Musk’s Neuralink seeks $500M funding & Instagram co-founder testifies Zuckerberg saw app as a threat.

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STARTUPS RAISING MILLIONS

💰 Startup funding updates

Bloom Credit, a New York, NY-based credit data infrastructure platform, raised $10.5M in growth funding. The round was led by Crosslink Capital with participation from Allegis Capital, Commerce Ventures, and CT Innovations.

Synthetic Design Lab, a San Francisco, CA-based antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) company advancing its novel SYNTHBODY therapeutic platform against a range of cancer indications, raised $20M in funding. The round was led by Playground Global and Godfrey Capital.

VanishID, a Washington, DC-based agentic AI-powered digital executive protection company for enterprises, announced its rebrand from Picnic Corporation and raised $10M in Funding. The round was led by Dell Technologies Capital with participation from Mark McLaughlin, Crosslink Capital, Rally Ventures, Energy Impact Partners, Bright Pixel, and LockStep Ventures.

Coologics, a Cleveland, OH-based clinical-stage medical device company, raised $3M in Seed funding. The round was led by Prevail and Dream Ventures with participation from two university alumni groups, Ohio State Early Investor Network and Illinois Ventures Illini Angels Program.

Hokodo, a London, UK-based digital trade finance platform provider, raised €10M in funding. The round was led by Korelya Capital and Opera Tech Ventures (the venture capital fund of international bank BNP Paribas) with participation from Mundi Ventures and Notion Capital.

Adaptavate, a Bristol, UK-based company which specializes in developing and industrialising low-carbon and carbon-negative construction materials, raised £2.7M in Pre-Series A funding. Backers included Undivided Ventures and Skreenhouse Ventures by SigmaRoc.

Alpaca, a NYC-based self-clearing broker-dealer and brokerage infrastructure API, raised $52M in Series C funding. Backers included Derayah Financial, 850 Management, National Investments Company (NIC), Unbound, and Portage Ventures.

Exowatt, a Miami, FL-based next-generation renewable energy company, closed its $70 million Series A funding round, bringing the total funding to $90m to date. The round was led by Felicis.

Scamnetic, a Tampa, FL-based company dedicated to protecting individuals and businesses from digital threats using advanced AI technology, raised $13M in Series A funding. The round was led by Roo Capital. 1st and Main Growth Partners, SaaS Ventures and Riptide Ventures also participated.

HelloSky, a San Diego, CA-based provider of a talent intelligence platform for the executive search industry, raised $5.5M in Seed funding. Backers included Caldwell Partners, Karmel Capital, True Capital Partners, Hunt Scanlon Ventures and angel investors from Google and Cisco Systems.

Lattica, a Tel Aviv, Israel-based FHE-based platform enabling secure and private use of AI in the cloud, raised $3.25M in Pre-Seed funding. The round was led by Konstantin Lomashuk’s Cyber Fund, with participation from angel investor Sandeep Nailwal, The Open AGI Foundation, among others.

Nourish, a NYC-based provider of nutrition counseling, raised $70m in Series B funding round, bringing total funding to $115m. The round was led by J.P. Morgan Private Capital’s Growth Equity Partners, with participation from Thrive Capital, Index Ventures, Y Combinator, Maverick Ventures, BoxGroup, Atomico, G Squared, and Pinegrove.

Endor Labs, a Palo Alto, CA-based application security company, raised $93m in Series B funding. The round was led by DFJ Growth, with participation from Salesforce Ventures and existing backers including Lightspeed Venture Partners, Coatue, Dell Technologies Capital, Section 32, and Citi Ventures.

Bloom Credit, a Chicago, IL-based modern cash flow reporting and credit data infrastructure platform provider, raised $10.5M in funding. The round was led by Crosslink Capital, with participation from Allegis Capital, CT Innovations and Commerce Ventures.

Miggo Security, a NYC- and Tel Aviv, Israel-based “runtime and real-time” Application Detection & Response (ADR) threat protection platform provider, raised $17m in Series A funding. The round was led by SYN Ventures with participation from existing investor YL Ventures.

Cynomi, a Tel Aviv, Israel-based vCISO platform for managed service providers (MSPs) and managed security service providers (MSSPs), raised $37M in Series B funding. The round was led by Insight Partners and Entrée Capital, with participation from existing investors Canaan, Flint Capital, and S16VC.

Neurolabs, a London, UK-based image recognition as a service (IRaaS) company, raised $7.8M in Series A funding. The round, which brought the total amount to over $12M, was led by Nauta with participation from existing investors LAUNCHub, Lunar Ventures and Techstart.

Cloud Retail, a London, UK-based provider of an e-commerce software platform, raised $3M in Seed funding. The round was led by Somersault Ventures with participation from Pre-Seed to Succeed, backed by AltaIR Capital, Yellow Rocks, Smart Partnership Capital, and I2BF Venture Capital, as well as AddVenture and business angels.

