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Ilya Sutskever's AI Startup Raises $1 Billion & a16z Closes Its Miami Beach Office

Ilya Sutskever's AI Startup Raises $1 Billion & a16z Closes Its Miami Beach Office

Venture Daily Digest - 05/09/2024

Venture Daily Digest
September 05, 2024

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

Top News

Ex-OpenAI chief scientist Ilya Sutskever’s startup Safe Superintelligence (SSI) has raised over $1 billion from investors including NFDG, a16z, Sequoia, and DST Global, valuing the startup at $5 billion.

Former OpenAI Co-Founder Ilya Sutskever

SSI plans to use the funds to acquire computing power and hire researchers in Palo Alto and Tel Aviv. The company has yet to disclose its research focus. Sutskever previously led OpenAI's Superalignment team but left after a public fallout with CEO Sam Altman. More Here

Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) has closed its Miami Beach office due to disuse, just two years into a five-year lease. The closure reflects Miami's struggling venture capital scene, with investments dropping from $5.5 billion in 2022 to $400 million in Q2 2024. More Here

Other Major News

Anthropic launches Claude Enterprise plan to compete with OpenAI (Scroll To Tech Updates)
X is hiring staff for security and safety after two years of layoffs. (Scroll To Startups & People Updates)
With $50M in new funding, You.com thinks its AI can beat Google. (Scroll To Startup Funding Updates)
Super Mario Marketing Framework (Scroll To Featured Article)
VC & Startups Job Opportunities (Scroll To Today’s Opportunities)

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🗞️ Startup Funding Updates

You.com, led by CEO Richard Socher, raised $50M to focus on answering complex AI queries, targeting productivity tasks where Google falters. Unlike other AI models, You.com prioritizes accuracy and sourcing, using LLMs like Claude and ChatGPT while enabling real-time document searches and citations. Investors include Georgian, Nvidia, DuckDuckGo, and Salesforce Ventures. More Here

Sakana Tokyo-based startup focuses on low-cost generative AI models for Japanese speakers using small datasets. It has raised over $100 million+ Series A round led by NVIDIA, New Enterprise Associates, Khosla Ventures, and Lux Capital. More Here

Flex, a San Francisco, CA-based provider of a solution for direct-to-consumer health and wellness brands to begin accepting HSA and FSA payments online, raised $3.2M in Seed funding. Backers included Y Combinator, SV Angel, Precursor, Liquid 2 Ventures and others. More Here

DubClub, a Chicago-based startup, connects amateur sports bettors with professional "cappers" to provide better betting information through a subscription platform. The company, founded in 2021, has raised a $7.5 million Series A round led by Renegade Partners, with previous investment from Uncork Capital in its seed round. More Here

Business Kitz, a Sydney, Australia-based provider of an AI-assisted SaaS platform on a mission to terminate SMEs’ back office functions, raised $3.3M in Pre-Seed funding. Backers included Sam Ferrier and Rowan Hill from the Rural Bridge network. More Here

Galy, a Boston, MA-based climate tech company, raised $33M in Series B funding. The round was led by Breakthrough Energy Ventures (BEV) with participation from new investors H&M Group and Inditex. More Here

Skillvue, a Milan, Italy-based provider of an AI platform for talent allocation, raised $2.8M in funding. The round was led by Italian Founders Fund (IFF) and Edoardo Ermotti’s 14Peaks Capital with participation from Orbita Verticale, Ithaca 3, Kfund, and business angels. More Here

TippingPoint Biosciences, a San Francisco, CA-based therapeutic company focused on innovative drug discovery targeting the aberrant DNA in cancer cells, raised a Pre-Seed funding of undisclosed amount. Backers included Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation, Sontag Foundation, Yuvaan Tiwari Foundation, and BrightEdge. More Here

PatientPartner, a San Diego, CA-based health-tech startup improving patient engagement and adherence, raised $7M in Seed funding. The round, led by LionBird and FCA Venture Partners, was comprised of $3.5M in new money and $3.5M of convertible debt from Alethea Capital and other strategic investors. More Here

Revefi, a Seattle, WA-based data ops automation startup, raised $20M in Series A funding. The round was led by Icon Ventures, joined by Mayfield, GTM Capital, and StepStone Group. More Here

Trestle, a NYC-based subcontractor and supplier data centralization and performance management solution for construction sector, raised $2.3M in Pre-Seed funding. The round was led by Lerer Hippeau with additional participation from MetaProp, Laconia Capital, Alumni Ventures, The LegalTech Fund, Redbud VC, and Meridian Ventures. More Here

Root Signals, a Helsinki, Finland- and Palo Alto, CA, startup that specializes in generative AI (GenAI) measurement with LLM-as-a-judge techniques, raised $2.8M in funding. The round was led by Angular Ventures, with participation from Business Finland. More Here

Odeeo, a Tel Aviv, Israel-based provider of an in-game audio advertising platform, raised $5M in funding. Backers included Atinum Investments, Play Ventures and Anton Gauffin. More Here

