Musk’s X launches a new image generator, Aurora & TikTok faces US ban after legal loss

In partnership with

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

Scroll down to catch

• Apple sued over abandoning CSAM detection for iCloud

• Elon Musk’s X gains a new image generator, Aurora

• TikTok faces US ban after legal loss

• OpenAI seeks to remove “AGI clause” in Microsoft deal

Fresh from the analyst desk: McKinsey's spilling the tea on how CEOs are turning corporate ventures into gold mines, EY's got your startup valuation playbook sorted, and we've got the real talk on tech's growing monopoly vibes. Bonus: Is AI killing SaaS? We're diving deep into that burning question. Fresh tech roles just landed!

A Message from Our Partner - Synthflow

Build Smarter, Faster: AI Voice Agents for Every Industry

Save time building your AI calling assistant with Synthflow’s AI Voice Agent templates—pre-built, pre-tested, and ready for industries like real estate and healthcare. Get started fast with features like lead qualification and real-time booking. You can even create and sell your own templates to earn commissions!

Register Now

Featured Your Startup: Want to get your brand in front of 66,000+ founders, investors, executives, and startup operators? For details on our sponsorships, fill up this quick form and we’ll get in touch.

Venture Daily Digest Picks

• Does your startup logo matter? (Link)

• Everything that happened in AI Agents last week. (Link)

• Simple way to write a Product Requirements Document (PRD) for your startup. (Link)

• The New World for Entrepreneurs By Rick Zullo. (Link)

• How I promote my startup if I had 0$ for marketing? (Link)

• Do you have a compelling story and clear vision? (Link)

• What key metrics and milestones should you achieve before approaching VCs? (Link)

• Is your financial model and projection ready? (Link) (Template Download)

• How much money should you raise? (Link)

Startup Funding Updates

Sage, a NYC-based provider of an operations management platform for senior living, raised $35M in Series B funding The round, which bought the total amount to $59M, was led by IVP, with participation from Friends & Family Capital and PLUS Capital. Existing investors Maveron, Goldcrest Capital, Distributed Ventures, and Animo Ventures also participated.

Zopa, a London, UK-based digital bank company, raised €80M in Equity funding. The round was led by A.P. Moller Holding, with participation from existing investors.

Nowadays, a San Francisco-based provider of an AI-powered event planning and venue booking platform, raised $2M in seed funding. The round was led by Y Combinator, Basis Set Ventures, Hike VC, VentureUs, Underdog Labs, Decacorn Capital, SBXi, E14, and dozens of angel investors.

Lucra, a NYC-based company which specializes in social gamification technology, raised $10M in funding. The round was led by 7GC, SeventySix Capital, Steve Kuhn (Founder of Major League Pickleball), alongside NBA MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo (Build Your Legacy Ventures), Ark Invest, Simplex Equity, Arthur Blank (Atlanta Falcons, AMBSE Ventures), Dennis Wong (LA Clippers), former WNBA president Donna Orender, tennis champions John Isner and James Blake, NFL players Zach Ertz and Emmanuel Sanders, and more.

Nua Surgical, a Galway, Ireland based medical device company innovating in maternal health, raised €6.5m in Series A financing. The round was led by EQT Life Sciences with participation from new investors Kidron Capital and the Texas Medical Center (TMC) Venture Fund and existing investors including Enterprise Ireland and business veterans from Ireland and the US. With the closure of this round, Anne Portwich, Partner at EQT, and Anula Jayasuriya, Co-Founder of Kidron Capital.

Qi Biodesign, a Beijing, China-based biotechnology company pioneering next-generation genome editing technologies, completed its Series A funding round. The Series A round was led by the Beijing Medical and Health Care Industry Investment Fund (Limited Partnership), with additional investments from Beijing Changping Technology Innodevelop Group, Mingzhe Capital, and returning investor CD Capital. Previous investors also include Apricot Capital, Source Code Capital, Gaorong Ventures, CSSD Capital, Shang Capital, and CASSTAR.

