Tesla Set To Layoff 30000 employees. & Microsoft-backed Rubrik Launches $5.4B Valued IPO

  Advertise || Join The Community

👋 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 -

• Tesla employees are reportedly concerned about the layoffs of about 30000 workers (20% of workforce).

• Rubrik, backed by Microsoft, aims to raise $713 million in its IPO, valuing the cybersecurity firm at $5.4 billion.

• Meta is testing its AI chatbot, Meta AI, on its WhatsApp, Instagram, and Messenger platforms in India and parts of Africa.

• Salesforce is in advanced talks to acquire Informatica, a data-management software provider.

• AlleyCorp, the New York startup studio and investment firm led by longtime investor-entrepreneur Kevin Ryan, has closed a new, $250 million fund.

• Featured Article : How to Not Ask VC’s for Money?

IN PARTNERSHIP WITH SIMPLE AI

Discover AI's Magic: Simplified for All by Dharmesh Shah, HubSpot's Co-founder & CTO

Explore the wonders of AI with Simple.ai!

Join Dharmesh Shah, HubSpot's Co-founder & CTO, as he simplifies complex AI concepts into easy-to-grasp insights.

→ Get ready to uncover the magic of AI with Simple AI!

PARTNERSHIP WITH US

Want to get your brand in front of thousands 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

Akad Seguros, a São Paulo, Brazil-based digital insurance company, raised US$22.5M in Series A funding. The round was led by Valor Capital Group with participation from Across, Endeavor Scale-Up Ventures, Endeavor Catalyst and Actyus. More Here

CleanFiber, US based startup aims to turn millions of tons of cardboard boxes into insulation. It has raised $28 million in a Series B funding round led by Spring Lane Capital. More Here

Bored Slot, a real live slots gaming venture by Sunrise, Florida-based Spin City, raised $10m in funding. Backers included Plutus VC and LD Capital. More Here

Mimo, a one-year-old London startup that helps SMBs manage incoming and outgoing payments, integrating features like credit to improve cash flow management, raised a $19.5 million round led by Northzone, with Cocoa Ventures, Seedcamp, and Upfin VC also taking part. More Here

Knostic, a Reston, VA- and Tel Aviv, Israel-based provider of need-to-know access controls for Generative AI, raised 3.3m in Pre-Seed funding. Backers included Shield Capital, Pitango First, DNX Ventures, and Seedcamp, as well as angel investors Kevin Mahaffey(Lookout), David Cross (Rain Capital), Bryson Bort (SCYTHE), Travis McPeak (Resourcely), Matthew Honea (Forward Networks), and others. More Here

Spiber, a Tsuruoka, Japan-based biomanufacturing startup, raised over JPY 10 Billion in funding from undisclosed investors. More Here

E Tech Group, a West Chester, OH-based automation system integrator, received a strategic undisclosed investment from Graham Partners. More Here

Dark Watch, a San Francisco, CA-based risk intelligence platform, received an undisclosed amount of venture capital funding. More Here

Trident IoT, a Carlsbad, CA-based silicon provider and RF technology company focused on decreasing time-to-market for connected device manufacturers, raised $10m in funding. The round was led by Todd Pedersen, entrepreneur and founder of Vivint and Vivint Solar, who will join the Trident IoT Board of Directors. More Here

Auradine, a Santa Clara, CA-based provider of web infrastructure solutions, including blockchain, security, and AI, raised $80M in Series B funding. Backers included StepStone Group, Top Tier Capital Partners, MVP Ventures, and Maverick Capital. Existing investors Celesta Capital, Mayfield Fund, and Marathon Digital also participated. More Here

Anrok, a San Francisco, CA-based provider of a sales tax platform for software companies, raises $30M in Series B funding. The round was led by Khosla Ventures, with participation from Sequoia Capital, Index Ventures, and others including Karen Peacock, former CEO of Intercom, David Faugno, former CFO of Qualtrics and current president of 1Password, Alex Estevez, former CFO of Atlassian, and Elad Gil. More Here

