NVIDIA's Big Announcement & Apple's Mega AI Deal With Google's Gemini

👋 Hey, Sahil here! Welcome to today's quick rundown in the Venture Daily Digest Newsletter. I've got the scoop on startup fundraising, fresh VC funds, and some cool tech – all in just 5 minutes!

• Nvidia introduced Project GR00T, a "general-purpose foundation model for humanoid robots" & more models.

• LACERA voted to decrease its allocation range to venture capital from between 15%-30% to between 5%

• Telegram secured $330 million through an oversubscribed bond which mature in 2026 or when Telegram goes public.

• Onyx Private Digital bank which raised $4.1 Million from Y-Combinator, Shutting down direct to consumer operation to focus on B2B Part.

• Elon Musk's xAI released the code for its Grok large language model, calling it "open source” topositioning against OpenAI than fostering open development.

• Featured Article : Understanding SAFE (Simple Agreement For Future Equity).

• Daily Digest Board: Accessing Quality Startup Deals?

Get Access To 10000+ Verified Investors Contact Database

Find The Right Investors....

👉 Yes! The database does have emails, and we checked all of them with our piece of code. We know that most of the database websites scrape contact info as it is. But we also know that our database is valuable only when it has 100% verified contacts.

That’s why we check them by following parameters: Email address is valid | Email format is valid | Domain isn't disposable | Domain isn't freemail | Email address isn't gibberish

(The database of emails is regularly checked for any new or old accounts that might be worth adding.)

🎁 Bonus: Free Email Template Curated By Leading VCs | Lifetime Access + Weekly Autoupdate Data + Download Excel Sheet

PARTNERSHIP WITH US

Want to get your brand in front of thousands of founders, investors, executives, and startup operators? For details on our sponsorships, fill up this quick form and we’ll get in touch.

STARTUP FUNDING UPDATES

Telegram raises $330M fresh capital through bond sales

Telegram secured $330 million through an oversubscribed bond offering last week, with favorable terms, as global financial institutions value the company's growth prospects. The bonds mature in 2026 or when Telegram goes public, whichever is earlier, and carry a 7.7% yield. Telegram aims to be profitable next year and is exploring an IPO option to "democratize access" to its value, as stated by founder Pavel Durov. More Here

CryoLogyx, a University of Warwick (UK) spinout redefining cell technology through cryopreservation, closed a £500k seed funding round. Backers included private UK business angels and the Wider Oxford Technology Angel Network (WOTAN), which includes previous investors Oxford Technology Management. More Here

Quilt, co-founded by entrepreneur Dan Chen, offers AI assistants for solutions sales teams to streamline tasks like filling out proposals and answering technical questions. Despite concerns about generative AI's tendency to "hallucinate," Quilt assures data privacy and security, securing a $2.5 million seed round led by Sequoia. More Here

Superlinked, a San Francisco, CA-based provider of a solution for turning complex data into vector embeddings, raised $9.5m in seed funding. The round was led by Index Ventures, with participation from Theory Ventures, 20Sales, Firestreak and several tech executives. More Here

Poseidona, founded by Sònia Hurtado and María Cermeño in Spain, transforms invasive seaweed into protein ingredients for food securing €1.1 million pre-seed funding by Faber. More Here

OpenMeter, a San Francisco, CA-based provider of a data source platform for AI monetization, raised $3m in seed funding. Backers included Y Combinator, Haystack, and, Sunflower Capital. More Here

InvenireX, a Newcastle Upon Tyne, UK-based biotech company advancing PCR laboratory tests, raised £500k in funding. Backers included DSW Ventures and XTX Ventures. More Here

Crypto Rogue Games, an Umea, Sweden and Tallinn, Estonia-based game studio, closed a $1.5m seed funding round. Backers included Merit Circle, Avalanche, SNZ, Coinfund, Lyrik Ventures, Devmons and Bryan Pellegrino, CEO and co-founder of Layer Zero. More Here

Neupulse (the trading name for Neurotherapeutics Ltd.), a Nottingham, UK-based health tech company focused on patients with Tourettes Syndrome, raised $3.2M in Seed funding. The round was led by Eos Advisory, alongside a consortium including US-based investors. More Here