52North, a Cambridge, UK-based med-tech company focused on urgent care pathways in oncology, raised £4.72M in funding. The round was led by KHP Ventures, and Cedars-Sinai Intellectual Property Co., with participation from OKG Capital, Cambridge Enterprise Ventures, Cancer Research Horizons, Macmillan Cancer Support, and selected angels including biotech entrepreneur Jonathan Milner and former CEO of Roche Diagnostics Roland Diggelmann.

Jove, a London, UK-based provider of an AI-powered insurtech platform, raised £3.6M in Seed funding. The round was led by Explorer Investments, with participation from Seed X, Love Ventures, Portfolio Ventures, New Alpha Asset Management, Exceptional Ventures, and Start Ventures.

Datapad, an Istanbul, Turkey-based startup developing AI analyst agents services, raised over $500K in funding. The round was led by Pitchdrive, with participation from e2vc, Startup Istanbul, and angel investors.

Bounce Insight, a Dublin, Ireland-based provider of an AI-powered market research platform, raised $4.5M in funding. The round was led by ACT Venture Capital, with participation from Irrus Investments, Enterprise Ireland, Digital Irish Venture Fund, alongside Ian Kiernan (MRops).

Briefcase, a London, UK-based accounting automation startup, raised $3M in funding. The round was led by Earlybird with participation from Entrepreneur First and Tiny, alongside angel investors Charlie Songhurst, Mark Ransford, Greg Marsh, Bill Earner, Chris Mairs and executives from Pennylane, Deel, Pleo, and 11X.

NetBird, a Berlin, Germany-based networked security platform, raised €4M in Seed funding. The round was led by InReach Ventures and Nauta, with participation from Antler.

Emerging Tool That You Can’t Miss

Peony: The Smart Way to Share Files

Ever sent a file and thought, "I hope they look at this"? (Yeah, we’ve all been there!) Enter Peony, the startup that’s redefining how we share files. Imagine personalising your attachments with AI and tracking exactly how your audience engages with them. No more guessing games!

Peony is built for founders, VCs, and sales teams who want to make every interaction count. It’s not just about sending files; it’s about creating connections that lead to faster deals.

Get access here for free →

Venture Capital Updates

Heartcore Capital has raised a new €170 million ($180M) Fund V, shifting away from its previous consumer technology focus to a broader, more generalist approach that includes compute stack, synthetic biology, AI, software infrastructure, travel, and climate tech. The early-stage European VC firm, which has backed successful companies like Neo4j, Tink, and GetYourGuide, plans to make 25-30 investments with the new fund and has secured repeat investment from Industriens Pension along with other existing LPs.

Fly Ventures, a Berlin-based early-stage VC focused on enterprise and deep tech startups across Europe, has raised its third fund of €80 million, up from its previous €53 million fund in 2020. The firm, led by Gabriel Matuschka and Fredrik Bergenlid along with partners Matt Wichrowski and Marie Brayer, operates with an equal-GP model across Berlin, London, Paris, and Zurich, investing €1-4 million in seed rounds ranging from €2-10 million.

Former NBA Lakers star Metta Sandiford-Artest (formerly Metta World Peace) has partnered with ex-Boost Mobile CEO Stephen Stokols to launch Tru Skye Ventures, a new VC firm targeting $100 million to invest in sports and health tech

Latest In Tech

Apple faces a lawsuit from a 27-year-old abuse survivor over its decision to abandon a planned iCloud photo scanning system for child sexual abuse material (CSAM) in 2021, following privacy concerns that the system could enable government surveillance. The lawsuit, which claims Apple's inaction forces victims to continually relive their trauma, follows a similar case from August where a 9-year-old girl and her guardian sued Apple over CSAM on iCloud, and could potentially involve up to 2,680 victims seeking compensation.

Meta has unveiled the Llama 3.3 70B model, offering similar performance to its largest model, Llama 3.1 405B, but at a reduced cost, enhancing core functionalities. The Llama 3.3 70B outperformed competitors like Google's Gemini 1.5 Pro and OpenAI’s GPT-4o on industry benchmarks, with improvements in language comprehension and other functionalities like math and general knowledge. Meta announced plans to construct a $10 billion AI data center in Louisiana to support the development and training of future Llama models, aiming to scale up its computing capabilities significantly.

