Mark Zuckerberg Criticizes Apple's Compliance & CEO of World's Most Valuable Ed-tech Startup Fired

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

• The Messenger, Media startup backed with $50 million, suddenly shuts down after just nine months.

• Byju’s World Most Valuable Ed-tech startup struggling - Investor fired CEO.

• The Uncorrelated Ventures, palo alto based firm has successfully raised $315 million for a new fund.

• Featured Article : Investors Are Looking for Market Opportunity, Not Just Size.

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💰 MASSIVE FUNDING UPDATES

Watershed, a San Francisco, CA-based enterprise sustainability platform provider, raised $100m in Series C funding at a $1.8b valuation. The round was led by Greenoaks with participation from Kleiner Perkins, Sequoia Capital, Elad Gil, Emerson Collective, and Galvanize Climate Solutions. More Here

Izote Biosciences, US based startup developing a proprietary method that enables bacteria to “breathe without oxygen” inside a bioreactor. It has raised a pre-seed of $2.6 million. Embark Ventures and EGB Capital led the pre-seed round. More Here

Carpl, a San Francisco, CA-based radiology tech startup, raised $6M in funding. The round was led by Stellaris Venture Partners with participation from angels from Novo Holdings, Leapfrog PE, Bain & Co., Boston Consulting Group, United HealthGroup and others. More Here

Owner, a Palo Alto, MA-based platform for restaurant owners use to manage their online presence, raised $33m in Series B funding. The round was co-led by Redpoint and Alt Capital, with participation from Horsley Bridge, Activant Capital, and Transpose Platform Management. More Here

Avation Medical, a Columbus, OH-based neuromodulation and digital health company, raised $22M+ in equity funding. The round was led by ShangBay Capital and Asahi Kasei, with participation from Angelini Ventures, JobsOhio Growth Capital Fund, Arboretum Ventures, Tonkawa, Medtronic, and Avestria Ventures. More Here

Velar, a Dubai, United Arab Emirates-based developer of a Decentralized Perpetual Derivatives Exchange (PerpDEX) on Bitcoin, secured $3.5M in seed funding. Backers included Black Edge Capital, CMS Holdings, Bitcoin Startup Lab, GBV, Cypher Capital, Trust Machines SPV, Samara Asset Group, Maple Block, Cogitent Ventures, and many more. More Here

Harbor, a Dallas, TX-based infant care technology company, raised $3.7M in Seed funding. The round was led by Trust Ventures joined by Morrison Seger and Capital Factory. More Here

BBO Exchange (BBOX), a remote decentralized derivative trading platform, raised $2.7m in pre-seed funding. The round was co-led by Hashed and Arrington Capital with participation from Consensys, CMS Holdings, Flow Traders. More Here

SPR Therapeutics, a Cleveland, OH-based private medical device company focused on treating pain and improving the quality of life for patients managing acute or chronic pain, raised $85m in financing. This included $25m in Series D-1 insider equity and a $60m debt facility. The equity financing was led by Revelation Partners, SPR’s lead investor of the Series D equity financing. More Here

Tenchi Security, a São Paulo, Brasil-based technology company focused on Third-Party Cyber Risk Management, raised $7m in funding. Backers included Bradesco PE&VC, L4 Venture Builder (a fund supported by B3, the São Paulo stock exchange), and Accenture. More Here

Eggscape Entertainment, a Santa Monica, CA-based new game studio focused on creating social games for mixed reality, closed a $4.25m seed funding round. The round was led by Transcend Fund. More Here

ArteraAI, a San Francisco, CA-based developer of multimodal artificial intelligence (MMAI) based predictive and prognostic cancer tests, raised additional $20M in funding. The round saw participation from Prosperity7 Ventures, Singapore-based global investor EDBI, Walden Catalyst Ventures, Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, and Trium Ventures. More Here

Basking Biosciences, a Columbus, OH-based clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing a novel acute thrombolytic therapy to treat stroke, raised $55M in funding. The round was led by ARCH Venture Partners. More Here

AlensiaXR, a Cleveland, OH-based technology company launched by Case Western Reserve University (CWRU) to advance HoloAnatomy software, raised an undisclosed amount in Series A funding. The round was led by Sopris Capital and included investments from the Healthcare Collaboration Fund. More Here 

Proniras, a Seattle, WA-based clinical-stage biotechnology company developing novel small-molecule therapeutics for the treatment of substance use and specialty central nervous system disorders, raised $4.65M in Series B funding. The round was led by Accelerator Life Science Partners and ARCH Venture Partners. More Here

Perelel, a Los Angeles, CA-based female OB/GYN-founded vitamin company, raised $6M in Series A funding. The round, which brought the total amount to $12.1M, was led by Unilever Ventures, Willow Growth, and Selva Ventures. More Here

DataSnipper, an Amsterdam, The Netherlands-based provider of an intelligent automation platform for audit and finance professionals, raised $100M in Series B funding, at $1 Billion valuation. The round was led by Index Ventures. More Here

Energy Source, a São João da Boa Vista, São Paulo, Brazil-based startup offering solutions for the repair, reuse and recycling of lithium batteries, received a USD1.2M investment from InMotion Ventures. More Here

LightBeam ai, a Palo Alto, CA-based zero trust data protection company, raised $17.8M in funding. The round was led by Vertex Ventures US, with participation from Dropbox Ventures and existing investors 8VC and Village Global, alongside angel investors. More Here

LimmaTech Biologics, a Schlieren, Switzerland-based developer of a multi-antigen vaccine platform, raised additional $3M in Series A funding. The ruond, which brought the total amount to $40M, was led by Tenmile. More Here