MetaCene, a Singapore-based meta-MMO platform for gamers, raised $10m in Private A funding. The round was led by Folius Ventures and SevenX Ventures, with participation from other industry heavyweights including The Spartan Group, Mantle EcoFund, Animoca Ventures, Longling Capital, Comma3 Ventures, IGG and more. More Here

QuantexAI, a Singapore-based generative AI and data science startup, raised $1M in Pre-Seed funding. The backers were not disclosed. More Here

BigID, a NYC-based AI-augmented data security company, raised $60M in Growth funding. The round, which brought total capital raised to $320M at over $1B valuation, was led by Riverwood Capital with participation from Silver Lake Waterman and Advent. More Here

Synch, a NYC-based provider of an integrated Global Trade Management (GTM) solution to unify a company’s revenue stack so they can spend time selling, raised $3M in Seed funding. The round was led by by AltCap and Haystack with participation from Y Combinator, Ritual Capital, and executives from Retool, Ramp, Superhuman, Flexport, Navan, Everlaw, Lattice, Pipe, Finley and others. More Here

ConKay Medical Systems, a Pleasanton, CA-based medtech company, raised $1.8M in Seed funding. Backers included Unorthodox Ventures, SCP Ventures, WS Investment Company, and individual angel investors. More Here

Carlsmed, a Carlsbad, CA-based AI-enabled personalized surgery medtech company, raised $52.5M in Series C funding. The round was led by B Capital and U.S. Venture Partners. More Here

FlexPoint, a NYC-based provider of a payments automation platform for managed service providers (MSPs) and the businesses they serve, raised $35M in funding. The equity investment led by Haymaker Ventures, with participation from existing investors Garuda Ventures, Far Out Ventures and Cascade Seed Fund, and a $30M credit facility provided by Tacora Capital. More Here

Grant Thornton, a Chicago, IL-based provider of audit and assurance, tax, and advisory services, received an undisclosed investment from New Mountain Capital. More Here

Uxlink, a Singapore-based Web3 social platform that combines a Web3 gateway, social DEX and infrastructure with the goal of facilitating mass adoption, received an investment from OKX Ventures. More Here

Orq.ai, an Amsterdam, The Netherlands-based provider of a platform for enterprises to build Generative AI applications from playground to production, raised additional €1.5M in funding. The current round was led by XO Ventures (Bart Malenstein and Marc van Meerwijk) and xdeck ventures. More Here

Cache, a San Francisco, CA-based brokerage specifically created for large stock positions, raised $8.5m in seed funding. The round was co-led by First Round Capital and Quiet Capital. More Here

Zone, a Lagos, Nigeria-based payment infrastructure company, raised $8.5M in Seed funding. The round was led by Flourish Ventures and TLcom Capital. Other investors included international blockchain-focused VC firms Digital Currency Group (DCG), VKAV (Verod-Kepple Africa Ventures) and Alter Global. More Here

Pandorum Technologies, a Bangalore, India-based biotechnology company, raised $11M in funding. Backers included Mr. Ashish Kacholia, Everest Finance Investment, Acebright Pharma and Ms. Bandana Kankani’s syndicate, along with existing investors Mr. Sunil Kant Munjal and the Indian Angel Network. More Here

Senisca, an Exeter, UK-based biotechnology company developing RNA-based senotherapeutics to treat age-related disease, raised additional £3.7M in funding. The round, which brought the total amount to £7.1M, saw participation from Emerging Longevity Ventures, QantX, the R42 Group, Trend Investment Group and Apex Ventures, and investment from new funds including Lifespan Vision Ventures. More Here

TheyDo, an Amsterdam, Netherlands-based provider of a journey management platform, raised additional $34M in funding. The round, which brought the total amount to $50M, was led by Blossom Capital, supported by existing investors Arches Capital and InnovationQuarter and joined by Steven Van Belleghem, HighSage Ventures and 20SALES. More Here

VENTURE CAPITAL UPDATES

A sign that LP interest in venture is waning: The Los Angeles County Employees Retirement Association (LACERA) voted to decrease its allocation range to venture capital and growth equity from between 15% and 30% to between 5% and 25% of its private equity portfolio, citing market conditions and a desire for more flexibility. However, analysts suggest this is likely a one-off case, as most limited partners (LPs) view the current market as an opportunity to increase their venture capital exposure, though they may be more selective and invest smaller amounts with existing managers due to market volatility and uncertainty. Overall, significant changes in LP allocations to venture capital are not expected this year. More Here

Cedar Capital, India Based the FinTech-focused Venture Capital brainchild of global consulting and research group, Cedar and IBS Intelligence, has marked the First Close of its $30 million early-stage fund. More Here

FEATURED ARTICLE

Understanding SAFE (Simple Agreement For Future Equity).

