SoftBank Vision Fund co-CEO Misra to leave firm & Perplexity brings ads to its platform

☕ Good Wednesday Morning. Welcome to today's quick rundown in the Venture Daily Digest Newsletter.

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• The drama at SoftBank as Vision Fund's co-CEO exits,

• Amazon's bold challenge to Nvidia's AI dominance, and

• SpaceX's wild plan to wrap Mars in satellites!

• Plus, Perplexity's big ad play and

• Hollywood's next blockbuster starring... Sam Bankman-Fried?

Dive into fresh insights Peek behind Nvidia's $3.6T curtain and their bold startup bets, crack the ESOP code with Antler's latest playbook, and discover why smart money is hedging on multiple AI horses. Bonus: A veteran marketplace builder spills their secret sauce from Grubhub and Pinterest days. Hot VC and startup jobs just dropped - time to make your move!

🤝 The Most Emerging Startup You Can't Miss…

You know how finding reliable overseas talent can be a total nightmare? (Been there, done that, got the horror stories!) Well, A Team Overseas is doing something that made me go "Why didn't anyone think of this before?!"

Here's the tea: Most agencies are charging businesses a whopping $3K/month for virtual assistants but only paying them $700-800. Yikes! These folks looked at that system and said "Nope, we're doing better." They're connecting you with Executive Assistants who've crushed it at big agencies but were tired of getting the short end of the stick.

The best part? They're paying their EAs a fair $1,400/month (literally double!) while charging businesses just $2.5K. Math nerds, you're seeing this right - everyone wins!

But wait - it gets better. These aren't your typical "just tell me what to do" VAs. We're talking about pros who've managed complex projects, know how to think three steps ahead, and actually understand your business goals. The kind who'll message you saying "Hey, I noticed XYZ and here's how we can improve it" before you even spot the issue.

Look, I'm usually skeptical about these things (occupational hazard, sorry!), but this is legit changing the game for both businesses AND talent.

If you're drowning in tasks or tired of micromanaging overseas teams, you need to check this out.

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🗞️ Startup Funding Updates

11x, a San Francisco, CA-based company developing AI-powered digital workers services for revenue teams, raised $50M in Series B funding. The round was led by Andreessen Horowitz.

LocalStack, a Swiss startup founded in 2021, helps developers test AWS cloud applications locally by emulating cloud environments on their machines, reducing costs and latency issues. The company has raised $28M total ($3M seed from CRV and Heavybit + $25M Series A led by Notable Capital).

hotglue, a Washington D.C.-based B2B Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) provider of embedded integrations, raised $4m in seed funding. The round was led by 8VC, with participation from Y Combinator, Correlation Ventures, Wayfinder Ventures, and TDF Ventures.

Particle, backed by Lightspeed with $15.3M ($4.4M seed + $10.9M Series A), is an AI newsreader startup founded in 2023 by ex-Twitter execs Sara Beykpour and Marcel Molina that helps readers better understand news through AI-powered features and deep-dive capabilities while supporting publishers.

tozero, a Munich, Germany-based sustainable lithium-ion battery recycling company, raised €11M in Seed funding. The round was led by NordicNinja, with participation from In-Q-Tel (IQT), JGC Group and existing investors including Atlantic Labs, Verve Ventures and Possible Ventures.

Akave, a Wilmington, DE-based company providing Filecoin Layer 2, a decentralized data management network, raised $3.4M in Pre-Seed funding. The round was led by Protocol Labs, Blockchange.Ventures, Lightshift, and Blockchain Builders Fund.

Zengines, a Boston, MA-based provider of AI-based data management software, raised $9M in funding. The round was led by Hyde Park Venture Partners.

Fort Health, a NYC-based in-network, virtual, pediatric mental health company, raised $5.5M in funiding. The round, which brought the total amount to $16M, was led by Twelve Below and Vanterra.

ScaleOps, a NYC-based real-time automated cloud resource management company, raised $58M in Series B funding. The round was led by Lightspeed Venture Partners, with participation from returning investors NFX and Glilot Capital Partners, and new investor Picture Capital.

Prokeep, a New Orleans, LA-based provider of a customer communication and engagement platform for distributors, raised $25M in Series A funding. The round was led by Dahlia Equity Partners with participation from Ironspring Ventures, S3 Ventures, Benson Capital Partners, and others.

