, CA-based creator education platform. The amount of the deal was not disclosed. More Here

Voltron Data, a San Francisco, CA-based company accelerating modular and composable data analytics systems, acquired Claypot AI, a San Francisco, California-based real-time AI platform startup. More Here

Allianz Direct, a German subsidiary, has acquired the French home insurance business of insurtech Luko for €4.3 million, following Luko's parent company's judicial reorganization. More Here

Layoffs & Shutdown

Veho, a package delivery company, confirmed that it laid off 19% of its employee headcount, or about 65 jobs these layoffs came after Veho grew revenue nearly 90% in 2023. More Here

Indian food delivery startup Swiggy is cutting about 400 jobs, or nearly 7% of its workforce, as the startup seeks to bring further improvements to its finances ahead of a planned IPO later this year. More Here

Startups & People

Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney criticizes Apple's new App Store rules, labeling them "malicious compliance" and denouncing the introduced "junk fees." Sweeney argues that Apple's terms are anti-competitive, affecting competing app stores and imposing fees on downloads and payments not processed by Apple. More Here

🤖 LATEST IN EMERGING TECH

OpenAI has slashed prices for the GPT-3.5 Turbo API by 50% for input and 25% for output. The update includes a new model version with various improvements. Additionally, a preview model for GPT-4 Turbo API has been introduced to enhance code generation tasks, and GPT-4 Turbo with vision is expected to launch in the coming months. More Here

TikTok is testing 30-minute video uploads, moving beyond its short-form content roots to compete with YouTube's long-form videos. The extended limit, if widely adopted, would allow TikTok to attract creators producing longer content, potentially including full TV show episodes on the platform. This comes as TikTok has gradually expanded its video time limits, reflecting its evolution beyond short videos. More Here

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

• 8 Signs Your Startup Is a Zombie and 3 Things to Do About It. Read More (Startups)

• Peter Thiel: on people like Zuckerburg or Musk or Jeff Bezos. Read More (Startups)

• How to Talk About Valuation Numbers When Investor Ask? Read More (Startups & VC)

🤔 WHAT DO YOU THINK?

Previous Poll: 50% readers vote for the liquidation preference and exit strategy. But don’t you think Valuation and equity split would be more important factor in term sheet to negotiate, as it directly impacts the ownership stake and potential returns for both parties, influencing the overall attractiveness of the investment deal.

📬 Newsletter / Channels That You Might Be Interested

• Transacted: Get the latest trends and transactions with the Street’s most informative M&A update.

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

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✍️Written By Sahil R | Venture Crew Team