Former Yahoo CEO's New Startup & Amazon's $2.75B Anthropic AI Bet

👋 Hey, Sahil here! Welcome to today's quick rundown in the Venture Daily Digest Newsletter. I've got the scoop on startup fundraising, fresh VC funds, and some cool tech – all in just 5 minutes!

• Marissa Mayer, former Yahoo CEO, launched Sunshine startup which released seemingly basic apps for contacts, events, and photo sharing.

• Amazon has invested an additional $2.75 billion in AI startup Anthropic, bringing its total investment to $4 billion.

• Regulators are closely scrutinizing General Atlantic, Susquehanna International Group, and Sequoia Capital, major investors in TikTok owner ByteDance.

• LinkedIn is testing a TikTok-like short-form video feed, joining other platforms in capitalizing on the trend.

• Featured Article : Why It’s Hard to Generate a 10X Return on a Startup Investment?

• Daily Digest Board: Do you think LinkedIn's upcoming TikTok-like short video feature will be a success or a flop in enhancing user engagement and professional content on the platform?

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Startup Funding Updates

Amazon has invested an additional $2.75 billion in AI startup Anthropic, bringing its total investment to $4 billion. This significant investment signals Amazon's belief in Anthropic's AI capabilities and its commitment to compete in the AI race against rivals like OpenAI and Google. More Here

Observe, a San Mateo, CA-based SaaS observability company, raised $115M in Series B funding. The round was led by Sutter Hill Ventures with participation from existing investors Capital One Ventures and Madrona and new investor Snowflake Ventures. More Here

Qoala, an Indonesian insurtech startup that provides personalized insurance products to over 5 million customers, has raised $47 Million Series C funding from PayPal Ventures and MassMutual Ventures. More Here

NewRetirement, US based sstartup founded by entrepreneur Stephen Chen, offers comprehensive retirement planning software for individuals and financial advisers, addressing the needs of millions of Americans facing financial uncertainty in retirement. The company raised $20 million in a tranche that brings its total raised to $20.8 million, led by Allegis Capital with participation from Nationwide Ventures, Northwestern Mutual Future Ventures, Plug and Play Ventures, Motley Fool Ventures and others. More Here

Bedrock Security, a Menlo Park, CA-based data security company, raised $10M in Seed funding. The round was led by Greylock. More Here

Cyvl.ai, the Boston-based startup utilizes sensors and AI to enhance transportation infrastructure maintenance, forging partnerships with civil engineering firms to digitize road management for municipalities has secures a $6 million investment round led by Companyon Ventures, with participation from Argon Ventures, AeroX Ventures, and Alumni Ventures. More Here

Fireworks AI, a Redwood City, CA-based production AI platform helping developers build new AI solutions, raised $25M in Series A funding. The round was led by Benchmark with general partner Eric Vishria who will be joining the company’s board, with participation from Sequoia Capital. More Here

Century Health, the startup employs AI to unlock new drug applications in healthcare, collaborating with pharmaceutical firms and research institutions , has secures $2 million pre-seed funding led by 2048 Ventures, with participation from LifeX, Everywhere, Alumni Ventures, and notable angel investors such as Travis May, founder of Datavant, and Christine Lemke, founder and CEO of Evidation. More Here

Sertis, a Reno, NV-based managing general agency (MGA) focused on innovation in the insurance industry, raised $3.2M in funding. The round was led by JLL Spark Global Ventures, with participation from BrokerTech Ventures and InsurTech NY. More Here

Avenzo Therapeutics, Inc., a San Diego, CA-based clinical-stage biotechnology company developing next generation oncology therapeutics, closed a $150m Series A-1 financing. The round, which brought total funding raised to date $347m, was led by New Enterprise Associates (NEA), Deep Track Capital, Sofinnova Investments, and Sands Capital, with participation from new investors INCE Capital, TF Capital, Delos Capital, and Quan Capital. More Here

Binarly, a Los Angeles, CA-based provider of an AI-powered firmware and software supply chain security platform, raised $10.5M in Seed funding. The round was led by Two Bear Capital, with participation from Blu Ventures, Canaan Partners, Cisco Investments, and Liquid 2 Ventures. Pre-seed investors Westwave Capital and Acrobator Ventures also expanded their equity positions. More Here

Evoloh, a Santa Clara, CA-based cleantech company that manufactures electrolyzer stacks for hydrogen production, raised $20M in funding. The round was led by Engine Ventures with participation from a subsidiary of NextEra Energy Resources and 3M Ventures. More Here

Thoras.ai, a San Francisco, CA-based company providing an AI-powered scaling and anomaly detection platform for cloud workloads, raised $1.5M in Pre-Seed funding. The round was led by Storytime Capital and Focal VC, with participation from Hustle Fund, Precursor Ventures, the Pitch Fund, and strategic angel investors. More Here

