OpenAI rolls out assistant-like feature 'Tasks' to take on Alexa & SEC sues Elon Musk.

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STARTUPS RAISING MILLIONS

💰 Startup funding updates

Reown, a NYC-based provider of an onchain UX platform, raised $13M in Series B funding. The round was led by USV and 1kx and also included Global Digital Asset Holdings, Shopify Ventures, Kraken Ventures, Crypto.com Capital, Figment, Kiln, Everstake, BitGo Ventures, and Fenbushi.

Rainbow, a San Francisco, CA-based digitally-enabled managing general underwriter (MGU), raised $8M in Series A funding. The round was led by Zigg Capital.

Trustup, a Liège, Belgium-based company connecting individuals with certified construction and renovation professionals, raised €5M in funding. Backers included Rise PropTech Fund, Brick & Mortar Ventures, Noshaq and InvestSud, along with private investors.

Shippeo, a Paris, France-based company which specializes in real-time multimodal transportation visibility, raised $30M in funding. The round was led by Woven Capital, with participation from existing investors Battery Ventures, Partech, NGP Capital, Bpifrance Digital Venture, LFX Venture Partners, Shift4Good, and Yamaha Motor Ventures.

Granata Bio Corporation, a Boston, MA-based biopharma company, raised $15M in Series A+ funding. The round saw participation from Gedeon Richter, CooperSurgical, Amboy Street Ventures, and other strategic investors.

Amogy, a NYC-based provider of ammonia-to-power solutions, raised $56M in funding. The round was led by Aramco Ventures and new investor SV Investment, with participation from Samsung Heavy Industries, BHP Ventures, Hanwha Investment & Securities, AFW Partners, Quantum Ventures Korea, Kibo Invest, and Seoul IP, along with existing investors Temasek, MOL Switch, Yanmar Ventures, AP Ventures, and Marunouchi Innovation Partners.

Be Bio, a Cambridge, MA-based company which specializes in B Cell Medicines (BCMs), raised $92M in Series C funding. The round was led by Nextech with existing investors including ARCH Venture Partners, Atlas Venture, RA Capital Management, Alta Partners, Longwood Fund, Bristol Myers Squibb, and Takeda Ventures, among others.

Alleviant Medical, Inc., an Austin, TX-based medical device company developing a no-implant atrial shunt for heart failure, raised $90m in financing. Led by Gilde Healthcare, the round also adds Omega Funds and includes participation from existing shareholders S3 Ventures, RiverVest Venture Partners, Vensana Capital, Longview Ventures, Gilmartin Capital, TMC Venture Fund, and undisclosed strategic investors.

Conceivable Life Sciences, a NYC-based biotech company which specializes in fertility care, raised $18M in Series A funding. The round was led by ARTIS Ventures with participation from new investors including Atlantic Health Venture Studio, Muse Capital, Scrub Capital, ACME Capital, Black Opal Ventures, Cadence Healthcare Ventures, Future Positive Capital, Stride.VC, and Time BioVentures.

Tribe, a London, UK-based natural energy snack brand, raised £2.4M in funding. The round was led by Mercia Ventures and included Yeo Ventures, Crowdcube and private investors.

Maki, a NYC-based conversational AI agent company for talent acquisition, raised $28.6M in Series A funding. The round was led by Blossom Capital, with participation from DST Global and existing investors Frst, GFC, and Picus Capital.

OrbitAID, Bengaluru, India-based space tech startup, raised $1.5M in Pre-Seed funding. The round was led by Unicorn India Ventures with participation from TANSIM (Government of Tamil Nadu).

Lyteflo, a Toronto, Canada-based provider of an electric vehicle (EV) merchandising solution, raised $3M in Seed funding. The round was led by Diagram, with participation from Whitecap Venture Partners and Amplify Capital.

Rockfish Data, a San Ramon, CA-based provider of a synthetic data generation platform for operational workflows, raised $4M in Seed funding. The round was led by Emergent Ventures with participation from Foster Ventures, TEN13, Dallas VC, NewBuild Venture Capital and others.

ControlMonkey, a Tel Aviv, Israel-based provider of an end-to-end cloud automation platform, raised $7M in Seed funding. The round was led by lool ventures and Joule Ventures with participation from Gaia Ventures and its founder, Deepak Krishnamurthy; Vadim Soloveyand Yoav Toussia-Cohen, co-founders of DoiT; Asaf Ezra, CEO and co-founder of Granulate; and Ariel Assaraf, CEO and co-founder of Coralogix, among others.

Stoke, a Seattle-based reusable rocket startup, raised $260M in Series C funding. The round included Breakthrough Energy Ventures, Glade Brook Capital Partners, Point72 Ventures, Seven Seven Six, and Y Combinator. The funds will support building facilities at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.

