Index Venture Raised $1.5 Billion VC Fund & Apple Integrated ChatGPT Without Paying Anything

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

• Apple to ‘Pay’ OpenAI for ChatGPT Through Distribution, Not Cash.

• Index Venture, a global firm is looking to raise $1.5 billion for Index Ventures Growth VII, a fund that would back later-stage private companies.

• SoftBank Group-backed, opens new tab Tempus AI planning for U.S. initial public offering at $6 Billion Valuation.

• Tesla shareholders sue Musk for starting competing AI company xAI. Lawsuit alleges Musk breached fiduciary duties, unjustly enriched himself by diverting talent and resources from Tesla to xAI.

• Former head of the National Security Agency, Gen. Paul Nakasone, has joined OpenAI's board of directors and will sit on the "security and safety" subcommittee.

• Amazon pledges $230 million to support startups building generative AI applications.

• Featured Article : Steve Jobs’ 9 Product Development Tactics For Startups.

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Startup Funding Updates

Vantage Data Centers, a Denver, CO-based global provider of hyperscale data center campuses, received a $9.2 Billion equity Investment. The investment was managed by DigitalBridge Group, Inc. (NYSE: DBRG) and Silver Lake. More Here

GPTZero, a NYC-based platform for AI-generated content detection and responsible AI adoption, raised $10m in Series A funding. The round was led by Footwork VC with participation from Reach Capital, Uncork, Neo, Alt Capital, and the former CEOs of Reuters and the NYT. More Here

Rendesco, a London, UK-based clean heat network developer and owner-operator, raised £6m in funding. The round was led by Clean Growth Fund, Eurazeo’s Smart City fund, and Aviva Ventures. They joined existing investor Copley Point Capital. More Here

Connexus, a Washington, DC-based provider of a procurement and request for proposal (RFP) platform in the real estate sector, raised $800K in Seed funding. The round was led by Middleburg Communities and a group of startup founders and executives such as Demetrios Barnes (SmartRent and Umbrello) and Todd Butler (Sentral and Migo). More Here

Unigrid Battery, a San Diego, CA-based startup developing advanced sodium-ion batteries, raised $12M in Series A funding. The round was led by Transition VC and Ritz Venture Capital, with participation from Union Square Ventures and existing investor Foothill Ventures. More Here

Santa Ana Bio, an Alameda, CA-based precision immunology company, raised $168M in combined Series A and B funding. Founding investor Versant Ventures led the Series A round and was joined by TPG’s Life Science Innovations fund and GV. The $125M Series B round was led by GV, with participation from all existing investors as well as new investors Access Biotechnology, Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) Bio + Health and RTW. More Here

Fuze Technology, a Los Angeles, CA-based IoT company providing a pay-per-use mobile charging solution, raised $11.5M in Series A funding. The round was led by Beverly Pacific with participation from Palm Tree Crew, Bain Capital Ventures Scout Fund, and Dream Ventures. More Here

Findigs, a NYC-based property technology company simplifying rental screening and leasing decisions, raised $27M in Series B funding. The round was led by Nyca Partners, with participation from existing investors RPM Ventures, Streamlined Ventures, Expa Ventures, Activant Capital, Colle Capital, and Frontier Venture Capital. More Here

Zeta Labs, a San Francisco, Ca-based AI research and product company, raised $2.9M in Pre-Seed funding. The round was led by Daniel Gross, former head of AI at Y Combinator, and Nat Friedman, former Github CEO, with participation from Earlybird VC and Kaya VC as well as AI Grant, Shawn (swyx) Wang, Bartek Pucek and Mati Staniszewski, founder of ElevenLabs. More Here

EnFi, a Boston, MA-based AI fintech startup, raised $7.5M in Seed funding. The round was led by Unusual Ventures, with investment from Boston Seed, Argon Ventures and Impellent Ventures. More Here

AnyCreek, a Memphis, TN-based startup allowing access to guided experiences, such as fishing and hunting, with guides and outfitters, raised $1.8M in Seed funding. The round, which brought the total funding to $3.3M, included participation from Starting Line, Bridge Investments, LaunchTN and other angel investors. More Here

Arches, a Japanese provider of an expert knowledge-sharing platform, raised $3M in funding. The round, which brought the total amount to $5M, was led by KUSABI, with participation from Visional, SMBC Venture Capital, and angel investors. More Here

YourSix, a St. Paul, MN-based company which specializes in cloud physical security solutions, raised $10.5M in Series A funding. The round was led by Vocap Partners and joined by Eastside Partners. More Here

Better Health, a San Francisco, Ca-based medical supply and support provider, raised $14M in funding. Backers included Healthworx, UHealth – University of Miami Health System, and Mosaic General Partnership. More Here

Real World Health, a London, UK-based healthcare data analytics company, raised £1.7M in Series A funding. The round was led by Maven Capital Partners with participation from Dowgate Capital. More Here

Fuuse, a Lancaster, UK-based provider of an electric vehicle charge point management platform, raised £8.7M in Series A funding. The round was led by YFM Equity Partners, and existing investors Par Equity and an angel syndicate. More Here

The Build Chain, a Doncaster, UK-based provider of an online building materials procurement platform, raised £1.7M in funding. Backers included Finance Yorkshire fund managed by Anticus Partners. More Here

Sidekick, a London, UK-based wealth management platform provider, raised £4.5m in a seed round and £4m via a debt facility. The seed round was co-led by Pact VC and TheVentureCity and supported by MS&AD, Blackwood, and 1818, alongside previous investors Octopus Ventures, Seedcamp, and Semantic Ventures. Columbia Lake Partners, backers of Mews, Factorial, Griffin, and Contentsquare, provided the debt financing. More Here

