SoftBank Leads $1 Billion Funding For Self Driving Startup & Microsoft Building It's LLM Model, MAI-1

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👋 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! Today’s major updates include -

• Wayve, a U.K. startup developing self-learning autonomous driving technology, raised $1.05 billion in Series C funding led by SoftBank.

• Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak's space data startup Privateer has raised $56.5 million.

• DocuSign is acquiring contract workflow automation startup Lexion for $165 million.

• Amazon plans to invest S$12 billion ($8.88 billion) over the next four years to expand its cloud computing infrastructure in Singapore.

• Microsoft’s consumer AI group has started training a new large language model codenamed MAI-1 to compete with Google, Anthropic & Open AI.

• Featured Article : Sam Altman ‘Don't Run Toward Ideas Where There Is Oversupply of Founder Relative To Market Demand.’

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STARTUP FUNDING UPDATES

Wayve, a U.K. startup developing self-learning autonomous driving technology, raised $1.05 billion in Series C funding led by SoftBank. Nvidia and Microsoft also participated in the round. The funding will be used to develop Wayve's "Embodied AI" platform for assisted and fully automated driving, expanding globally. More Here

Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak's space data startup Privateer has raised $56.5 million in Series A funding led by Aero X Ventures, with investors like Luxe Capital, Boca, Starburst, and the Winklevoss twins, and also acquired analytics firm Orbital Insight, merging their satellite tracking software and Earth observation/mapping intelligence services.

Orange, Inc., a Tokyo, Japan-based manga localization technology company, raised JPY 2.92 billion (approximately USD 19.5m ) in pre-series A financing. The round was led by Shogakukan, Globis Capital Partners, ANRI, SBI Investment, JIC Venture Growth Investments, Miyako Capital, Chiba Dojo Fund, Mizuho Capital, Mitsubishi UFJ Capital, and GFR Fund. More Here

Zanskar Geothermal & Minerals, a Salt Lake City, UT-based geothermal exploration company, closed a $30M funding round. The round was led by Obvious Ventures with participation from previous investors such as Munich Re Ventures, Union Square Ventures, Lowercarbon Capital, Safar Partners, and First Star Ventures, as well as newcomer Clearvision Ventures. More Here

OverT Bio, a NYC-based data-driven company working to enable the curative potential of cell therapies in solid tumors, raised $16M in Seed funding. The round was led by ARTIS Ventures and Wing VC, with participation from Fusion Fund, OMX Ventures, Alexandria Venture Investments, Gaingels, Civilization Ventures, Hawktail, and Cancer Research Institute. More Here

Flossy, a Los Angeles, CA-based dental care company, raised an undisclosed amount in funding. The round was led by Forecast Labs, with participation from current investors TTV Capital, The Family Fund and B Capital. More Here

Opmed.ai, a Boston, MA-based provider of an AI optimization platform for healthcare, raised $15M in Series A funding. The round was led by NFX and Grove Ventures, with participation from Secret Chord Ventures, the Impact investor Sir Ronald Cohen, and Unbox Ventures. More Here

Nanochon, a Washington, DC-based orthopedic device biotech company, raised $4 in its series seed prime fundraising round. The round was led by The University of Virginia Licensing and Ventures Group Seed Fund, with participation from Cultivate (MD), Alumni Venture Group, and Mountain State Capital, among others. More Here

Alphastream, a NYC-based company which specializes in private credit analysis, raised an undisclosed amount in Seed funding. Motive Ventures made the investment. More Here

GoMining, a remote infrastructure company providing access to Bitcoin mining through its Liquid Bitcoin Hashrate protocol, raised $3M from Bitscale Capital. More Here

Anetac, a Los Altos, CA-based startup protecting companies from blind spots of service accounts in hybrid environments, raised $16M in funding. The round was led by Liberty Global with participation from Shield Capital, GP Ventures, Anetac CEO Tim Eades and Jason Witty. More Here

Allegria Therapeutics, a Basel, Switzerland-based company focused on advancing a pipeline of therapeutics for mast cell-mediated diseases, raised USD 3.5M in Seed funding. Forty51 Ventures made the investment. More Here

Stella Automative AI, a Tampa, FL-based provider of automotive artificial intelligence technology, raised $19.7M in Series A funding. The raise included both newly invested capital and outstanding convertible notes that converted into this Series A issuance. Backers included Reynolds and Reynolds, Qvale Auto Group, OREMOR Automotive Group, Mills Automotive Group, Bowers Automotive Group, MileOne Autogroup, Flow Automotive, MBB Auto Group, Ford Family Investments and West Herr Auto Group. More Here