Founders often struggle with the question, "How much is my startup worth?" when it comes to raising capital.

Let's call things the way they really are... nobody knows how much a Pre-Revenue (or even early revenue) company is actually worth.

Pro-formas = spreadsheet millionaire and nothing more besides something to help understand the path forward.

DCFs don't work as there are no cash flows to model off of (good luck setting the right discount rate anyways) and any exit multiples are simply just a comparative estimate at what the company might become. Unless there's real traction, I personally believe a DCF or comp analysis is going to come up short.

So... if you don't have traction yet and you need capital to get there (assuming debt isn't an option) what are you supposed to do?.…..Read More Here

STARTUP’S LATEST BUZZ

ACQUISITION & EXITS

Accenture is to acquire Arηs Group, a Luxembourg based technology services provider focused on supporting public sector transformation across Europe. More Here

Sensor Tower, a San Francisco, CA-based provider of data on the digital economy, acquired San Francisco, CA-based market intelligence platform data.ai, for an undisclosed amount. More Here

LAYOFFS & BANKRUPTCY

Textio, a 14-year-old company uses AI to help businesses write better job listings, emails, and other workplace communications, laid off 14 employees or 16% of its workforce. More Here

STARTUPS & PEOPLE

Onyx Private, a Miami-based digital bank supported by Y Combinator, is discontinuing its banking operations, opting to transition to a business-to-business model, citing strategic decisions over regulatory concerns despite previous growth and $4.1 million in funding; customers were notified of the shutdown, effective April 14, with immediate cessation of the rewards program. More Here

LATEST IN EMERGING TECH

Nvidia’s keynote at GTC held some surprises

Nvidia introduced Project GR00T, a "general-purpose foundation model for humanoid robots," aiming to provide an AI platform for companies working on humanoid robots. It also unveiled Jetson Thor, a new computer designed for running simulations and generative AI models for humanoids. Nvidia announced Isaac Manipulator for robotic arm dexterity and Isaac Perceptor for autonomous mobile robot vision capabilities. The company is positioning itself to capture market share in humanoid robots, mobile manipulators, and autonomous mobile robots through tailored hardware and software offerings. Watch Video

Elon Musk's xAI released the code for its Grok large language model, calling it "open source." However, while releasing the model weights is valuable, true openness in AI is difficult due to the opaque training process and immense computing resources required. The release may be more about positioning against OpenAI than fostering open development. More Here

Apple is reportedly considering a mega-deal with Google to leverage the Gemini AI model for iPhone features, potentially introduced with iOS updates later this year. Despite Apple's efforts in AI development, pressure mounts to catch up with competitors like OpenAI and Google, prompting discussions of partnering with external providers for generative AI use cases. More Here

VENTURE DAILY DIGEST PICKS

• ​"Trying to make everything look perfect and hiding risk." Marc Andreessen. Don't do this, instead understand risk-cash relation! Read Here

• Cold Email To VC? Read Here

• Break Into VC: The Six Most Popular Venture Capital Interview Questions (And How to Answer Them) Read Here

• Advice or anti-advice? Five founders on the merits of breaking convention By BVP Read Here

• Generational wealth transfer for family offices to spark windfall for VC By Pitch Book. Read Here

DAILY DIGEST BOARD

HOW CAN I HELP YOU?

Build Your Pitch Deck

Want to create a pitch deck into a storyteller book that attracts investors’ attention, We are here to help you! Build your pitch deck with the help of founders & VCs. We write, design and model your pitch deck into a storyteller book within 4-5 days….Get Your Storyteller Book

Get Your MVP In 15 Days

Have an Idea? Turn your idea into Reality. Move fast before your competitors. Want to build a SaaS platform, mobile or web app - we are here to help you…. Build Your MVP

That’s It For Today! Will Meet You Tomorrow!
Happy Tuesday! 🥂

  Advertise || Investor Database || Break Into VC

✍️Written By Sahil R - The Venture Crew