Musk’s X briefly launched Aurora, a new AI image generator within its Grok assistant that could create photorealistic images including those of copyrighted figures, but the feature was seemingly taken down after a few hours on Saturday. The announcement comes as xAI, Musk's AI startup, closed a $6 billion funding round and is reportedly developing a standalone Grok app and a next-generation Grok 3 model.

Other News

The US appeals court upheld a law that could lead to TikTok being banned in the United States, rejecting the argument that the law violates the Constitution. By January 19, 2025, TikTok must be sold to a non-Chinese owner, or risk being banned, as the ruling aligns with US government concerns over national security risks associated with ByteDance. TikTok plans to appeal the decision, arguing the ban infringes on Americans' First Amendment rights, while experts suggest the ban could reshape the social media industry and harm small businesses reliant on the app.

OpenAI is negotiating with Microsoft to remove a clause that restricts Microsoft's access to advanced AI models upon achieving artificial general intelligence (AGI), aiming for potential future profit opportunities. The AGI clause was initially included to keep AGI technology under OpenAI’s non-profit board oversight, aiming to prevent its commercial exploitation, but its removal might allow broader commercial use. OpenAI is also planning to transform from a non-profit to a public benefit corporation to attract more investment, sparking criticism from co-founder Elon Musk, who filed a lawsuit against this organizational shift.

In-Depth Insights

• How CEOs Are Turning Corporate Venture Building Into Outsized Growth Explore how leading CEOs are leveraging corporate venture building to drive transformative growth and innovation. [McKinsey]

• Startup Valuation EY's comprehensive take on startup valuation methodologies.

• Fewer Players, More Noise A dive into the increasing concentration in the tech space amidst rising competition

• Where is AI Taking Us? Is SaaS Dead? Thoughts on the evolving role of AI in SaaS and its potential disruption of traditional software models

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.

• Reach 66,600+ Founders & Investors: Partner with our newsletter to reach a highly engaged audience.

Today’s VC & Startup Job Opportunities

• Executive Assistant - Transition VC | India - Apply Here

• Investment Manager, Techstars London - Apply Here

• Ventures Associate - Morgan Health Venture | USA - Apply Here

• Venture Analyst - Cambridge Future Tech | UK - Apply Here

• Venture Analyst - Capital Factory | USA - Apply Here

• Senior Investment Associate - Forum Venture | USA - Apply Here

• Investor Relations Analyst - B Capital Group | USA - Apply Here

• Ventures Associate, AI Investing - Point 72 Venture | USA - Apply Here

• Investment Analyst Intern - Motion Venture | Singapore - Apply Here

• Visiting Analyst - Very Early Venture | Swiss - Apply Here

• Principal - Africa Climate Ventures | Kenya - Apply Here

• WORKING STUDENT Venture Capital - Venture Star | Germany - Apply Here

• VC Analyst Intern Fable Investments | France - Apply Here

• Investment Principal - K3 Venture | Singapore - Apply Here

RESOURCES

• Early Stage Startup Financial Model Template For Fundraising (Access Here)

• All-In-One Guide To Pitch Deck Storytelling - Free Template & Curated Resources (Access Here)

• All-in-one VC interview preparation guide—check it out. For a limited time, we are offering a 30% discount. Don’t miss this. (Access Here)

• Building Cap Table As A Founder: Template to Download (Access Here)

• 2700+ US Angel Investors & VC Firms Contact Database (Email + LinkedIn Link) (Access Here)

• 1000+ Euro Tech Angel Investors & VC Firms Database (Access Here)

• 400+ French Angel Investors & Venture Capital Firms Contact Database (Email + LinkedIn Link) (Access Here)

• 350+ Indian Angel Investors & Venture Capital Firms Contact Database (Email + LinkedIn Link) (Access Here)

Do you have any news to share about your Startup or VC fund?
Please email us.

We’ll be back in your inbox on Tomorrow.