Meta is developing its own AI search engine & Google is working on an AI agent that takes over your browser

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

Scroll down to find :

• Why Meta is gunning for Google's search dominance,

• Google's plan to put an AI agent in your browser, and

• Indonesia's bombshell ban on the next iPhone!

• Plus, OpenAI's chair just scored a $4.5B valuation for their new AI venture.

But that's not all - today's must-read insights include the power of optionality in fund strategy, the latest seed valuation trends, a decade-long visual dive into AI investments, the evolving Hardware-as-a-Service landscape, and CB Insights' crystal ball on the future of generative AI. Don't miss out on the freshest startup and VC job opportunities!

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🗞️ Startup Funding Updates

Sierra, based in the U.S., develops AI-powered customer service chatbots that handle tasks without human intervention. The company raised $175M in a round led by Greenoaks Capital, with participation from ICONIQ and Thrive Capital, valuing it at $4.5B.

Reflexivity (formerly Toggle AI), a London, UK- NYC, Tokyo, Japan-based provider of innovative artificial intelligence solutions for the investment industry, raised $30M in Series B funding. The round was led by Greycroft and Interactive Brokers. Additional participation included renowned hedge fund managers, Stanley Druckenmiller and Greg Coffey, as well as General Catalyst and SoftBank LatAm.

Vendica Medical, NYC-based urology therapeutics company, raised $11M in funding. The round was led by Israel Biotech Fund (IBF), alongside key strategic partners, Merz and Laborie.

Read AI, a U.S.-based startup, offers an AI bot that integrates with tools like Slack, HubSpot, and Jira to transcribe meetings, surface insights, and manage workflows. It raised $50M in a Series B led by Smash Capital, with participation from Madrona and Goodwater Capital.

Casap, a NYC-based disputes automation and fraud prevention platform, raised $8.5M in funding. The round was led by Lightspeed Venture Partners with participation from Primary Venture Partners, Commerce Ventures, Curql, Alloy Labs, and fintech founders and execs from Chime, Robinhood, Square, Current, Novo, and Alloy.

Wildfire Systems, a San Diego, CA-based provider of a financial technology platform for loyalty and reward programs, shopping companions, and content monetization, raised $16M in Series B funding. The round was led by Intuit Ventures and Mucker Capital. In addition, new investors Cohen Circle, Samsung Next, Evolution VC, and Gaingels, plus existing investors TTV Capital, QED Investors, B Capital, DLA Piper, Moonshots Capital, and Citi Ventures participated. The Series B brings Wildfire’s total funding raised to date to $36 million.

Armis, a San Francisco, CA-based cyber exposure management & security company, closed a $200m Series D funding, increasing its total company valuation to a new high of $4.2 billion. The round was led by General Catalyst and Alkeon Capital, with participation from existing investors Brookfield Technology Partners and Georgian.

Abstract, a Palo Alto, CA-based company which specializes in security data fabric and analytics, raised $15M in Series A funding. The round was led by Munich Re Ventures with participation from existing investors Crosslink Capital and Rally Ventures.

Caldera + Lab, an Austin, TX-based men’s skincare brand, raised $6M in Series A funding. HIPstr, the early-stage investment arm of HighPost Capital, made the investment.

Kivu Biosciences, a San Francisco, CA-based biotech company developing antibody-drug conjugates, raised $92M in Series a funding. The round was led by Novo Holdings, with participation from Gimv, Red Tree Venture Capital, HealthCap as well as existing investors BioGeneration Ventures, M Ventures, and Brabantse Ontwikkelings Maatschappij (BOM).

Voze, a Salt Lake City, UT-based provider of a sales solution dedicated to empowering sales professionals in graycollar industries, raised $12M in a Series A funding. The round, which brought the total amount to $15M, was co-led by Origin Ventures and Mercury, with participation from previous investors, including Album VC and Pipeline Capital Partners.

Starget Pharma, a Tel Aviv, Israel-based clinical stage biotechnology company developing precision peptide radioligand therapies, received a $5.1m investment from Cancer Focus Fund.

Oboe, a NYC-based personalized learning company, raised $4M in Seed funding. The round as led by Eniac Ventures, with participation from Haystack, Factorial Capital, Homebrew, Offline Ventures, Scott Belsky, Kayvon Beykpour, Nikita Bier, Tim Ferriss, and Matt Lieber.