Hume AI, a NYC-based startup and research lab building artificial intelligence optimized for human well-being, raised $50M in Series B funding. The round was led by EQT Ventures, with participation from Union Square Ventures, Nat Friedman & Daniel Gross, Metaplanet, Northwell Holdings, Comcast Ventures, and LG Technology Ventures. More Here

Evari (formerly known as MTT), a Peterborough, NH-based developer of heat pump turbocompressors, raised $7.5M in funding. The round was led by Clean Energy Ventures, with participation from Clean Energy Venture Group (CEVG) angel investors and Farvatn Venture. More Here

NewRetirement, a San Francisco, CA-based comprehensive, digital-first financial planning platform for consumers and enterprise partners, closed its Series A round with $20m in funding. The round was led by Allegis Capital and joined by Ulu Ventures, Nationwide Ventures, Fin Capital, Frontier Venture Capital, Cameron Ventures, Marin Sonoma Impact Ventures, Northwestern Mutual Future Ventures, Plug and Play Ventures and Motley Fool Ventures, bringing the total funding to $20.8m. More Here

Victory League, a sports entertainment company, raised $4M in Seed funding. Backers included Improbable and LocalGlobe, Hugo Comte, Oleksandr Zinchenko, and Nwankwo Kanu. More Here

Elixir Games, a Barcelona, Spain-based web3 gaming distribution platform, closed a $14m Seed funding round. Backers included Square Enix, the Solana Foundation and Shima Capital, among other private entities. More Here

peaq, a developer of a blockchain for real-world applications and machines, raised $15M in Series A funding. The round was led by Generative Ventures and Borderless Capital with participation from Spartan Group, HV Capital, CMCC Global, Animoca Brands, Moonrock Capital, Fundamental Labs, TRGC, DWF Labs, Crit Ventures, Cogitent Ventures, NGC Ventures, Agnostic Fund, Altana Wealth, and others. More Here

iCustoms.AI, a London, UK-based provider of AI-powered trade compliance solutions, closed a $2.2m seed funding round. Backers included Fuel Ventures, Plug and Play, Outrun Ventures, Montblu Capital, SyndicateRoom and angels. More Here

Nominal, a NYC-based company providing generative AI to bridge the gap between ERP systems and the financial management needs of modern mid-market, multi-entity businesses, raised $9.2M in Seed funding. The round was led by Bling Capital and Hyperwise Ventures, with participation from Vela Partners, Incubate Fund and executives from Bill.com, Salesforce, Justworks, ServiceNow and Intel. More Here

BOB (“Build on Bitcoin”), a London, UK-based hybrid Layer-2 powered by Bitcoin and Ethereum, closed a $10M seed funding. The round was led by Castle Island Ventures with participation from Mechanism Ventures, Bankless Ventures, CMS Ventures, UTXO Management, Asymmetric, Antalpha, Web3.com Ventures, BTC Frontier Fund, Zeeprime, and notable angels like Dan Held and Domo. More Here

Aloha, a Littleton, CO-based B Corp and Climate Neutral Certified plant-based protein brand, received $68M in secondary investment from Semcap Food & Nutrition. The secondary capital bought out early angel investors and enabled Semcap to take a minority stake in Aloha. More Here

Allies of Skin, a Singapore-based skincare brand, received an undisclosed investment from Meaningful Partners. More Here

Wase, a Bristol, UK-based electro-methanogenic reactor (EMR) technology company, raised over £8.5M, including £2.4M in non-dilutive funding. The round was led by Extantia Capital, with participation from Hitachi Ventures, WEPA Ventures, the family venture capital firm of the European multigenerational family business WEPA, and Engie New Ventures, the CVC arm of the global energy company Engie. More Here

Gather AI, a Pittsburgh, PA-based provider of computer vision and AI-powered warehouse inventory monitoring solutions, raised $17M in Series A-1 in funding. The round was led by Bain Capital Ventures with participation from Tribeca Venture Partners, Dundee Venture Capital, Expa, and Bling Capital. More Here

ValidMind, a Palo Alto, CA-based provider of an AI and model risk management platform for financial services, raised $8.1M in Seed funding. The round was led by Point72 Ventures, with participation from Third Prime, New York Life Ventures, AI Fund, Notion Capital, FJ Labs, Angel Invest, and Gaingels. More Here

Nourish, a NYC-based provider of a telenutrition platform that connects people to registered dietitians covered by insurance, raised $35M in Series A funding. The round was led by Index Ventures with participation from Maverick Ventures, TCV, Y Combinator, Thrive Capitaland BoxGroup and angel investors including professional soccer player Alex Morgan and founders from Oscar, Olipop, and Notion. More Here

Cloverleaf, a Cincinnati, OH-based automated coaching technology company, raised $7.3M in Series A extension funding. The round was led by Advantage Capital with participation from Conductive Ventures, Origin Ventures, ScOp Venture Capital, JobsOhio, Cintrifuse Capital and 1809 Capital. More Here

