Instagram Founder Shuts Down New Startup & Venrock Raised $600M Largest VC Fund

🗞️ TODAY’S MAJOR UPDATES

• Venrock, a Silicon Valley venture capital firm, closed its largest fund in over a decade, raising $650 million.

• Instagram Co-founder Shutdown His News Aggregator Startup

• OpenAI has silently altered its usage policy, removing the prohibition against military

• Featured Post : Sequoia Capital's 'Pitch Deck Slides' Format For Founders

• What Do You Think: What is the most crucial factor for founders when choosing investors?

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💰 MASSIVE FUNDING UPDATES

D-Orbit, a Fino Mornasco, Como, Italy-based space logistics company, raised €100m in Series C funding. The round was led by led by Marubeni Corp., with participation from Avantgarde, CDP VC, Seraphim Space Investment Trust, United Ventures, Indaco Venture Partners, Neva SGR, and Primo Ventures. More Here

Avante, a Seattle, WA-based enterprise software startup, raised $10m in seed funding. The round was led by FUSE, with participation from Ascend Venture Capital, Highsage and a group of strategic angel investors. More Here

Mercor, a San Francisco, California-based provider of a fully-automated platform, which uses AI to assess and match talent with companies, raised $3.6M in funding. The round was led by General Catalyst and includes participation from Scott Sandell (Chairman, CEO and CIO of NEA), Soma Capital, Link Ventures, and 2 | Twelve Angels. More Here

Neocis, a Miami, FL-based company which specializes in robot-assisted dental implant surgery, raised $20M in funding. Backers included Mirae Asset Capital/Mirae Asset Venture Investment, venture capital firms affiliated with the Mirae Asset Financial Group that invest in growth-stage healthcare and technology businesses, and NVentures, NVIDIA’s venture capital arm. More Here

MimiVax, a NYC-based biotechnology company focused on the development of SurVaxM, a survivin-targeted vaccine therapy for glioblastoma and other cancers, raised an undisclosed amount in funding. The round saw participation from Brain Tumor Investment Fund, an affiliate of the National Brain Tumor Society (NBTS), the Sontag Innovation Fund, a subsidiary of the Sontag Foundation, the MEDA Angels, LLC, Varia Ventures and private investors. More Here

Finoa, a Berlin, Germany-based regulated crypto platform for smart capital allocators, reportedly raised $15m in funding. The round was co-led by Maven 11 Capital and Balderton Capital with participation from Blue Bay Ventures, Signature Ventures, Coparion, and Venture Stars. More Here

WTHN, a NYC-based acupuncture company, raised $5m in Series A financing. The round was led by L Catterton with participation from Halogen Ventures and angel investors including Annie Evans, Kelley Arena, Caroline Witmer, and The Helm’s angel community. More Here

Requity Homes, a Toronto, Canada-based property technology firm, raised $26M in funding. The round was led by Highline Beta, Sam Sun, continued participation from major investor Boardwalk Investment Ltd (Kolias Family Office), Conconi Growth Partners and several angel investors, with new participants including Archangel Adrenaline Fund. More Here

Rune Labs, a San Francisco, CA-based precision neurology software and data company, raised $12M in a strategic funding. The round, which brought the total amount to $42M, was led by Nexus NeuroTech Ventures, with participation from existing investors, including Eclipse, DigiTx Partners, Moment Ventures and TruVenturo GmbH. More Here

1X, a Moss, Norway-based robotics company producing androids, raised €91M in Series B funding. Backers included EQT Ventures and other investors. The round also facilitated a secondary transaction where existing shareholders Sandwater and Skagerak Capital participated. More Here

Shimmer, a San Francisco, CA-based provider of an online coaching platform designed for adults with ADHD, raised $2.2M in Seed funding. The round was led by Worklife Ventures and SeedtoB Capital, with participation from Koa Labs, Aglaé Ventures, and Gaingels. More Here