BlueSky, a decentralized social media company, raised $15m in Series A funding. The round was led by Blockchain Capital, with participation from Alumni Ventures, True Ventures, and SevenX, as well as Amir Shevat of Darkmode, co-creator of Kubernetes Joe Beda, and others.

Fungiball, a Paris, France-based provider of a fantasy tennis platform, raised €2.2M in PreSeed funding. Backers included Adrien Dassault and Stephan Altmuller, with participation from Cliff Capital and BPI France.

Cafeteria, a Los Angeles, CA-based developer of a brand survey app for teens, raised $3m in funding. The round was led by Collaborative Fund and Imaginary Ventures with participation from Bertelsmann, and Guy Oseary.

Filigran, a Paris, France-based, proactive cyber threat anticipation company, raised $35M in Seris B funding. The round was led by Insight Partners, with participation from existing investors Accel and Moonfire.

📰 Venture Capital Updates

HRZ Han River, a Menlo Park, CA-based early-stage venture capital firm, launched its $100M venture fund. The fund aims to build bridges between Silicon Valley and the Korea Graph, HRZ’s focus area that targets the talent, technology, and market trends that originate or intersect Korea with potential for global impact.

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🤖 Latest In Tech

Apple will roll out Apple Intelligence to EU iPhone and iPad users in April 2025, including features like Writing Tools, Genmoji, and ChatGPT integration. Initially limited to U.S. English, Mac users in the EU can already try it with language settings tweaks. Apple cited DMA compliance as the reason for the delayed EU release.

Meta is creating its own web-crawling search engine to enhance the information provided by its AI chatbot, as reported by The Information. This move aims to lessen Meta's reliance on Google and Microsoft's Bing, which currently supply data about news, sports, and stocks for Meta AI users. Following the announcement, shares of Google owner Alphabet Inc. declined by 0.8%, while Meta's shares experienced a slight increase of 0.3%.

Google is working on Project Jarvis, an AI agent that can browse the web for users, acting as an automated personal assistant with its capabilities integrated into Google Chrome. According to a report by The Information, this AI could be introduced alongside Google's next flagship Gemini language model, possibly being previewed to a small group of testers by December. Similar to Anthropic's Claude AI improvements, Jarvis AI responds to user commands by interacting with computer screens through tasks like clicking buttons or typing, though currently operates at a slower pace.

🪄 Other News

Indonesia has made the sale and use of the iPhone 16 illegal, due to Apple failing to fulfill its investment commitments in the country, leading to a nationwide ban on their products. The ban extends to other newly released Apple devices like the Apple Watch Series 10, as Indonesia has not yet issued necessary permits pending Apple's complete fulfillment of its pledges. Apple's unfulfilled investment amounts to $14 million out of a promised $109 million, impacting Indonesia's decision to deny IMEI certifications for the iPhone 16 series and related products.

🧐 In-Depth Insights

• Optionality in Venture Funds A deep dive into how optionality affects the strategy and performance of venture funds.

• Seed Valuations An in-depth analysis of how seed valuations are evolving and what founders need to know when raising early-stage capital in today’s market.

• Ten Years of AI Venture Capital Deals and Exits Visual Capitalist takes a look at the rise of AI investments over the past decade, with a focus on key deals and exits.

• State of HaaS Report A comprehensive look at the Hardware-as-a-Service industry, exploring emerging trends, business models, and the future outlook for this growing sector.

• Generative AI Predictions for 2024 CB Insights dives into the biggest trends and predictions for generative AI in 2024. This report covers how AI will impact industries and what founders need to watch as the technology evolves.

📬 Venture Daily Digest Picks

• All-In-One Startup Metrics Guide - What to track, when and why. (Read)

• The Rules of a Good Startup Pitch - A Must Follow Framework For Founders. (Read)

• Data isn’t going to save you when it comes to finding product-market-fit. (Read)

• Don’t Say These Things During a VC Pitch. (Read)

• The Best Time to Invest in a Company is When it Most Violates a Popular Narrative… (Read)

• Don’t Base Product Prices on Costs…? (Read)

• Building VC fund is harder than you think? (Read)

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