• Venture Daily Digest
  • Posts
  • General Catalyst going public—A first for VC? & DeepSeek claimed $562K daily revenue.

General Catalyst going public—A first for VC? & DeepSeek claimed $562K daily revenue.

Venture Daily Digest - 03/03/2025

Author

Venture Daily Digest
March 03, 2025

Canned food existed 80 years before the can opener. The first canned food showed up in 1772, but the general-purpose can opener didn’t arrive until the 1850s. So yeah, for nearly a century, opening a can was basically a full-body workout.

Love or hate this intro? Hit reply and tell us why!

📬 What’s in store:

  • Today’s Picks: Marketplace dilemma, North Star metrics, funding dilution in 2024, SaaS financial model, tightening feedback loops, 8 PMF paths, founders' agreement, a16z on AI voice agents, pitch deck guide, proving timing to investors, top AI resources.

  • General Catalyst going public—A first for VC.

  • DeepSeek claimed $562K daily revenue, theoretical?

  •  SoftBank in talks to borrow $16 billion to fund AI.

  • Apple’s fully AI-powered Siri may not arrive until 2027.

  • OpenAI plans to integrate Sora AI video tool into ChatGPT.

  • Microsoft to retire Skype on May 5 after 23 year.

  • Google's newest moonshot delivers internet by firing lasers through the air.

  • VC & Startup Jobs: VC & investors backed startup hiring for remote roles.

⏱️ Read Time: 5 minutes

DAILY PICKS

🗞️ What else is brewing

A MESSAGE FOR FOUNDERS - HIGHLY RECOMMEND

📢 RNO1 Has a Message for You: Your Digital Presence Should Drive Results

Your website or app isn’t just a digital asset—it’s the foundation of your brand’s success. At RNO1, we don’t just design; we create Radical Digital Experiences that captivate users, drive conversions, and fuel business growth.

Whether you need a bold new website, an intuitive app, a high-impact SaaS platform, or a data-driven marketing strategy, we help brands break through the noise and dominate their industries.

What We Deliver:
✔️ Branding & Identity – Your brand should do more than stand out—it should make a statement.
✔️ Web & App Development – Future-proof platforms built for speed, scalability, and success.
✔️ UX/UI & Product Design – Seamless, high-converting digital experiences users love.
✔️ Go-To-Market Strategy – Position your brand to win with a strategic roadmap.
✔️ Performance Marketing – SEO, PPC, email & social strategies that turn traffic into revenue.

We’ve helped Airbnb and Dentsu scale their digital presence and powered startups that secured $100M+ in funding and hit $1B valuations.

*Partnership with

FEATURED YOUR STARTUP

💪 Get your startup in front of over 85,000+ audience

Our newsletter is read by thousands of tech professionals, founders, investors (VCs / Angel Investors) and managers around the world. Get in touch today.

STARTUPS RAISING MILLIONS

💰 Startup funding updates

Archipelo, a San Francisco, CA-based cybersecurity startup which specializes in DevSPM, raised $12M in funding. The round included a $4M pre-seed and an $8M seed round, led by Dell Technologies Capital, with participation from Zoom CEO Eric Yuan, Andy Bechtolsheim, Bill Tai, David Weisburd (10X Capital), Gil Penchina, Ed Roman (Hack VC), Anima Anandkumar, Samsung NEXT, Nima Capital, and Sangha Capital.

SymbyAI, a research-focused SaaS platform, raised a $2.1M seed round with participation from Drive Capital, CharacterVC, and Antler. Founded in 2023 by Ashia Livaudais and Michael House, the platform provides AI-powered tools for organizing research, peer review, and replication while protecting intellectual property.

VRIFY, a Vancouver, BC, Canada-based technology company combining AI with industry expertise for minerals exploration, raised $12.5M in Series B funding. The round was led by LGVP, with participation from Series A funders RCF Innovation and Beedie Capital.