Avava, a Waltham, MA-based medical aesthetics platform company, raised $35M in financing. The round consisted of $25M in proceeds from new and existing investors including its strategic partner, Jeisys Medical, Inc, and $10M in growth capital from Catalio Capital Management. More Here

Venture Capital Updates

Index Venture, a global firm is looking to raise $1.5 billion for Index Ventures Growth VII, a fund that would back later-stage private companies, according to people familiar with the situation. That would be less than the amount Index collected in 2021 for its $2 billion sixth late-stage fund. More Here

Friends & Family Capital, a Silicon Valley-based venture firm founded by Colin Anderson and John Fogelsong, announced a $118 million third fund, bringing their total capital to over $350 million. The firm focuses on rapidly growing B2B enterprise software and hardware companies with recurring revenue models, leveraging their expertise in building finance teams. Their approach aims to provide trusted partnership and support akin to a family-and-friends financing round. More Here

Featured Article

Steve Jobs’ 9 Product Development Tactics For Startups.

When you think about Steve Jobs, you probably think of him as a pioneer of the personal computer era, a passionate designer, and a creative genius who introduced ground-breaking products. 

Through his partnership with Apple, Pixar, and NeXT, he was able to transform six industries (personal computers, music, cellular phones, animation, tablet computers, and digital publishing). 

In various interviews, he shared some wisdom and knowledge that I believe every founder should consider in early product development. In our Venture Curator newsletter we have shared Steve Jobs’ 9 Product Development Tactics For Startups:

1. Create With The Customer’s Experience In Mind

2. Don’t Ask Your Customers What They Want

3. Creativity Is About Connecting The Dots

4. Disruptive Innovation Is The Key Differentiator

5. Simplify, Then Simplify Some More

6. Design For The Future

7. Product Before Profit

8. Unconventional Thinking Is The Key Mantra

9. Don’t Be Afraid To Cannibalize Your Products

Read detailed article in our Venture Curator Newsletter….

Startup’s Latest Buzz

Acquisition & Going Public

SoftBank Group-backed, opens new tab Tempus AI set the pricing of its U.S. initial public offering at $37 per share on Thursday, aiming to raise $410.7 million. The genetics-testing company priced its IPO at the higher end of is targeted range of $35 to $37, valuing the firm at about $6.10 billion, based on the outstanding shares listed in its filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. More Here

Epam Systems, Inc. (NYSE: EPAM), a Newtown, PA-based digital transformation services and product engineering company, acquired Odysseus Data Services, Inc., a Cambridge, Massachusetts-based health data analytics company. More Here

Merlin, a Boston, MA-based autonomous flight technology for fixed-wing aircraft, is to acquire EpiSys Science, a Poway, CA-based software AI and autonomy company delivering solutions for dual-use applications. More Here

NeuroFlow, a Philadelphia, PA-based provider of behavioral health technology infrastructure, acquired Owl, a Portland, OR-based measurement-based care technology company. More Here

Investment firms Battery Ventures and Silver Lake are exploring a sale of club-management-software provider Clubessential Holdings, which they hope will value the company at close to $3 billion. More Here

Layoffs & Bankruptcy

ByteDance, the owner of TikTok, will lay off 450 staff at its Indonesian unit following its acquisition of a majority stake in local e-commerce firm Tokopedia from GoTo group. The layoffs are a result of combining ByteDance's TikTok operation with Tokopedia. More Here

Onsemi will cut its global workforce by about 1,000 employees and consolidate 9 sites as the chipmaker looks to streamline operations and reduce costs amid sluggish demand. More Here

Startups & People

Byju's is facing difficulties in raising the targeted $200 million from its rights issues. India's National Company Law Tribunal has halted Byju's second rights issue amid allegations of oppression and mismanagement by shareholders. The once high-flying edtech startup has seen a spectacular collapse, with its valuation plummeting from $22 billion to around $25 million. More Here

Former head of the National Security Agency, Gen. Paul Nakasone, has joined OpenAI's board of directors and will sit on the "security and safety" subcommittee. This high-profile addition likely aims to address concerns about OpenAI's rapid development of AI models and services without adequate risk evaluation. More Here

Dave Burke, VP of engineering at Android, is stepping down from his role after 14 years, but will remain at Alphabet to explore "AI/bio" projects.

Burke was involved in pivotal Android projects like Nexus, Pixel phones, Chrome for mobile, and Android TV. More Here

Latest In Emerging Tech

Tesla shareholders sue Musk for starting competing AI company xAI. Lawsuit alleges Musk breached fiduciary duties, unjustly enriched himself by diverting talent and resources from Tesla to xAI. Plaintiffs claim Musk violated Tesla's code of business ethics, want court to force Musk to disgorge his stake in xAI. Suit calls Musk's actions "preposterous," compares to hypothetical Coca-Cola CEO starting rival soft-drink company. More Here

Apple is integrating OpenAI's ChatGPT into its devices without paying directly. The partnership aims to convert free users to paid subscriptions, with Apple taking a cut and OpenAI taking the rest amount. Apple is also pursuing deals with other AI companies like Google, Anthropic, Baidu, and Alibaba. More Here

Amazon pledges $230 million to support startups building generative AI applications, including $80 million for its AWS Generative AI Accelerator program. More Here

Apple is facing a proposed class action lawsuit accusing the company of systematically underpaying over 12,000 female employees in California compared to men with similar jobs. The lawsuit claims Apple bases starting pay on previous salaries or "pay expectations," resulting in lower pay for women, and alleges bias in Apple's performance evaluation system used for raises and bonuses. Apple denies the allegations and says it has achieved and maintained gender pay equity since 2017 through annual third-party audits. More Here

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