Masayoshi Son Planning His Comeback & Qualcomm Wants to Buy Intel

☕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

Masayoshi Son, the CEO of SoftBank, experienced a significant setback when the company's Vision Fund suffered massive losses from investments like WeWork, leading him to largely withdraw from the public eye. However, according to Financial Times writer Lionel Barber's new biography "Gambling Man," Son was quietly planning his comeback during this period of apparent penance. Now, SoftBank is making a major push into AI investments and has found success with the public offering of chip design company Arm.

Grok’s image generator, Black Forest Labs, a Freiburg, Germany-based AI startup founded by former Stability AI engineers, is reportedly closing a $100 million funding round at a $1 billion valuation. The company, which came out of stealth two months ago with $31 million in initial funding, is known for its Flux.1 text-to-image model used in X.ai's Grok chatbot.

Other Major News

• Google CEO Sundar Pichai announced a $120 million Global AI Opportunity Fund. (Scroll To Tech Updates)

• Fedex uses AI to deliver 'high-quality service' after firing 22,000 humans (Scroll To Layoff Updates)

• Former Apple Designer Teams Up with OpenAI to Create Next-Gen AI Device. (Scroll To Startups & People Updates)

• a16z Partner’s View on the Future of Consumer Startups - Vertical Apps are the next thing… (Scroll To Featured Article)

• VC & Startups Job Opportunities (Scroll To Today’s Opportunities)

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🗞️ Startup Funding Updates

Hippocratic AI, a Palo Alto, CA-based company building a safety-focused Large Language Model (LLM) for healthcare, received an investment from NVentures. NVentures, along with Greycroft and Leo Shapiro of 7Wire Ventures, contributed a combined total of an additional $17M to the round, bringing the total invested in the company to $137M.

Fal.ai, a dev-focused platform for AI-generated audio, video, and images, raised $23 million in funding. It offers privately managed compute and workflows for running models, as well as APIs for open source models. Investors include Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), Kindred Ventures, Robin Rombach (Black Forest Labs co-founder), and Aravind Srinivas (Perplexity CEO).

11x, a San Francisco, CA-based AI startup transforming the modern workforce with autonomous digital workers, raised $24M in Series A funding. The round was led by Benchmark, with participation from Quiet Capital, SV Angel, Abstract Ventures, Lux Capital, Operator Partners, Visionaries, Activant, HubSpot Ventures, Project A, 20VC, 20Growth, and 20Sales.

Sorted Wallet, a Hong Kong-based provider of a platform designed to provide easy access to cryptocurrencies for users in emerging markets, raised $1.5M in funding. Tether Operations Limited made the investment.

HavocAI, a Providence, RI-based company which specializes in autonomous uncrewed surface vessel technology, raised $11M in Seed funding. The round was led by Scout Ventures and Trousdale Ventures, with participation from Outlander VC, The Veteran Fund, BV.VC, Decisive Point, Alumni Ventures, and New North Ventures.

Virtuous, a Phoenix-based startup founded in 2014, provides a CRM and marketing platform designed to help nonprofits increase donations through personalized donor engagement. The company recently raised $100 million from Susquehanna Growth Equity.

Karman Industries, a Long Beach, CA-based company electrifying global manufacturing, raised $4M in Pre-Seed funding. The round was led by Riot Ventures in partnership with Space VC.

Schematic, a Boulder, CO-based company improving pricing and packaging for B2B SaaS companies, raised $4.8M in funding. The round was led by MHS Capital with participation from NextView Ventures, Active Capital, Atlanta Ventures, and the founders of LaunchDarkly, Salesloft, Salesforce Pardot, and Crowdstrike.

Functional Finance, a San Francisco, CA-based provider of a financial operations (FinOps) platform for managing general agents (MGAs), insurance companies, and wholesalers, raised $20M in Series A funding. The round was led by Walkabout Ventures, with participation from Munich Re Ventures and Phil Edmundson.

Nulife GreenTech, a Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada-based startup that diverts waste from landfills to create bioproducts, raised $300k in funding. Ag-West Bio made the investment.

Tidal Metals, a Hamilton, NJ-based deep-tech company, closed an $8.5m Seed funding round. The round was led by DCVC with participation from First Spark Ventures and Bidra Innovation Ventures.

Momos, a San Diego, CA-, and Singapore-based AI-powered customer platform for multi-location brands globally, raised $10M in Series A funding. The round was led by 645 Ventures, with participation from existing investors Alpha Wave Global and Peak XV, as well as new investors Soma Capital, FJ Labs, Taurus Ventures, and Correlation Ventures. Momos has raised $17M in capital to date.

Gamebeast, a Seattle, WA based gaming tech startup, raised $3.7m in pre-seed funding. The round was led by J2 Ventures, with participation from Andreessen Horowitz via a16z SPEEDRUN, The Mini Fund, and Le Zhang.

Bitget, a cryptocurrency exchange and Web3 company, and Foresight Ventures, a Web3 investment firm, made a strategic investment of $30 million into The Open Network (TON Blockchain).

Drift Labs, a remote builder of a decentralized derivatives cryptocurrency exchange built on Solana, raised $25m in Series B funding. The round was led by Multicoin Capital, with participation from Blockchain Capital, Folius Ventures, Maelstrom, and Primitive.

Cayena, a São Paulo, Brazil-based B2B marketplace for restaurants to acquires supplies, raised $55m in Series B funding. The round was led by Bicycle Capital, with participation from Picus Capital, Coca Cola FEMSA Ventures, and Astella.

