OpenAI Secrets Stolen By Hacker & Fisker Seeks 3,321 Ocean EV Sales.

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

Top News

A hacker accessed OpenAI's internal messaging systems early last year and stole design details about the company’s artificial intelligence technologies. The attacker extracted information from employee discussions in an online forum but did not breach the systems where OpenAI creates and stores its AI tech. OpenAI executives disclosed the breach to their staff in April 2023 but did not make it public, as no sensitive customer or partner information was compromised.

French AI lab Kyutai introduced Moshi, a conversational AI assistant capable of natural interaction, at an event in Paris and plans to release it as open-source technology.

From Our Partner…

We Write, Design And Model Your Pitch Deck Into Storytelling Book

Deck don’t get you funded, they get you meeting. Without meeting you have no shot at getting funded. Investor meeting get you funded.

An investment associate gets 2000 decks in a year and they spend On average, 4 min on a deck. You have only few minutes to wow investors. But don’t worry

We are here to help you to create a pitch deck into storytelling book within 4-5 days that get investors attention.

Partnership With Us

Want to get your brand in front of 50,000+ founders, investors, executives, and startup operators? For details on our sponsorships, fill up this quick form or reply to this email as “Advertise” and we’ll get in touch.

Startup Funding Updates

FreeBnk, a Lithuania-based provider of a fintech app offering services for crypto investors, raised $3M in a combined equity and token funding. Backers included Founderheads, ChaiTech Ventures, LVT Capital, and Lavender Capital. More Here

HR Path, a Paris, France-based company which specializes in HR consulting, raised €500M in funding from Ardian. More Here

QED Protocol, a Hong Kong-based zk-native execution layer empowering the Web3 ecosystem emerging on Bitcoin, raised $6M in funding. The round was led by Blockchain Capital. More Here

Granza Bio, a San Francisco, CA-based therapeutic delivery platform developer, raised $7M+ in Seed funding. The round was led by Felicis and Refactor, with participation from Y Combinator, Metaplanet, Zeno Ventures, Ritual Capital, Pioneer Fund, Oxford Angel Fund, North South Ventures, Richard Aberman, JJ Fliegelman, Eric Migicovsky, Eric Eldon, Eli Brown, Eoghan Mccabe, Benjamin Bryant, Yotam Rosenbaum, Will Olsen and Joel Meyer. More Here

Venture Capital Updates

Seaya, a Madrid-based VC fund, has closed a €300 million climate tech fund called Seaya Andromeda, focusing on energy transition, decarbonization, sustainable food, and circular economy. The fund plans to make 25 investments by 2027, deploying between €7-40 million per initial check. This development aligns with the growth of Spain's tech ecosystem, which saw its startups' combined enterprise value surpass €100 billion in 2023. More Here

Forestay, a Geneva-based VC, has closed its second fund, Forestay Capital II, at $220 million, focusing on leading growth rounds for enterprise AI and SaaS startups in Europe and Israel. The fund targets Series B rounds of $10-15 million, with 13 companies backed to date, including three unicorns. More Here

J2 Ventures, a Boston-based VC firm led by U.S. military veterans, has raised a $150 million second fund, more than doubling its debut fund. The firm invests in startups whose products serve both civilian and U.S. Department of Defense markets, focusing on healthcare, cybersecurity, infrastructure, and advanced computing. More Here

Featured Article

The Buyer's Pyramid: Understanding Customer Readiness To Buy Your Product.

“Figuring out” your startup’s TAM is somewhat useless. Most of the time it’s made up (TAM - Totally Made-Up Number) or at least very generous, and everyone knows it. But the real sin about TAM is that it’s just one giant number.

Sure, you have SAM and SOM as well but those aren’t much better. They don’t tell you anything actionable like, for example, how ready to buy your market is.

The Buyer’s Pyramid does, though, and I’ve found it pretty helpful. It’s broken down into five states a potential customer can be in:

1. Buying / ready to buy

2. Open to buying

3. Not thinking about buying

4. Don’t think they’ll buy

5. Know they won’t buy

The numbers below are just arbitrary. What I like about the framework is that you can use different strategies for each distinct user group, track performance with simple tagging when potential customers are in your funnel, and audit whether you’re spending your time and money most effectively with sales and marketing.

Read more in our Venture Curator Newsletter.

Startup’s Latest Buzz

Acquisition & Going Public

CoinDCX, India's leading cryptocurrency exchange, has acquired BitOasis, a digital asset platform in the Middle East and North Africa. The acquisition allows CoinDCX to expand internationally, with BitOasis retaining its branding and leadership while its team joins CoinDCX. More Here

Layoffs & Bankruptcy

OpenText Corp plans to cut 1,200 jobs (1.7% of its workforce) as part of a business optimization plan, expecting to save C$150 million in 2025. The company will reinvest C$50 million annually in 800 new sales and engineering roles to support growth and innovation.

Startups & People

Fisker seeks court approval to sell 3,321 Ocean electric SUVs to American Lease for $46.25 million, or about $14,000 per car. The EV startup filed for bankruptcy last month after facing logistics issues and pivoting to a dealer-partner model. American Lease, which serves rideshare drivers in New York City, agreed to purchase the vehicles amid the city's mandate for zero-emission rideshare fleets by 2030.

Latest In Emerging Tech

Apple removed 25 VPN apps from its App Store in Russia at the request of state watchdog Roskomnadzor. This action follows increased demand for VPNs in Russia after the Ukraine invasion and social media restrictions. While some large VPNs were already blocked, others remained accessible until this recent removal.

The EU is set to issue a formal warning to X (formerly Twitter) for failing to combat dangerous content, potentially leading to fines of up to 6% of revenue. This follows an investigation launched in December, focusing on X's handling of content after the October 7 Hamas attacks. The warning is part of a broader EU crackdown on Big Tech under new digital regulations. X could face financial penalties if it doesn't address the EU's concerns. More Here

OpenAI launched the first official ChatGPT app for macOS, raising privacy concerns because conversations were initially stored in plain text. Developer Pedro Vieito revealed that the app did not use macOS sandboxing, making sensitive user data easily accessible to other apps or malware. OpenAI released an update after the concerns were publicized, which now encrypts chats on the Mac, urging users to update their app to the latest version.

Amazon will discontinue its Astro for Business robot security guard less than a year after its launch to concentrate on its home version of Astro. Astro for Business robots will stop functioning on September 25, and businesses affected by the shutdown will receive full refunds and a $300 credit for alternative solutions. Employees working on Astro for Business will transition to Amazon's consumer robotics division, which aims to enhance home robot technology using advancements in generative AI.

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.

• Break Into VC: Join Our VC Enthusiast slack Community to learn, network and craft path to venture capital.

How’s Today’s Coffee?

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