Froda, a Stockholm, Sweden-based embedded finance player, raised €20M in Series B funding. The round was led by Incore Invest, with participation from existing investors.

Puresport, a London, UK-based performance supplement and hydration brand, raised £3.6M in funding. Backers included Redrice Ventures, Five Seasons Ventures, Ben Earl and Finn Russell.

Crowdpac, a Washington, DC-based provider of a platform for political engagement and small-dollar fundraising, raised $4M in funding. The round was led by Chris Tavlarides with participation from angel investors.

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NEW VCs IN THE MARKET

🏦 Venture Capital updates

VC podcaster and On Deck co-founder Erik Torenberg joins a16z as GP, bringing his Turpentine show with him. A prolific early investor in Scale AI, Figma, and Perplexity, Torenberg adds to a16z’s growing roster of hires, which recently included ex-Congressman Patrick McHenry and Marine vet Daniel Penny.

KEY STORIES IN TECH

📜 Latest in tech

Musk’s Neuralink seeks $500M at $8.5B valuation, Bloomberg reports:

• Neuralink is in talks to raise $500 million at a pre-money valuation of $8.5 billion, up from $5 billion in 2023, per Bloomberg.

• The brain implant company has begun human trials, enabling a paralyzed patient to control a computer with their mind.

• The FDA previously rejected Neuralink’s trial request over safety concerns but has since granted approval; rival Synchron is also conducting trials.

OpenAI to launch new open-source reasoning model this summer:

• OpenAI plans to release a benchmark-topping, open-source reasoning model by early summer, led by VP of research Aidan Clark; the model will be “text in, text out” and optimized for high-end consumer hardware.

• Unlike competitors like Meta’s Llama or Google’s Gemma, OpenAI is exploring a highly permissive license with minimal commercial restrictions and potential toggleable reasoning capabilities.

• The model will undergo rigorous safety testing and red-teaming before launch, with OpenAI planning to publish a detailed model card — a shift from recent criticisms over transparency and rushed evaluations.

Google Gemini reaches 350M monthly users, still trails ChatGPT:

• Google’s Gemini AI chatbot hit 350 million monthly active users as of March, a sharp rise from 9 million daily users in October 2024.

• In court documents, Google estimated ChatGPT had 600 million MAUs and Meta AI was nearing 500 million, indicating Gemini still lags behind top rivals.

• Google has rapidly expanded Gemini’s reach through integrations with Samsung devices, Chrome, and Workspace apps, fueling its adoption.

Instagram co-founder testifies Zuckerberg saw app as a threat:

• Instagram co-founder Kevin Systrom testified Mark Zuckerberg saw the platform as a rival, deliberately restricting its progress to safeguard Facebook's own user activity levels.

• Systrom alleged during the FTC lawsuit hearing that essential support, like personnel and safety funds, was denied by Zuckerberg, impeding Instagram’s evolution despite its significant potential.

• Differing from Zuckerberg's account, Systrom maintained Instagram likely would have thrived alone and his exit resulted from annoyance with the Facebook CEO meddling in operations.

Intel to cut over 20% of workforce:

• Intel is reportedly preparing substantial personnel reductions, potentially affecting more than one-fifth of its workforce, as part of a major effort aimed at boosting company efficiency.

• These job eliminations contribute to a $10 billion cost-reduction goal for the year, prompted by high expenses, lower profits in key areas, and difficulties competing in AI hardware.

• The corporation's updated plan involves reshaping its artificial intelligence approach and trimming what leadership identified as a cumbersome and slow middle management layer within the business.

EU fines Apple and Meta over Digital Markets Act violations:

• The EU fined Apple €500M and Meta €200M for allegedly violating the Digital Markets Act, accusing Apple of restricting app payment options and Meta of forcing users into ad targeting or paid subscriptions.

• Both companies received cease-and-desist orders; Apple and Meta plan to appeal, criticizing the EU for targeting U.S. firms and harming innovation.

• The ruling intensifies transatlantic tensions, as Trump threatens tariffs in response to what he calls non-tariff barriers to U.S. tech companies.

Windsurf cut prices as rivalry with Cursor heats up:

• AI coding startup Windsurf cut prices across all plans, removed “flow action credits,” and now offers team access at $30/user/month, down from $35.

• The move comes amid acquisition talks with OpenAI and intensifying competition with Cursor, whose individual plan starts at $20/month.

• Windsurf is also giving users a week of free access to OpenAI’s GPT-4.1 and o4-mini models, while boasting its pricing is the “best” in the market.

LAST COFFEE SIP

☕Other news

Siri’s new boss is already making big internal changes:

• Apple's new Siri engineering chief, Mike Rockwell, is overhauling the voice assistant's management structure by appointing staff from his previous Vision Pro software group leadership.

• Several top deputies from the Vision Pro development team are now taking charge of key Siri engineering divisions, including its platform, systems, and user experience design.

• This significant personnel shift involves replacing previous managers, signaling a decisive effort by the new leader to enhance the capabilities of the long-stagnant virtual assistant product.

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