💰 VENTURE CAPITAL UPDATES

Venrock, a Silicon Valley venture capital firm, closed its largest fund in over a decade, raising $650 million for its tenth fund. While the move may seem unusual for a firm that historically avoided significant fund size increases, Venrock aims to have more follow-on capital for its portfolio companies in a changing market where companies once valued at billions are shutting down. More Here

Asia Partners, a Singapore-based growth equity investment firm, closed its second fund, Asia Partners II, LP, at US$474M. Limited Partners included institutional investors, family offices, and individual investors across six continents. More Here

𝕏 FEATURED: TODAY’S FEATURED POST

Sequoia Capital's 'Pitch Deck Slides' Format For Founders

In fundraising, the deck helps in getting meetings with investors. Without meeting you have no shot of getting funded. Most of the founders make 20+ slides in a pitch deck that’s where founder fail to get even a single call with investors.

We have shared 10 slides format for pitch deck that every founder should follow….Read More Here

💡 SARTUP’S LATEST BUZZ

Acquisition

Deltek, a Herndon, VA-based provider of software and solutions for project-based businesses, acquired ProPricer, a Temecula, CA-based provider of a proposal pricing solution for government contractors and government agencies. More Here

Society Brands, a Canton, OH-based tech-enabled consumer products company, acquired Primal Life Organics, an Akron, OH-based provider of personal care products. More Here

First Insight, a Pittsburgh, PA-based global leader in Voice of the Customer (VoC) retail solutions, acquired SnapRetail, a Pittsburgh, PA-based provider of a digital marketing platform. More Here

Sovos, an Atlanta, GA-based compliance technology solutions and services provider, acquired Aatrix Software, a North Dakota-based company which specializes in payroll tax forms. More Here

Riskonnect, a Kennesaw, GA-based company which specializes in integrated risk management (IRM) solutions, acquired Ventiv Technology, an Atlanta, GA-based provider of risk, insurance, and underwriting technology solutions. More Here

Layoffs & Shutdown

Artifact, the news aggregator-turned social network from Instagram’s founders, is shutting down. It had made the decision to “wind down operations” of the app launched over a year ago, saying that the market opportunity wasn’t big enough to warrant continued investment. More Here

Instagram, has cut 60 technical program manager positions as part of a reorganization. Employees have two months to find new roles within the company, aligning with Meta's efficiency-focused strategy. Instagram is also restructuring product teams to emphasize support for creators, aiming to enhance teen engagement amidst regulatory scrutiny on Meta's impact on young users' mental health. More Here

People

SEC head Gary Gensler was clearly not happy about his agency's decision to approve Bitcoin ETFs, as he made clear in a statement yesterday. More Here

Australian software engineer Oliver Mulherin and OpenAI cofounder and CEO Sam Altman were married recently in a seaside ceremony. More Here

As part of the more than 1,000 employees that Google is cutting on its AR, Google Assistant, Pixel, Nest, and Fitbit teams, the founders of Fitbit -- James Park and Eric Friedman -- are leaving. (Google acquired Fitbit for $2.1 billion in 2019.) More Here

🤖 LATEST IN EMERGING TECH

OpenAI has silently altered its usage policy, removing the prohibition against military applications of its technologies. The company stated that the change aims to accommodate national security use cases while emphasizing its commitment against harmful purposes. OpenAI's policy update raises questions about potential collaborations with military entities for applications beyond weaponry. More Here

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

• How Startups Like Reddit Raised Funding With Just an Idea, Without Writing A Line Of Code? Read More (Startups)

• Paul Graham: Are You Building Fake Product-Market Fit ? Read More (Startups)

• It’s Not a Great Time to Raise Venture Capital — Now What? Read More (Startups)

• Don't track LTV/CAC; Instead track LTV/CACD, Why? Read More (Startups)

🤔 WHAT DO YOU THINK?

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

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✍️Written By Sahil R | Venture Crew Team