Microsoft & OpenAI Launch $2 Million Fund & Khosla Venture Invested $50 Million in AI Tool

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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, fresh VC funds, and some cool tech – all in just 5 minutes ☕! Today’s major updates include -

• Microsoft and OpenAI have announced a $2 million fund to combat the risks of AI and deepfakes being used to deceive voters and undermine democracy.

• Khosla Venture invested $50 Million in AI tool provide the radiology report.

• Akamai has agreed to acquire Noname Security, a specialist in API security, for $450 million.

• Oyo, an Indian budget hotel startup, is raising funds that could slash its valuation from $10 billion to just $2.5 billion.

• TikTok is suing the US government over a law that would ban the app if its parent company doesn't sell it within a year. TikTok claims the law violates free speech and individual liberty.

• Featured Article : Sam Altman ‘Don't Run Toward Ideas Where There Is Oversupply of Founder Relative To Market Demand.’

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STARTUP FUNDING UPDATES

Legion, a San Francisco-based startup that helps companies manage their hourly and gig workforces through an AI-powered scheduling platform, raised $50 million led by Riverwood Capital. More Here

Rad AI, a Berkeley, California-based startup that has developed an AI tool to generate radiology reports, reducing the documentation workload for radiologists, raised $50 million in a Series B funding round led by Khosla Ventures. More Here

Inheart, a Pessac, France-based medical device company, raised $11M in funding. The round was led by Vesalius Biocapital IV and co-led by Elaia Partners with participation from NACO, Sagana, Sofia Angel Ventures, CWR Funds, and Webit Investment Network. In addition, inheart received funds from a crowdequity campaign on Tudigo and from the UK impact fund Astorg Foundation. More Here

Inkbit, a Medford, MA-based company which specializes in advanced additive manufacturing solutions, raised $19M in funding. The round was led by Ingersoll Rand (NYSE: IR), with participation from Future Labs Capital, GC Ventures America, iGlobe Partners, Ocado, Phoenix Venture Partners, Stratasys, Zeon Ventures, and other private investors. More Here

Honeycomb Insurance, a Chicago-based insurtech startup that offers property and casualty insurance for landlords and condo associations using AI-driven property "inspection" technology, raised a $36 million Series B round led by solo VC Oren Zeev. More Here

Pearl, a West Hollywood, CA-based company which specialises in artificial intelligence (AI) solutions for dentistry, received an undisclosed investment from Dental Innovation Alliance VC Fund I. More Here

Cache, a San Carlos, CA-based life sciences company working for biological sample and data storage infrastructure, raised an undisclosed amount in Seed funding. Backers included Climate Capital Bio, Exor Ventures, Hawktail, LifeX Ventures, Pillar VC, and Trousdale Ventures, including support from Illumina and founders such as Alec Nielsen. More Here

Nudge Security, a San Francisco, CA-based provider of modern SaaS security and governance, raised a Seed extension funding. Forgepoint Capital joined Ballistic Ventures in this additional round, which brought the total amount raised to date to $16.5M. Forgepoint Co-Founder and Managing Director Alberto Yépez will join the Nudge Security board. More Here

Backpack Healthcare (formerly Youme Healthcare), an Elkridge, MD-based online pediatric mental healthcare provider, raised $14M in Series A funding. The round was led by PACE Healthcare Capital with participation from ECMC, Techstars, Collab Capital, Bridge Builders Collaborative, Portland Seed Fund, Hopelab, Rethink Education, Genius Guild, and Unlikely Collaborators, along with angel investors including Maya Ghosn Bichara and Jeffrey Walker. More Here

Humanaut Health, an Austin, TX-based clinic for health optimization and longevity, raised $8.7M in Seed funding. The round was led by The Kabech Fund with participation from Midnight Venture Partners, the company’s founders, Tushara Dilanie, and other strategic individual investors. More Here

Paxafe, an Indianapolis, IN-based company delivering AI-powered decision support solutions for cold chain logistics, raised $9M in Series A funding The round, which brought the total amount to $14M, was led by Framework Venture Partners, with participation from M12 (Microsoft’s Venture Fund), Rosecliff Ventures, Elevate Ventures, AngelList Quant Fund, Gaingels, Mana Ventures and existing participants Ubiquity Ventures and Venture53. More Here

Jeeves, a Mexico City, Mexico-based provider of a B2B payments and corporate card platform for businesses in Latin America, received a USD$75M credit facility from Community Investment Management. More Here

Simplifai, an Oslo, Norway-based company which specialises in AI automation solutions for insurance and banking, received an undisclosed investment from Idékapital. More Here

Averto Medical, a San Francisco, CA-based clinical-stage medical device company, raised $30M in Series A funding. The round was led by Cormorant Asset Management with participation from Venrock Healthcare Capital Partners, LifeSci Venture Partners, CVF, and other investors. More Here