Colossal Biosciences, a Dallas-based company focused on de-extinction, raised $200M in Series C funding at a $10.2B valuation. The round was led by TWG Global, with participation from Mark Walter and Thomas Tull.

Ranger, the San Francisco-based platform that fully automates software testing with AI, announced its $2.4M pre-seed round led by XYZ Venture Capital, and $6.5M seed round led by General Catalyst, with participation from XYZ, Founder Collective, BoxGroup, 89 Christopher, Homebrew, HighSage, Roar Ventures, Nostalgia Capital, Wndrco, and angels.

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NEW VCs IN THE MARKET

🏦 Venture Capital updates

Top New York VC Ben Lerer says more mid-sized VC firms are heading for failure: Ben Lerer, managing partner at Lerer Hippeau, predicts a split in the VC landscape, with capital favoring top-tier funds like a16z and niche smaller funds, while mid-sized firms face challenges. He warns that firms managing a few billion dollars without a clear edge risk failure. This comes as U.S. venture firms see a decline, with notable closures like Foundry Group highlighting struggles since the 2021 funding peak.

KEY STORIES IN TECH

📜 Latest in tech

OpenAI rolls out assistant-like feature 'Tasks' to take on Alexa, Siri:

• OpenAI has introduced a new feature called Tasks, making ChatGPT function more like traditional digital assistants by allowing it to handle reminders and scheduled prompts.

• The Tasks feature is currently in beta and available only to Plus, Team, and Pro subscribers, while free users do not have access at this time.

• Users can create and manage tasks through ChatGPT's chat interface or a dedicated Tasks section, with notifications sent when tasks are due, although there is a 10-task limit.

An influential AI researcher and Zapier Co-Founder Launch AGI Lab:

• François Chollet, creator of Keras, and Zapier co-founder Mike Knoop have launched Ndea, a startup focused on building AGI. The company aims to create AI capable of true invention and adaptation.

• Ndea will focus on program synthesis, enabling AI to generalize from limited examples, which could solve key challenges in AI research. Chollet believes this approach can unlock breakthroughs in scientific progress.

• Ndea is hiring top talent for remote roles, signaling strong backing. It joins a wave of high-profile researchers leaving Big Tech to start independent AI labs focused on frontier advancements.

SEC sues Elon Musk over delayed Twitter stock disclosure:

• The SEC has filed a lawsuit against Elon Musk, accusing him of not disclosing his ownership of over 5% of Twitter stock in early 2022, which allowed him to buy shares at lower prices.

• Allegedly, Musk's late disclosure enabled him to underpay by at least $150 million for Twitter shares purchased after the report deadline, with the SEC seeking a jury trial and financial penalties.

• Musk criticized the SEC in response to the lawsuit, while his lawyer described the case as a minor complaint resulting from years of alleged harassment by the regulatory agency.

Chinese AI model in Boox e-reader sparks outcry over propaganda content

• ByteDance’s AI model, Doubao, used in Boox e-readers, sparked outrage after generating responses aligned with Chinese government propaganda. The assistant denied events like the Tiananmen Square massacre and praised allies like North Korea and Russia.

• The controversy began when a Reddit user shared screenshots of the AI's biased answers, which contrasted sharply with criticisms of Western countries. Viral discussions and media coverage highlighted the potential risks of using Chinese generative AI in global products.

• Boox reportedly switched back to OpenAI’s GPT-3 after the backlash, but concerns remain over the unchecked spread of Chinese AI models. Experts warn that such tools could unintentionally propagate government narratives internationally.

Apple's 17% decline in 2024 sees Vivo and Huawei overtake iPhone in China:

• Apple's 2024 sales in China took a major hit, with a 17% annual decline, allowing Vivo and Huawei to surpass the company.

• The drop is linked to the lack of AI features in the latest iPhones, giving local rivals an edge, especially as Huawei made a strong return with new phones.

• Despite offering rare discounts, Apple faced increased competition from Android brands like Xiaomi, Oppo, and Vivo, further shrinking its market share.

LAST COFFEE SIP

☕Other news

Duolingo sees 216% spike in US users learning Chinese amid TikTok ban:

• Amid fears of a TikTok ban in the U.S., millions of users flock to RedNote, embracing cultural exchanges and offering English help to Chinese users.

• This migration sparked a rapid rise in U.S. users learning Mandarin, with Duolingo seeing a 216% growth in Mandarin learners in January.

• The trend also led to a notable increase in Duolingo's downloads, highlighting the growing interest in Chinese platforms and the need for language adaptation.

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• Investment Analyst - Early-Stage - PeakXV Partner | India - Apply Here

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