Re-Leased, an Aukland, New Zealand-based property software company, raised US$12.5M in funding. The round was led by Movac, with participation from Icehouse Ventures and existing investors. More Here

Clouds of Care, a Ghent, Belgium-based MedTech company dedicated to enabling better care for people with Central Nervous System (CNS) disorders, raised €5M in funding. The round was led by TCD Capital with participation from Flanders Future Tech Fund and White Fun. More Here

Tiptapp, a Stockholm, Sweden-based digital marketplace for moving, recycling, or delivering items, raised €1M in funding. More Here

Baseload Capital, a Stockholm, Sweden-based company scaling geothermal energy worldwide, raised €53M in Series B funding. The round was led by ENGF, with participation from Baker Hughes, Nefco, Breakthrough Energy Ventures, and Gullspång Invest. More Here

Steerlab, a Paris, France-based AI startup providing a platform that automates responses to Requests For Proposals (RFPs) and security questionnaires, raised $1.9M in Pre-Seed funding. The round was led by Dreamcraft Ventures, Heartfelt_, Lumière AI Ventures, Station F, and over 20 sales leaders, founders and operators from firms in the US and Europe. More Here

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📰 Venture Capital Updates

Slauson & Co., a VC firm focused on inclusive funding, has closed a $100 million Fund II, surpassing its initial $75 million fund. The firm, founded by Ajay Relan and Austin Clements in 2020, aims to back early-stage founders from diverse backgrounds in SaaS and consumer tech. Despite a challenging fundraising environment, Slauson & Co. secured about 40 investors for Fund II, planning to make 30 investments of $500,000 to $2 million over the next three years. More Here

Mayfield Fund is launching AI Garage, a $100 million initiative for ideation-stage founders building "AI teammate" companies. The program, modeled on Mayfield's entrepreneur-in-residence experience, will host up to five aspiring founders every six months, offering $1-5 million in funding once a business plan is developed. More Here

SET Ventures, a Dutch climate tech VC firm founded in 2007, has closed its fourth fund at €200 million, double the size of its previous fund. The firm plans to invest in 20 to 25 European startups focused on digital technologies for carbon-free energy systems, with a sweet spot for Series A rounds and initial checks between €2 and €5 million. More Here

📌 Featured Article

Super Mario Marketing Framework

Your customers don’t care about your product. At all. This sounds harsh but it’s true. They have no vested interest in it.

They only care about what your product can do for them. Here’s an easy example with Super Mario:

Mario → Your customer who needs help navigating their world.
Your Product → In a vacuum, this does nothing for Mario. It simply exists.
Mario, Using Your Product → Suddenly Mario has new abilities and can conquer their problems.

The takeaway? Avoid selling and marketing based on what your product can do.

Focus entirely on the transformation and future state your customers will be in once they buy and use your product. It’s all about the benefits, not the features. What can your product’s features actually do for your users?

[Check out our Venture Curator newsletter - to get insights on startups, AI and venture capital from leading founders & investors]

📑 Startup’s Latest Buzz

Acquisition & Going Public

Salesforce has agreed to acquire AI startup Tenyx, a California-based startup developing AI-powered voice agents, to enhance its AI-driven solutions.

T2S Solutions, a Belcamp, MD-based provider of product and solutions in support of U.S. defense and intelligence missions, acquired Flexitech Aerospace, an Orlando, FL-based radio-frequency (RF) engineering company.

Layoffs & Bankruptcy

Lyft is cutting 1% of its workforce and eliminating dockless bikes and scooters to reduce costs and focus on its core ride-hailing business. The company expects charges of $34-$46 million from the layoffs, with most booked in Q3, and aims to boost adjusted earnings by $20 million by 2025. More Here

Startups & People

X (formerly Twitter) is now hiring for its safety and cybersecurity teams, with two dozen job openings posted in the last month. This comes nearly two years after Elon Musk's acquisition led to significant layoffs, including an 80% reduction in trust and safety staff. The new hires are part of X's efforts to rebuild its content moderation and security capabilities, including a planned Trust and Safety center in Austin, Texas with 100 full-time content moderators.

🤖 Latest In Tech

Anthropic has launched Claude Enterprise, a new subscription plan for its AI chatbot aimed at enterprise customers, offering features like a 500,000 token context window, GitHub integration, and enhanced administrative controls. The plan, which competes with OpenAI's ChatGPT Enterprise, allows businesses to upload proprietary knowledge and use Claude as a company-specific AI assistant.

💼 Today’s VC Job Opportunities

Senior Relationship Manager - French Founder | France - Apply Here
Associates - Blue Lotus Capital | India - Apply Here
Investment Analyst Intern - Aiviet Venture | Veitnam - Apply Here
Principal, Fund Operations - Clocktower Group | USA- Apply Here
Senior Associate, Investment Team - Greycroft | USA - Apply Here

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