Crown Plus, a Telford, UK-based highways drainage contractor, raised £3.9M in funding. Backers included Midlands Engine Investment Fund II, through the appointed fund manager Mercia Ventures.

CompScience, a San Francisco, CA-based active commercial P&C insurance company, raised $27.6M in Series B funding. The round was led by Sands Capital. Other investors included Four More Capital, Working Capital, and Valor Equity Partners.

Workhelix, a Palo Alto, CA-based tech-enabled services company that enables organizations to quantify and maximize the value of their AI investments, raised $15M in Series A funding. The round was led by AIX Ventures, with participation from Andrew Ng’s AI Fund, Accenture Ventures, BGV, Bloomberg Beta, Future of Work Partners, Telesoft, Zetta Ventures, Paul Daugherty, Jeff Dean, Reid Hoffman, Yann LeCun, Mira Murati, Sebastian Thrun, and Jeff Wilke.

Quanta, a San Francisco, CA-based accounting company empowered by AI, raised $4.7M in Seed funding. The round was led by Accel with participation from basecase, Comma Capital, Designer Fund, and Operator Collective, as well as angel investors including Elad Gil.

Vrai, a Dublin, Ireland-based simulation data company, raised €5M in funding. The round was led by Beringea with participation from Enterprise Ireland, Northstar Ventures and a number of Irish family offices.

Shop Circle, a London, UK-based provider of AI-powered B2B software solutions, raised $60M in Series B funding. The round was led by Nextalia Ventures, with participation from Endeavor Catalyst, NFX, QED Investors, 645 Ventures, 3VC, CDP Venture Capital, The Techshop, Primo Capital, GS Futures and i80 Group.

Deepnight, a San Francisco, CA-based company developing AI software for military night vision, raised $5.5M in funding. The round was led by Initialized Capital, with participation from Y Combinator, scientist Vladlen Koltun (co-author of Learning to See in the Dark), angel investor Kulveer Taggar, Brian Shin, a former partner at In-Q-Tel, and Matthew Bellamy, lead singer of the band Muse.

Charta Health, a San Francisco, CA-based provider of an AI-powered platform that optimizes medical billing and coding workflows, raised $8.1M in Seed funding. The round was led by Bain Capital Ventures, with participation from SV Angel, South Park Commons, SpringRock Ventures, Refract Ventures and strategic angel investors.

SponsWatch, a Stockholm, Sweden-based AI-powered sports sponsorship analytics company, raised €1m in seed funding. The round was led by node.vc, with participation from Venrex (early investors in Just Eat, Revolut, and Midnite).

Reddy, a San Francisco, CA-based AI startup that provides enterprise Customer Experience (CX) teams with a single platform to train, deploy and manage their human and AI agents, raised a total of $2m in funding. The round was led by DA Ventures.’

BUILD YOUR PITCH DECK WITH EXPERTS

📢 Venture Daily Digest Opens 3 Slots to Help Founders Build Pitch Deck

Decks get you meetings. Without meetings, you have no shot at getting funded. Investor meetings get you funded.

But most founders fail to impress investors through their pitch deck. Many make mistakes by adding the wrong content and including too many - around 10-15 - slides. Investors don't like that.

If you're feeling confused while building a pitch deck, we can help. We've created an internal team of experts, designers, and investors to build and review your pitch deck.

*Partnership with

NEW VCs IN THE MARKET

🏦 Venture Capital updates

General Catalyst, a venture firm managing over $30B in assets, is reportedly considering an IPO, Axios reported. Founded in 1999, GC has expanded beyond traditional venture investing into financing, wealth management, and healthcare acquisitions. If it proceeds, GC could become the first major venture firm to go public, potentially prompting other firms like Andreessen Horowitz to follow suit.

KEY STORIES IN TECH

📜 Latest in tech

DeepSeek claimed $562K daily revenue, theoretical?:

  • DeepSeek boasted a theoretical 545% profit margin, estimating $562K in daily revenue from R1 pricing, while GPU leasing costs stood at $87K.

