Microsoft Unveils New Autonomous AI Agents & TikTok Owner Fires Intern for AI Sabotage

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☕ Good Tuesday Morning. Welcome to today's quick rundown in the Venture Daily Digest Newsletter.

Scroll down to find out:

• Why TikTok's parent company just fired an intern over AI sabotage,

• Apple's surprising AI defense from Tim Cook, and

• Meta's groundbreaking emotion-reading AI!

• Plus, Microsoft's autonomous agents are here, and Apple's AirPods just got a game-changing health upgrade.

Plus, dive into today's must-read analyses: the secret sauce behind MVP-ICP success, SaaS scaling mastery, why illiquidity might be your friend, China's startup reality check, and an explosive report on software's unstoppable rise. Catch the latest VC opportunities while they're hot!

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🗞️ Startup Funding Updates

Carbon Robotics, a Seattle, WA-based company which specializes in AI-powered farming, raised $70M in Series D funding. The round, which brought the total amount to $157M, was led by BOND with participation from existing investors NVentures (NVIDIA’s venture capital arm), Anthos Capital, Fuse Venture Capital, Ignition Partners, Revolution, Sozo Ventures, and Voyager Capital.

Counsel Health, a Canton, MA-based virtual medical practice specializing in messaging-based care, came out of stealth alongside $11M in Seed funding. The round was led by Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) Bio + Health, with participation from Asymmetric Capital Partners, Floodgate Fund, Pear VC, and the founders of numerous leading healthcare startups.

Uprise, a San Francisco-based fintech startup, offers embedded financial advisory services for small businesses by integrating with platforms like Rippling and Carry. It raised $3.3M in seed funding led by Blank Ventures, with participation from Graham & Walker, Hustle Fund, and Dash Fund.

Conflux Technology, a Melbourne, Australia-based heat transfer and additive manufacturing (AM) company, raised $11M in Series B funding. The round was led by Breakthrough Victoria, with participation from AM Ventures and Acorn Capital.

Rollstack, a NYC-based company that automatically creates and updates data-driven slide decks and documents, raised $11M in Series A Funding. The round was led by Insight Partners, with participation from existing investor Y Combinator.

mPATH, a Winston-Salem, NC-based digital health company dedicated to improving cancer screening, raised $3M in funding. The round consisted of $2M led by Small Business Technology Grant from the National Cancer Institute (NCI) and a $1M equity investment led by Oncology Venture.

Zephyr, a NYC-based provider of a technology-enabled home services platform, raised $60M in new growth capital. The round, which brought the total amount to $100M, was led by Elda River Capital and The Pritzker Organization.

Revyse, a Bend, OR-based provider of vendor management software built for the multifamily industry, raised $1M in funding. The round, which brought the total amount to $2M, was led by RET Ventures.

SchooLinks, an Austin, TX-based provider of a software platform providing College and Career Readiness (CCR) resources for K-12 students across the U.S., raised $80M in Series B funding. The round was led by Susquehanna Growth Equity with participation from Stephens Group, Strada and ASA.

Zip, a San Francisco, CA-based provider of an AI-powered procurement orchestration platform, raised $190M in Series D funding at a $2.2B valuation. The round was led by BOND, with participation from DST Global, Adams Street, and Alkeon, along with existing investors Y Combinator and CRV.

Obligo, a NYC-based fintech company providing a suite of flexible security deposit solutions, raised $35M in funding. The round was led by 83North and True Global Ventures with participation from 10D, Entrée Capital, HighSage Ventures, MUFG Innovation Partners, and Viola Credit.

With Nothing Underneath, a London, UK-based womenswear brand, raised £2.5M in funding. The round was led by Pembroke VCT alongside JamJar Investments.

Ocula Technologies, a Belfast and London, UK-based AI-driven eCommerce solution provider, raised £4M in Series a funding. Backers included NYO Capital and Jose Luis Gomes.

Seaport Therapeutics, a Boston, MA-based biopharmaceutical company that is developing novel neuropsychiatric medicines, raised $225M in Series B funding. The round, which brought the total amount to $325M, was led by General Atlantic, with participation from funds and accounts advised by T. Rowe Price Associates, Inc., Foresite Capital, Invus, Goldman Sachs Alternatives, CPP Investments, and other new investors.

Cult Mia, a London, UK based luxury fashion startup, raised $2m in seed extension funding. Backers included H&M Group Ventures, Fuel Ventures, Morgan Stanley, and David Wertheimer.

Daze, a New York-based messaging app for Gen Z, offers a creative, freestyle chat experience with features like floating multi-colored messages, photos, and AI-powered tools. It raised $5.7M from a16z, Kindred Ventures, Alpaca Ventures, and others. The app is set to launch on November 4, 2024.