PipeDreams, a San Francisco, CA-based tech-enabled home services provider, raised $25.5M in Series A funding. The round was led by Canvas Ventures and Plural with participation from angel investors Tony Xu, Thomas Layton, and Allison Pickens. More Here

Oriole Networks, a London, UK-based startup using light to train LLMs, raised £10M in Seed funding. The round was led by UCL Technology Fund, Clean Growth Fund, XTX Ventures and Dorilton Ventures. It was supported by Innovate UK Investor Partnership. More Here

0G Labs, a developer a modular AI blockchain technology to enhance on-chain AI applications, raised $35m in pre-seed funding. The round was led by Hack VC, with participation from Alliance, Animoca Brands, Delphi Digital, Stanford Builders Fund, Symbolic Capital, and OKX Ventures. More Here

Brightside Health, a San Francisco, CA-based telemental health company, raised $33M in Series C funding. The round, which brought total funding raised to date to $100m, was led by S32 with Trip Hofer joining the Board of Directors. Kennedy Lewis, Time BioVentures, and Anne Wojcicki (Redwood Pacific), and existing investors ACME, Mousse Partners, and Triventures also participated. More Here

Venture Capital Updates

General Atlantic, Susquehanna International Group, and Sequoia Capital, three firms that have invested significant amounts in TikTok owner ByteDance, are now under heightened scrutiny from regulators. This scrutiny comes amidst concerns over data privacy, national security, and potential foreign influence due to ByteDance's ownership of TikTok. More Here

Ascension VC, a London, UK-based early-stage venture capital firm, held the first £17M close of its new Tech4Good £50m pre-seed fund. A second close will follow in 2025. The anchor investor was Big Society Capital. A mix of existing and new investors also participated including Housing Association Places for People, Esmee Fairbairn, and several Family Offices and HNW individuals, notably Wagestream and Percent. More Here

New Summit Investments is raising a new $100 million impact fund, its largest to date, to continue investing in fund managers backing startups and companies focused on environmental and social issues. It aims to support underrepresented fund managers and climate tech ventures aligned with the UN's Sustainable Development Goals. More Here

Featured Article

Why It’s Hard to Generate a 10X Return on a Startup Investment?

There are lots of articles surfing on the internet on VC multiple and ways to calculate it, but every time I wondered if writers appreciate how hard it is to generate these kinds of multiples and how multiples should really be calculated.

In our recent Venture Curator newsletter - we have shared detail about the math involved in venture capital investing. It can be helpful for startup founders to understand how their investors think about money. Knowing the financial side of things gives insight into why investors make certain decisions and how they view the business….

Obviously, the way to calculate a return multiple is to divide the amount returned from an investment by the dollars invested.

If I invested $10M in a company and got back $100M, that’s a 10X return. Seems pretty straightforward, right? The problem arises when multiples are inferred from incomplete data…Read More Here

Startup’s Latest Buzz

Acquisition & Exits

Flare, a Montreal, Canada-based threat exposure management company, acquired Foretrace, a Howard County, MD-based data exposure company. More Here

Further, an Atlanta, GA-based data, cloud, and AI company, acquired Pandata, a Cleveland, OH-based company specializing in AI design and development. More Here

Startups & People

Marissa Mayer, former Yahoo CEO, co-founded Sunshine startup which released seemingly basic apps for contacts, events, and photo sharing. However, the ex-Google employee believes targeting an older demographic with nostalgic, simple interfaces leveraging AI for everyday tasks could be a smart move. Despite skepticism, Mayer sees potential in making the "mundane magical" by catering to an aging population's preferences and spending power. More Here

LinkedIn is testing a TikTok-like short-form video feed, joining other platforms in capitalizing on the trend. Focused on professional content, the feature aims to boost engagement and discovery on the platform, catering to users' desire for bite-sized career-related videos. However, its introduction may prompt concerns about user experience with an influx of short-form video feeds. More Here

Latest In Emerging Tech

New documents released in a lawsuit against Meta detail "Project Ghostbusters," a scheme in which Facebook allegedly intercepted Snapchat traffic in order to better understand how consumers used the competing service. More Here

Databricks announced DBRX, a new generative AI model, claiming it outperforms open-source models on benchmarks has spent $10 million training DBRX. However, running DBRX requires at least 4 Nvidia H100 GPUs (costing thousands each) or 320GB of GPU memory. Databricks touts its $10 million investment but critics argue DBRX lags behind GPT-4 while lacking true open-source credentials. More Here

Venture Daily Digest Picks

• New study of unicorn founders finds most are ‘underdogs,’ and female founders are rising. Read Here

• ​Selling AI : Category Creation of a Different Flavor by Tomasz Tunguz. Read Here

• The Pentagon’s Silicon Valley Problem: How Big Tech is losing the wars of the future. Read Here

• Don't Include Your Startup Valuation Number On The Slide. Read Here

• When Should You Raise Funding For Your Startup? Read Here

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Daily Digest Board

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

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✍️Written By Sahil R - The Venture Crew