TXOne Networks, a Taipei, Taiwan- and Irvine, CA-based leader in Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS) security, raised $51m in its Series B extension round of financing. In addition to TGVest Capital, the lead investor of the B round, Pegatron Group, CDIB Capital Group and CDIB-Innolux II L.P. More Here

Think Bioscience, a Boulder, CO-based synthetic biology company focused on developing small-molecule therapeutics that target “undruggable” proteins, raised a $6M Seed extension funding. YK Bioventures joined existing investors, bringing total funding to $26M. More Here

Numeric, a San Francisco, CA- and NYC-based AI-powered accounting automation company, raised $10M in Seed funding. Bakers included Founders Fund, Menlo Ventures, 8VC, Long Journey, Friends & Family Capital, and others. More Here

Wiz, a NYC-based cloud security company, raised $1 billion at a $12 billion valuation. The round, which brought total funding to $1.9 billion, was led by Andreessen Horowitz, Lightspeed Venture Partners, and Thrive Capital, with participation from Greylock, Wellington Management, and existing investors Cyberstarts, Greenoaks, Howard Schultz, Index Ventures, Salesforce Ventures, and Sequoia Capital. More Here

Mae Health, a NYC-based company providing pregnancy and postpartum support for Black expectant mothers, raised an undisclosed amount in Seed funding. The round was led by Jumpstart Nova, with participation from new investors including the Astia Fund, Impact Engine, Joyance Partners, and Gratitude Railroad, and early investors RH Capital, Avestria Ventures, Bright Ventures, and the Social Starts Health & Happiness Fund. More Here

Niobium, a Dayton, OH-based custom silicon provider, raised $5.5M in Seed funding. The round was led by Fusion Fund. Morgan Creek Capital, Rev1 Ventures, Ohio Innovation Fund and Hale Capital, also participated. More Here

BharatRohan, a Gurugram, India-based agtech startup specializing in drone-based hyperspectral remote sensing, closed a $2.3m in pre-IPO funding. Backers included Villgro Innovation Foundation, Caspian, RevX, and Venture Garage (with a group of Ultra High Net Worth Individuals as investors), marking a strategic combination of debt and equity financing. More Here

Prologue Medicines, a Cambridge, MA-based company advancing therapeutics that leverage the viral proteome, received a $50m investment from Flagship Pioneering. More Here

Honeycomb, a Chicago, IL-based digital insurer, raised $36M in Series B funding. The round was led by Zeev Ventures, with participation from new investors Arkin Holdings and Launchbay Capital and existing investors Ibex Investors, Phoenix Insurance and IT-Farm. More Here

Swypex, a Cairo, Egypt-based provider of a payments and financial workflow automation platform, raised $4M in Seed funding. The round was led by Accel with participation from Foundation Ventures, The Raba Partnership, and angel investors. More Here

Daloopa, NYC-based AI-powered historical data provider, raised $18M in Series B funding. The round was led by Touring Capital with participation from Morgan Stanley and existing investor, Nexus Venture Partners. More Here

OptMyCare, a Dallas, TX-based provider of a clinically engineered AI healthcare & risk management platform, raised $3M in Series A funding. The round, which brought the total amount to $4.5M, was led by LiveOak Ventures. More Here

Neurable, a Boston, MA-based neurotechnology company, raised $13M in funding. Backers included Ultratech Capital Partners, TRAC, Pace Ventures, and Metaplanet. More Here

Stonal, a Paris, France-based provider of a data management platform, received an up to €100M investment from Aeron. More Here

Delphia Therapeutics, a Cambridge, MA-based biotechnology company which specializes in cancer therapeutics, raised $67M in Series A funding. The round was led by GV, Nextech Invest, Polaris Innovation Fund and Alexandria Venture Investments. More Here

Dwellfi, a Palo Alto, CA-based company which specializes in AI, blockchain, and tokenization solutions for private funds and fund administrators, has raised $3M in Seed funding to date. The round was led by E1 Ventures, Stanford Blockchain, Hustle Fund, Blockchain Coinvestors, and Fortified Ventures. More Here

Style Protocol, a Zug, Switzerland-based company that transforms NFTs into 3D assets, raised $2.5M in Seed funding. Backers included Morningstar Ventures, Dutch Crypto Investors, GBV Capital, Protocol Labs and Alpha Ventures. More Here

VENTURE CAPITAL UPDATES

The Asian-based ventures, LD Capital, Antalpha Ventures, and Highblock, have launched Hong Kong's first-ever ETF liquidity fund valued at HK$1b ($128m) to boost market activity and ensure smoother trading for Hong Kong's crypto ETFs. More Here

Palm Beach Capital (PBC), a West Palm Beach, Fl-based middle market private equity firm, closed its sixth fund, at over $350M, surpassing its target of $275M. Fund VI’s broad and global investor base included diversified financial institutions, insurance companies, pension funds, foundations, endowments, consultants, funds of funds, and institutional family offices. More Here

FEATURED ARTICLE

What Do Investors Need From The Problem Slide?