Heart Aerospace, a Gothenburg, Sweden-based hybrid-electric airplane maker, raised $107M in Series B funding. The round, which brought the total amount to $145M, saw participation from new investor Sagitta Ventures. More Here

NeoPhore, a London, UK-based small molecule neoantigen immuno-oncology company, raised additional £9.6M in Series B funding. The round, which brought the total amount to £31.1M, saw participation from its existing syndicate, CPF managed by Sixth Element Capital, Claris Ventures. More Here

Anbogen Therapeutics, a Taipei, Taiwan-based clinical-stage biotechnology company, raised $12.5M in Series A funding. The round was led by China Development Industrial Bank (CDIB), with participation from Taian Venture Capital, Maxpro and the National Development Fund. More Here

airfocus, a Hamburg, Germany-based provider of a modular product management tool, raised $7.5M in funding. The round, which brought the total amount to $15M, was led by Newion with the participation of XAnge, Nauta, Riverside Acceleration Capital, and Picea Capital. More Here

MIC Global, a NYC-based full stack embedded microinsurance provider, raised US$6M in funding. The round was led by Launchpad Capital, and joined by Greenlight Re Innovations, Ironsides Partners, and existing investors. More Here

Fora, a NYC-based provider of an executive relationship management (ERM) platform, raised $3.8M in Pre-Seed funding. The round was led by Converge, with participation from GTM Fund, Zelkova Venture Partners, Acadian Ventures, 14Peaks, and others. More Here

Squid, a Zug, Switzerland-based provider of a secure cross-chain router, raised $4M in funding. The round was led by Polychain Capital with participation from Nomad Capital, North Island Ventures, Maelstrom, Chorus One. More Here

💰 VENTURE CAPITAL UPDATES

The Fearless Fund, an Atlanta-based venture capital fund, is urging a U.S. appeals court to allow it to resume a grant program supporting Black women-owned businesses. The fund asserts its First Amendment right to express its belief in the economic importance of Black women, while an anti-affirmative action group claims the program violates anti-discrimination laws. More Here

The Uncorrelated Ventures, palo alto based firm has successfully raised $315 million for a new fund despite recent challenges in the global startup industry. It will allocate 80% of the fund to early-stage investments in traditional infrastructure software and 20% to crypto startups, emphasizing the continued value in blockchain technology. More Here

SMOK Ventures, A poland based VC firm has closed its second fund at the $25 million mark, Backing early-stage software tools, SaaS, AI and gaming startups in Central and Eastern Europe. More Here

𝕏 FEATURED: TODAY’S FEATURED ARTICLE

Investors Are Looking for Market Opportunity, Not Just Size.

Every pitch deck needs to have a “Market” slide. Unfortunately, most entrepreneurs get the market slide wrong.

Investors generally don’t give any credence to the market size numbers that founders present to them.

We may still ask founders how big their target market is, but the point of the question is to see how founders think about market segmentation, not to rate the startup based on how big they think the market is.... Read More Her

💡 SARTUP’S LATEST BUZZ

Acquisition & Exits

Shutterstock, Inc. (NYSE: SSTK), a global creative platform connecting brands and businesses to high-quality content, acquired Backgrid, a global premier destination for celebrity news supplying media organizations with real-time content from the world’s top photographers. More Here

A small U.K. startup that combined a school bus service with a software platform to safeguard pupils has been acquired by “smart buses” startup Zeelo, More Here

Layoffs & Shutdown

The Messenger, Media startup backed with $50 million, suddenly shuts down after just nine months, leaving employees without severance or healthcare. Founder Jimmy Finkelstein cites financial challenges and unsuccessful fundraising attempts, raising concerns about the company's strategy and treatment of staff. More Here

Okta, U.S. access and identity management giant has said it is laying off approximately 400 employees, or 7% of its global workforce, the decision was taken to increase profitability. More Here

Startups & People

Byju’s investors, including Prosus and Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, call for EGM to address leadership change and governance issues after the edtech's rights issue at a reduced $25 million valuation. Tensions with founders rise, prompting board resignations and concerns about the company's stability. More Here

Epic Games prepares to challenge Apple in court over App Store rule changes following an antitrust case. Despite a court order allowing app developers to link users to external payment options, Apple maintains a 27% commission, leading Epic to claim "malicious compliance." Epic files a notice of non-compliance and plans to present issues with Apple's terms to seek relief. More Here

Y Combinator President Garry Tan’s online rant tweet may be deleted from X, however, the effects are lingering, especially for three San Francisco supervisors who say they have now received threats. More Here

Going Public

Raspberry Pi, a favorite of geek hobbyists the world over for the programmable computers that it makes, is planning an IPO on the London Stock Exchange. In November, the company was valued at approximately $500 million. More Here

🤖 LATEST IN EMERGING TECH

Google introduces MusicFX, an upgraded AI music generator, offering higher-quality tracks up to 70 seconds. Ethical concerns arise around copyright issues and legal clarity for AI-generated music. Google also releases TextFX, a lyrics generator, showcasing its commitment to GenAI music tech. More Here

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg criticizes Apple's compliance with the EU's Digital Markets Act, calling the rules "onerous" and expressing doubt that any developer would adopt them. The DMA aims to increase competition by allowing companies to run their own app stores, but Apple's implementation introduces new fees, leading to dissatisfaction from companies like Meta, Epic Games, Spotify, and Microsoft. More Here

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

• ​Let’s Talk About Key Terms & Clauses In Term Sheets. Read Here

• How to train large language model by Chamath Palihapitiya. Read Here

• Before the startup by Paul graham. Read Here

• An attractive future for medical aesthetics by Mckinsey. Read Here

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• The Flyover: Get the most important and interesting stories of the day, delivered to your inbox every weekday.

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

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✍️Written By Sahil R | Venture Crew Team