📰 Venture Capital Updates

Benchmark Partners, a prominent Silicon Valley VC firm, continues to raise around $425M for its main investment fund, while also raising an additional $170M for a separate Founders' Fund primarily funded by its partners. Benchmark, known for early investments in companies like eBay, Snap, and Uber, allows its partners to double down on their investments without managing LP money. This approach mirrors similar strategies by firms like Homebrew and Sequoia Heritage.

node.vc, a Stockholm, Sweden-based early-stage venture capital firm, closed its first fund, at €71m. LPs include Saminvest, as well as founders of Axis Communications, Yubico, Polarium, Cint, Evolution, PriceRunner, and Polar Structure.

🤖 Latest In Tech

Microsoft unveiled 10 new autonomous AI agents for Dynamics 365, designed to automate tasks across sales, finance, supply chain, and customer service. The company also launched a new feature in Copilot Studio, allowing users to build their own autonomous AI agents that can work on behalf of individuals or teams in business processes. Microsoft highlighted real-world benefits of its AI technology, including $50 million in annual savings for Lumen Technologies and productivity gains for Honeywell equivalent to 187 new employees.

xAI has launched its API, offering access to the "grok-beta" model at $5 per million input tokens and $15 per million output tokens. The API supports function calling, with vision models and external tool integrations coming soon. Despite raising $6 billion, xAI faces criticism over resource diversion from Tesla and environmental issues at its Memphis data center.

The AirPods Pro 2 are introducing revolutionary features with iOS 18.1, including clinical-grade hearing aid capabilities, a built-in hearing test, and enhanced hearing protection, marking a significant step in hearing health technology. While the hearing protection mode offers subtle yet effective improvements, users should note its limitations in extreme noise environments where traditional earplugs might still be necessary. The innovative hearing aid feature, though impressive with its technology integration, comes with practical constraints like a six-hour battery life and may not be suitable for severe hearing loss cases, yet represents an important advancement in consumer tech addressing health needs.

Meta has unveiled new AI models, including the Self-Taught Evaluator, SAM 2.1, and Meta Spirit LM, to enhance machine intelligence across various domains and foster innovation in AI research. The Self-Taught Evaluator uses synthetic data to improve other models' performance, while SAM 2.1's data augmentation capabilities are applied in sectors like medical imaging and meteorology. Critics highlight limitations of these models, such as SAM 2.1's challenges with complex segmentation, and question Meta's open-source claims, arguing it hinders transparency and innovation.

🪄 Other News

Tim Cook acknowledges that Apple is not the first in AI development but emphasizes that the goal is to deliver the best AI experience for customers. The initial release of Apple Intelligence on October 28 is expected to be minimalistic compared to competitors like Google's Gemini, with advanced features possibly available by 2025. Apple plans to incorporate ChatGPT into iPhones and select iPads, focusing on device security and user consent for utilizing AI capabilities like text summarization and priority notifications.

ByteDance dismissed an intern for allegedly disrupting an AI project by "maliciously interfering" with the training of artificial intelligence models in August. The company stated the intern's actions did not affect its official commercial products or AI technology, countering exaggerated rumors about significant disruptions circulating online. ByteDance informed the intern's university and industry associations about the misconduct as rumors continued amidst broader scrutiny over generative AI safety and social media impacts.

🧐 In-Depth Insights

• The Software Explosion Philip Joubert breaks down the rapid growth and transformation happening within the software industry.

• How Bad China's Startup Scene Looks Now. TechCrunch breaks down the struggles faced by China's startup ecosystem amidst a challenging economic environment.

• Illiquidity is a Feature, Not a Bug. A SignalRank deep dive into how illiquidity in venture capital can serve as a valuable asset.

• Scaling SaaS Forging Excellence Through Fundamentals

• The MVP-ICP Handshake : Bain Capital explains how to transition from founder-led to AE-led sales with a focus on MVP-ICP alignment.

📬 Venture Daily Digest Picks

• How to Find the Right Customers for Your MVP ? (Read)

• How The Best LPs Evaluate Emerging VC Fund Managers. (Read)

• 5 Simple Frameworks to Determine If Your Pricing Strategy Is Working. (Read)

• a16z Framework for Evaluating Startup User Growth Quality. (Read)

• How to set aside space in your Series A for your customers and evangelists (Link)

• The amount of active investors is trending down (Link)

• Fun recap of “tech drama” of the week (Link)

• Mastering TikTok to get millions in ARR (Link)

• How to build an AI side project (Link)

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💼 Today’s VC Job Opportunities

• Portfolio Program Associate - TDK Venture | UK - Apply Here

• Partner 32, Assistant Controller - a16z | USA - Apply Here

• EMEA Legal Counsel (German Speaking) | Spain - Apply Here

• Investor Relations Manager - Griffin Gaming Partner | USA - Apply Here

• Investment Analyst (MatSci) - TDK Venture | USA - Apply Here

• Associate - Pepsico Venture | USA - Apply Here

• Events Manager - Primary | USA - Apply Here

• Venture Capital Associate - Connexa Capital | USA - Apply Here

• Senior Associate - Rockstud capital | India - Apply Here

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