  • The company acknowledged actual revenue is “substantially lower” due to free access, discounts, and lower-priced models, making its profitability projections speculative.

  • DeepSeek’s rapid rise rattled Wall Street, briefly topping ChatGPT on the App Store, but it has since dropped to #6 in productivity rankings behind major AI rivals.

SoftBank in talks to borrow $16 billion to fund AI:

  • SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son aims to borrow $16 billion to expand AI investments, with an additional $8 billion possible in early 2026.

  • The company has already committed $15 billion to Stargate, a joint venture with OpenAI and Oracle, and is in talks to invest up to $25 billion in OpenAI.

  • Stargate, announced at the White House in January, plans to invest up to $500 billion to secure U.S. dominance in AI over global rivals like China.

Apple’s fully AI-powered Siri may not arrive until 2027:

  • Apple is reportedly struggling to modernize Siri with generative AI, with a truly conversational version unlikely before iOS 20 in 2027, per Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman.

  • A new Siri update launching in May will introduce long-awaited Apple Intelligence features, splitting Siri into two systems for basic commands and AI-driven queries.

  • Apple plans to merge these systems with “LLM Siri” in 2026, but full AI-driven enhancements won’t arrive until at least the following year.

OpenAI plans to integrate Sora AI video tool into ChatGPT:

  • OpenAI confirmed plans to integrate its AI video generator, Sora, into ChatGPT, allowing users to create videos directly within the chatbot.

  • The ChatGPT version of Sora may have fewer editing controls than the standalone web app, but could encourage more premium subscriptions with higher usage limits.

  • OpenAI is also developing a mobile Sora app, expanding Sora’s capabilities to image generation, and working on an improved Sora Turbo model.

Microsoft to retire Skype on May 5 after 23 year:

  • Microsoft will shut down Skype on May 5, ending its 23-year run to focus entirely on Teams, with user data and contacts migrating automatically.

  • While Teams Free offers additional features, it lacks Skype’s phone-calling functionality, which Microsoft says reflects changing consumer habits.

  • Users can export their Skype data or use remaining phone credits via a web portal, but after December 2025, all data will be deleted permanently.

Google's newest moonshot delivers internet by firing lasers through the air:

  • Alphabet's Taara project, developed by Google's X research wing, uses light beams to transmit internet signals over long distances, offering an innovative alternative to traditional fiber optics and satellite methods.

  • The Taara chip significantly reduces the size of its internet transmission system from a traffic light to a 13mm silicon chip, allowing data transmission at 10 Gbps over 1km with software-based alignment.

  • Taara's technology has already been successfully deployed in real-world scenarios, providing internet solutions in areas like Caribbean islands and Indian urban centers, and aims to expand its range and capacity further.

LAST COFFEE SIP

☕Other news

Sergey Brin pushes full RTO, 60-hour weeks to win AGI race:

  • Google co-founder Sergey Brin urged employees to return to the office every weekday, claiming in-person work is key to Google’s AGI ambitions, per The New York Times.

  • Brin suggested that 60-hour workweeks are the “sweet spot” for productivity, though Google’s official policy still requires only three days in-office.

  • Brin has become more involved in Google’s AI efforts, as the company scrambles to catch up after being blindsided by OpenAI’s launch of ChatGPT in 2022.

HIRING ALERT: STARTUPS & VC ROLES

💼 Today’s VC & startup job opportunities

  • Internship - Elevator Venture | Austria - Apply Here

  • Associate - Adam Street Partner | USA - Apply Here

  • Strategic Venture Capital Investor - Wind Venture | USA - Apply Here

  • Program Manager - generator | USA - Apply Here

  • Investor - Pruven Capital | USA - Apply Here

  • Community Manager - Clean Energy Venture | USA - Apply Here

  • Investment Specialist - Emvee Group | India - Apply Here

CURATED RESOURCES

🎁 Don’t miss - Curated Resources for Founders.

WHEN YOU’RE READY, HERE’S HOW I CAN HELP:

💁 You might need our help!

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.

Reply

or to participate.