“Every day, we receive tons of pitch decks from founders, but I found that more than 95% of these pitch decks, including the most important slide, i.e., the problem slide, were poorly written,” said Pre-Seed / Seed Stage VC Partner.

He shared -

“Throw half a dozen entrepreneurs in a room together with a whiteboard, and they’ll be able to come up with a thousand business ideas in a couple of hours. It’s the nature of entrepreneurship. Our brains are wired to keep an eye on what could be better and how that gap in the market can be turned into an opportunity. In other words: Ideas are cheap, and nothing is so awesome that it couldn’t possibly be improved.

However, not all problems are worth solving.

There are two common problems with the problem slide. Some founders are tempted to go way into the weeds on this slide, explaining the competitive landscape, market size, customer segments, value propositions and more. I understand the temptation — the problem formulation does touch a large number of aspects of the business — but this is neither the time nor the place…Read More Here

STARTUP’S LATEST BUZZ

ACQUISITION & EXITS

Akamai has agreed to acquire Noname Security, a specialist in API security, for $450 million, slightly lower than the previously reported $500 million price tag. The deal highlights the ongoing consolidation in the cybersecurity market, with Noname selling for less than half its previous $1 billion valuation. More Here

Samsung Medison, a medical device unit of Samsung Electronics, is acquiring Sonio, a Paris-based startup that makes AI-powered software for ultrasound workflows, for about $92.7 million (KRW 126 billion). More Here

Freepik, a Málaga, Spain-based tech company providing a design platform with audio-visual resources and generative AI tools, acquired Magnific, a Murcia, Spain-based AI image tool provider in the market. More Here

Corlytics, a Dublin, Ireland-based company which speicliazes in regulatory intelligence and policy compliance technology, has acquired a digital RegTech platform from Deloitte UK. More Here

iyzico, an Istanbul, Turkey-based financial technology company, acquired Paynet, a provider of B2B payments and collections services in the Turkish fintech landscape, for USD87M from Arena Group. More Here

Akamai Technologies (NASDAQ: AKAM), a Cambridge, MA-based cloud company that empowers and protect life online, acquired Noname Security, a San Jose, CA-based API security company, for approx. $450M. More Here

LAYOFFS & BANKRUPTCY

Tesla has launched another round of layoffs, including staff from software, service, and engineering departments, as reported by Electrek. This comes after the company disbanded its EV charging department and announced plans to reduce its global workforce by over 10% last month. Tesla faces pressure from dropping sales and an intensifying EV price war amid higher interest rates.

STARTUPS & PEOPLE

Oyo, the Indian budget-hotel chain startup, is in talks to raise a new round of funding that could slash its valuation to as low as $2.5 billion, a steep drop from its peak valuation of $10 billion in 2019. The proposed terms reflect Oyo's struggles, including SoftBank marking down its Oyo stake and the startup withdrawing its IPO plans. More Here

Kyle Kuzma, a forward for the Washington Wizards NBA team and a 2020 NBA champion, has joined Scrum Ventures as an adviser to help with their sports and entertainment fund. He brings his expertise as an angel investor and a competitive mindset from his basketball career to the venture capital world. More Here

LATEST IN EMERGING TECH

Microsoft and OpenAI have announced a $2 million fund to combat the risks of AI and deepfakes being used to deceive voters and undermine democracy. The fund will provide grants to organizations aimed at improving AI education and literacy among voters and vulnerable communities. More Here

TikTok is suing the United States government over a recently passed law that would ban the app if its parent company ByteDance fails to sell it within a year. TikTok argues the law violates the U.S. Constitution's commitment to free speech and individual liberty, and that the government has not provided evidence to support claims that the app poses national security risks. The lawsuit aims to block the potential ban of the widely popular video-sharing platform. More Here

ESSENTIAL READS

• Udemy Founder - “The investors had the right question, but the wrong conclusion.” Read Here

• How to Sell Your Business Model to VCs? Read Here

• Why Your Startup Idea Isn’t Big Enough for Some VCs? - RTF Analysis. Read Here

• Do Startups Need a Financial Model? Read Here

HOW CAN I HELP YOU?

• Build Your Pitch Deck : We write, design and model your pitch deck into a storyteller book within 4-5 days.

• Get Your MVP In 15 Days: Have an Idea? Turn your idea into Reality. Move fast before your competitors.

• Break Into VC: Join Our VC Enthusiast slack Community to learn, network and craft path to venture capital.

That’s It For Today! Will Meet Tomorrow. Happy Wednesday! ☕

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