Statt, a Washington, DC- and Austin, TX-based big data and artificial intelligence company for the public policy, regulatory, and strategic communications sectors, raised $2.8M in Seed funding. The round was led by Moneta Ventures, with participation from Clutch VC, Next Coast Ventures and NextGen Venture Partners.

📰 Venture Capital Updates

Fearless Fund, a venture capital firm, has settled with the American Alliance for Equal Rights to end its Strivers Grant program for Black women-owned businesses following a lawsuit alleging racial discrimination.

📌 Featured Article

a16z Partner’s View on the Future of Consumer Startups - Vertical Apps are the next thing…

It's been a long time since we built a broadly horizontal consumer app like YouTube, Instagram, Linkedin, or Snapchat. Andrew Chen shared - he is convinced it may not be possible anymore because we're in the final years of the mobile S-curve and 15+ years after the launch of the iPhone, there are major hurdles to apps to broad, billion-user horizontal apps.

Instead, the next generation might be "vertical apps" -- appealing to a vertical segment of the market, like Monopoly Go, Draft Kings, Canva, etc -- that are smaller audience products with higher "whale" monetization (sometimes even workflow/B2B)

First, why these broadly horizontal apps are hard:

• Novelty Fatigue: Consumers have seen it all. The obvious permutations of social/communication/photo/video apps have been exhausted.

• Retention Challenges: New apps compete against the most addictive products ever created. Without daily value, users quickly revert to TikTok or Instagram.

• Ad-Support Dilemma: Building an ad-supported startup is a "two miracle" problem - scaling to millions of users, then building complex ad systems.

• Growth Hurdles: Traditional growth channels are less effective. Mobile ads are costly, viral invites have low response rates, and web channels like SEO don't translate well to mobile.

So what's next? Vertical apps with beefier monetization, and different network characteristics seem a likely candidate.

• Direct Monetization: Instead of ads, these apps allow big-spending users to enhance their experience. Free-to-play games and betting apps like Draft Kings exemplify "whale monetization."

• AI-Driven Innovation: AI advancements are unveiling novel use cases, particularly in productivity. These "prosumer" tools often scale up based on usage or team/enterprise tiers.

• Niche Network Effects: Networks can form around specific activities and interests, like dating apps or multiplayer games like Valorant.

• Solo Utility Focus: Apps emphasizing single-user utility and game design mechanics (like Duolingo) can create stickiness without relying on extensive user interaction.

So overall - Tomorrow's apps might look more vertical. Higher spending, smaller audiences, focused on interactions that are useful and solo. Some may target productivity/utility use cases, particularly as AI creates novel interactions, at least until the next tech platform emerges.

[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

Qualcomm recently approached Intel about a potential acquisition, which would be significant given Intel's historical dominance in the chip industry with its x86 processor technology. The Wall Street Journal reported the news, which was corroborated by The New York Times, noting that Qualcomm has yet to make an official offer for the company. If the acquisition happens and passes regulatory approval, it would be a major victory for Qualcomm, especially as Intel is currently struggling with financial losses, strategic shifts, and increased competition.

VaLogic Bio, a Frederick, MD-based provider of compliance and SaaS services, acquired Facility Logix, a Burtonsville, MD-based firm specializing in planning, developing, and project management for life sciences facilities.

Lumivero, a Denver, CO-based developer of qualitative data analysis (QDA) software NVivo, acquired ATLAS.ti, a computer-assisted QDA solution for qualitative, quantitative, and mixed-method research.

Layoffs & Bankruptcy

FedEx is implementing an AI transformation that uses a model called "Shipment Eligibility Orchestrator" to handle tasks previously done by humans, following the firing of 22,000 employees globally. This AI model dynamically routes packages in real-time and has been applied to prioritize shipments such as high-priority healthcare deliveries. Despite technological advancements and cost-cutting measures, FedEx reported a decline in revenue and net profit in Q1 2025, worsened by weaker-than-expected U.S. domestic package market demand.

Startups & People

Flow, Adam Neumann's co-living startup, opened a 238-apartment compound in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, with rents starting at $3,500/month for furnished units with hotel-style services. The opening featured an Aztec-themed hot chocolate ceremony and tote bags with "holy s— I'm alive" printed on them; Flow is building three more properties in Riyadh. Despite Neumann's controversial history with WeWork, Flow raised $350 million from Andreessen Horowitz in 2022 and opened its first properties in Florida in April.

Jony Ive, former Apple designer, is collaborating with OpenAI's Sam Altman on a new AI-focused startup. The unnamed company aims to create a less socially disruptive computing experience than the iPhone, with LoveFrom leading the design. The startup is fundraising, with contributions from Ive and Laurene Powell Jobs' Emerson Collective, aiming to raise up to $1 billion by year-end.

🤖 Latest In Tech

Google CEO Sundar Pichai announced a $120 million Global AI Opportunity Fund at the UN Summit of the Future, aimed at providing AI education and training worldwide through partnerships with local organizations.

SpaceX plans to launch five uncrewed Starship missions to Mars in the next two years, with crewed missions expected in four years if successful, according to CEO Elon Musk. Musk also acknowledged that delays could push crewed missions by another two years if issues arise. Starship is central to Musk's goal of sending humans to the moon and Mars, with NASA's Artemis 3 moon mission now delayed to September 2026.

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• Principal - Amazon Industry Innovation Fund | USA - Apply Here

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• Internship Investment Analyst - Engie New Venture | France - Apply Here

• Analyst - Venture Capital - Blinc Invest | India - Apply Here

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