Vatn Systems, a Portsmouth, RI-based defense technology company building autonomous underwater vehicles for the US military and allies, raised $13M in Seed funding. The round, which brought the total amount to $16.5M, was led by DYNE Ventures with participation from Lockheed Martin Ventures, RTX Ventures, In-Q-Tel (IQT), Propeller Ventures, SAIC Ventures, Cubit Capital, Fortitude Ventures and existing investors that included Centre Street Partners, The Veteran Fund, Blue Collective, and Decisive Point.

Shiru, a Berkeley, CA-based AI-powered ingredient discovery company, $16M in funding. The round was led by S2G Ventures, with participation from CPT Capital, Lux Capital, Nourish Ventures, and Meach Cove Capital.

Alison.ai, a Delaware-based company which specializes in creative AI solutions for advertising, raised $13.3M in Seed funding. The round was led by Almaz Capital, with participation from Foresight Group, Cardumen Capital, Crescendo Venture Partners, and Alumni Ventures.

BetHog, a NYC-based cryptocurrency casino and sportsbook, raised $6M in Seed funding. The round was led by 6MV with participation from Will Ventures, Bullpen Capital, Karatage, Advancit Capital, and angel investors including Chris Grove, Partner Emeritus at Eilers & Krejcik, LLC and Josh Hannah, co-founder of Flutter Entertainment.

myBiometry, a Lowell, MA-based asthma and COPD diagnostic and remote monitoring company, raised $5M in Seed Funding. The round was led by Dexcom Ventures, with participation from CareSource Indiana, and Elevate Ventures.

Helix Earth Technologies, a Houston, TX-based hardware company providing clean tech solutions, raised $5.6M in Seed funding. The round was led by Veriten, with participation from Anthropocene Ventures, Semilla Capital, and others including individual investors from venture capital and private equity firms.

Fastino, a Palo Alto, CA-based new foundation AI model provider, raised $7M in Pre-Seed funding. The round was led by Insight Partners and M12, Microsoft’s Venture Fund, with participation from NEA, Valor, Github CEO Thomas Dohmke, and others.

HappyPath, a NYC-based startup that helps companies deliver products faster through comprehensive automated testing, raised $4M in Angel funding. Backers were not disclosed.

Ennoventure, a Cambridge, MA-based company providing AI-powered brand protection and authentication solutions, raised $8.9M in Series A funding. The round was led by Tanglin Venture Partners, with participation from existing investors including Fenice Investment Group and additional SAFE investors.

PointFive, a NYC-based provider of a cloud cost optimization platform, raised $20M in Series A funding. The round was led by Salesforce Ventures, with participation from all existing investors including Index Ventures, Entree Capital, Sheva VC, and Vesey Ventures.

Salesfire, a Middlesbrough, UK-based company providing a platform that helps e-commerce stores to increase sales, raised £2.75M in funding from NPIF II – Mercia Equity Finance.

Ooodles, a London, UK-based provider of an IT procurement platform for businesses, raised $2.5M in extension funding. Backers included āltitude VC, with participation from existing investors and Traditum.

In Parallel, a Helsinki, Finland-based provider of a proprietary AI-powered intelligent operating model for businesses and management teams, raised €2.8M in Seed funding. The round was led by Lifeline Ventures, with participation from Notion Capital.

MintNeuro, a London, UK-based company developing low-power semiconductor technology for minimally-invasive neural implant applications, raised £1M in funding. The round was led by Empirical Ventures with participation from Parkwalk Advisors (through the Imperial College Enterprise Fund), Imperial College London, Plug & Play, Excellis Holding, and other angel investors.

Connecty AI, a San Francisco, CA-based company offering enterprise data agents, raised $1.8M in Pre-Seed funding. The round was led by Market One Capital, with participation from Notion Capital, Marcin Zukowski, and Maciej Zawadzinski.

📰 Venture Capital Updates

Altos Ventures, a Silicon Valley venture capital firm founded 28 years ago, specializes in enterprise and consumer software investments with focus on SaaS, consumer and mobile technologies, serving as first institutional investor for high-growth founders. The firm has just secured $500M for their latest fund (their largest to date) and manages over $7B in assets across 15+ funds through Altos Ventures, Altos Hybrid, and Altos Korea Opportunitious Fund vehicles.