Mr. Winston, a Tilburg, the Netherlands-based provider of a hospitality POS system, raised €600K in funding. Backers included angel investors, including Collin Crowdfund CEO Jeroen ter Huurne. More Here

VENTURE CAPITAL UPDATES

Palm Beach Capital (PBC), a West Palm Beach, Fl-based middle market private equity firm, closed its sixth fund, at over $350M, surpassing its target of $275M. Fund VI’s broad and global investor base included diversified financial institutions, insurance companies, pension funds, foundations, endowments, consultants, funds of funds, and institutional family offices. More Here

FEATURED ARTICLE

Sam Altman ‘Don't Run Toward Ideas Where There Is Oversupply of Founder Relative To Market Demand.’

“If You Want To Build A Really Big Company, Start A Hard Company.

It's easier to build a hard company than an easy one. If you're building a photo-sharing app, nobody bothers.

But if you're building flying cars, supersonic airplanes or nuclear power startups people proactively want to help you for free because they want to be a part of this interesting thing.

And if you want to build a really big company, you have to convince people to - come work with you, pay attention to you, write press articles about you, advise you and care about you.

Let the vision do the convincing. And if you observe investors will bet on the hard one.

Do you want the example of the above case? - Elon Musk! Everyone wants to see Elon be successful in his businesses - SpaceX, Neuralink, Tesla & others." Read More Here

STARTUP’S LATEST BUZZ

ACQUISITION & EXITS

DocuSign (now preferring Docusign styling) is acquiring contract workflow automation startup Lexion for $165 million as it bolsters its contract management capabilities. This acquisition comes amid reports that DocuSign is exploring a sale to private equity firms like Bain and Hellman & Friedman, potentially one of the biggest leveraged buyouts of 2024. More Here

Hexaware Technologies, a Mumbai, India-based leading global provider of digital solutions, acquired Softcrylic, a Minneapolis, MN-based data consulting firm. More Here

Shutterstock (NYSE: SSTK), a NYC-based provider of a platform offering content for brands, digital media and marketing companies, acquired Envato Pty Ltd., a Melbourne, Australia-based company which specializes in digital creative assets and templates, for $245m. More Here

ISSQUARED Inc., a Westlake Village, CA-based IT and cybersecurity solutions provider for businesses ranging from SMBs to Fortune 500, acquired CCT Technologies, also known as ComputerLand Silicon Valley, a San Jose, California-based company that delivers high-quality IT solutions to government, higher education and commercial clients. More Here

LAYOFFS & BANKRUPTCY

Tesla has launched another round of layoffs, including staff from software, service, and engineering departments, as reported by Electrek. This comes after the company disbanded its EV charging department and announced plans to reduce its global workforce by over 10% last month. Tesla faces pressure from dropping sales and an intensifying EV price war amid higher interest rates.

STARTUPS & PEOPLE

Bluesky's most prominent backer, Jack Dorsey, has left its board without explanation. Dorsey first announced the decentralized social network project in 2019 while CEO of Twitter. Despite Dorsey's departure, Bluesky assures it remains committed to building an open social network where users control their experience. More Here

LATEST IN EMERGING TECH

Amazon plans to invest S$12 billion ($8.88 billion) over the next four years to expand its cloud computing infrastructure in Singapore through Amazon Web Services (AWS). This adds to AWS' existing S$11.5 billion investment in the Asia Pacific region until 2023, totaling over S$23 billion by 2028. More Here

A patent infringement case against Apple's blood oxygen technology has resulted in a ban on selling the latest Apple Watch Series 9 and Ultra 2 models in the US. More Here

Microsoft is building a large AI model that could rival OpenAI. The Information reports that Microsoft’s consumer AI group has started training a new large language model codenamed MAI-1. It will have “roughly 500 billion parameters,” according to the report, which frames it as a model that could compete with Google, Anthropic, and Microsoft’s marquee investment, OpenAI.

ESSENTIAL READS

• How Investors Secretly Tell Founders They’re Not Interested? Read Here

• Learn From VC: “5 Steps Framework To Determine Your Startup Valuation” Read Here

• How to Split Equity between Cofounders & When You Should (and Shouldn’t) Split Equity Evenly? Read Here

• Paul Graham: Are You Building Fake Product-Market Fit ? Read Here

HOW CAN I HELP YOU?

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• Get Your MVP In 15 Days: Have an Idea? Turn your idea into Reality. Move fast before your competitors.

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

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