Rajeev Misra, co-CEO of SoftBank Vision Fund and former Deutsche Bank executive, is stepping down from his leadership roles at SoftBank's technology investment vehicles (SoftBank Investment Advisers and SoftBank Global Advisers). After a 10-year tenure managing the $100B Vision Fund through its rise and fall, Misra launched One Investment Management in 2022 with $6.8B backing from Abu Dhabi, while Alex Clavel will now lead as sole CEO of both SoftBank investment units.

🤖 Latest In Tech

Perplexity, an AI-powered search engine serving 100M queries weekly, is launching its first ad program in the US with "sponsored follow-up questions" featuring partners like Indeed, Whole Foods, Universal McCann, and PMG. The company, reportedly raising $500M at a $9B valuation, aims to create a sustainable revenue stream beyond its Pro subscription service ($20/month) while maintaining unbiased AI-generated answers.

Amazon plans to introduce its latest AI chips, aiming to decrease reliance on Nvidia as part of its multibillion-dollar investments in semiconductors. Developed by Annapurna Labs, these new chips, such as Trainium 2, are intended to enhance the efficiency of Amazon's data centers and reduce AWS customer costs. Amazon’s AI chips are already in testing with companies like Anthropic, with the goal of challenging Nvidia's leading position in the AI processor market.

🪄 Other News

Lena Dunham is partnering with Apple and A24 to adapt Michael Lewis' book "Going Infinite: The Rise and Fall of a New Tycoon" into a film about Sam Bankman-Fried and FTX's collapse. The project, for which Dunham will write the script, follows the story of the cryptocurrency exchange's founder who was indicted for money laundering and fraud after FTX's spectacular downfall in 2022. Amazon and another unnamed streamer are also developing their own limited series about the controversial crypto figure.

YouTube is expanding its AI music features by allowing select US creators to remix tracks through prompts, following its Dream Track feature launched in November 2023 that enabled AI-generated songs with popular artists' vocals. The platform's new "Restyle a track" option lets creators modify eligible songs into 30-second Shorts snippets, with proper attribution and AI modification labels.

SpaceX is planning to create a Mars satellite network called the Marslink constellation, inspired by its Starlink system on Earth, and has proposed this idea to NASA. The Marslink network aims to provide seamless communication between Earth and Mars by using Starlink's laser technology, enabling data speeds of 4Mbps or more across the vast distance. This initiative aligns with SpaceX's broader goals for Mars colonization, offering real-time data exchange to support Mars missions, while NASA explores other partnerships with companies like Blue Origin and Lockheed Martin.

OpenAI co-founder Greg Brockman has returned to the company after a three-month leave, announcing on X platform, "longest vacation of my life complete."

🧐 In-Depth Insights

• All of Nvidia’s investments CB Insights has shared that Nvidia, now the world's most valuable company ($3.6T), is ramping up startup investments in 2024 with larger deals than previous years, focusing mainly on market-ready industrial tech companies in autonomous vehicles, 3D printing, and robotics.

• Create a Successful ESOP Plan for Your Early-Stage Startup. Recently in Venture Curator newsletter we have shared Antler’s framework to build ESOP plan for your startup.

• VCs Hedging Their Bets on Competing LLMs. Venture capital firms are diversifying by backing multiple large language model startups, hedging their bets in a race for dominance in AI-driven technology.

• Building a Scalable Marketplace: Lessons from Grubhub and Pinterest. Marketplace growth expert shares dos and don’ts for scaling a platform, drawing on experiences with Grubhub, Pinterest, and more.

📬 Venture Daily Digest Picks

• All-In-One Guide To Pitch Deck Storytelling - Free Template & Curated Resources. (Read)

• Y-Combinator startup timeline. (Read)

• When to hire VP of Sales for your startup? (Read)

• Why it's important to meet investors when you aren’t fundraising, as a founder? (Read)

• VCs Would Rather Discuss Founder Mode Than Fix Their Fee Structure. (Read)

• Clouded Judgement 10.25.24 - Misaligned Incentives. (Read)

• Y Combinator Tips: Avoid These Startup Ideas. (Read)

• Track LTV & CACD, Not LTV/CAC Ratio - Here's Why? (Read)

💼 Today’s VC & Startup Job Opportunities

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• WORKING STUDENT Venture Capital - Venture Star | Germany - Apply Here

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• Investment Principal - K3 Venture | Singapore - Apply Here

RESOURCES

• Early Stage Startup Financial Model Template For Fundraising (Access Here)

• 2700+ US Angel Investors & VC Firms Contact Database (Email + LinkedIn Link) (Access Here)

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