Captura, a Pasadena, CA-based direct ocean capture company, expanded its Series A to a total of US$45.3. New backers included National Grid Partners and Japan Airlines Innovation Fund/Translink Capital. More Here

Onum, a Madrid, Spain-based control data, cost, and performance company, raised $28M in Series A funding. The round was led by Dawn Capital, with participation from Kibo Ventures and Insight Partners. More Here

Writ, a San Francisco, C-based startup that enables companies to use data to make decisions, raised $3.8M in Seed funding. The round was led by Gradient Ventures, with participation from Defy.vc, High Alpha, Toba Capital, and numerous angels. More Here

VENTURE CAPITAL UPDATES

Underscore, a 10-year-old, Boston-based venture firm, has closed its third fund with $58 million in capital commitments. More Here

AlleyCorp, the New York startup studio and investment firm led by longtime investor-entrepreneur Kevin Ryan, has closed a new, $250 million fund that includes outside limited partners -- all of them family offices -- for the first time. More Here

Synapses, Indian based VC launch of a $125 million fund to identify and support STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics)-based solutions for climate change and health. More Here

Cendana Capital and Kline Hill Partners launch a $105 million fund targeting secondary interests in seed-stage venture firms and startups, leveraging the current buyer's market for illiquid positions. This strategic partnership aims to capitalize on discounted opportunities in the wake of overvalued early-stage investments amidst the prolonged lack of IPOs. With traditional secondary investors also eyeing venture stakes, this initiative stands out for its focus on smaller, seed-stage opportunities. More Here

FEATURED ARTICLE

How to Not Ask VC’s for Money?

When an investor asks you why you need to raise money, the worst thing you can reply with is that it’s to extend your runway.

Many founders make this mistake... Remember - Investors care about growth and having a clear set of milestones you think you can hit. They see a lot of opportunities, and the most exciting ones are fires that are already growing that they can throw gasoline on top of.

This is similar to how your customer doesn’t care about your product, they care about the benefit or transformation your product provides for them.

Show them an opportunity that’s growing quickly but could grow faster with some help, rather than one that needs more money to survive a little longer in the hopes of striking gold.

The best way to pitch to investors when they ask, is to say something like ..…Read More Here

STARTUP’S LATEST BUZZ

ACQUISITION & EXITS

Noname Security, a cybersecurity startup protecting APIs, is in advanced talks to be acquired by Akamai Technologies for $500 million, a significant discount from its $1 billion valuation in 2021. More Here

Salesforce, the San Francisco-based maker of customer relationship software, is in advanced talks to acquire data-management software provider Informatica, according to the WSJ. Informatica, also based in the Bay Area, has a market cap of more than $11 billion after a 43% run-up in its shares this year as traders bet on a deal. The acquisition, should it happen, would be among Saleforce's largest to date. More Here

LAYOFFS & BANKRUPTCY

Tesla employees are reportedly concerned about potential large-scale layoffs, with rumors suggesting the company could announce job cuts as soon as this week, potentially affecting up to 20% of the workforce around 30000 workers. The reports come as Tesla faces declining global EV demand and sales, leading the company to lower production targets and make other adjustments to its operations. More Here

Genentech and four other companies in San Francisco and the north Peninsula are together laying off 790 workers and four of them are shutting down at least some of their operations. More Here

STARTUPS & PEOPLE

Online ticketing platform StubHub is eyeing a summer IPO at a $16.5 billion valuation despite carrying more than $2 billion in debt. More Here

CVC Capital Partners, a global buyout firm, is set to launch an IPO on the Amsterdam stock exchange, targeting a valuation of up to $16 billion. More Here

Cybersecurity firm Rubrik, backed by Microsoft, is aiming to raise up to $713 million in its initial public offering, with a planned share price range of $28 to $31 per share, which would value the company at around $5.4 billion. More Here

Shakeeb Ahmed, a former cybersecurity engineer, was sentenced to three years in prison for stealing around $12 million in cryptocurrency by hacking into two crypto exchanges, Crema Finance and Nirvana Finance. Despite Ahmed's attempt to return the stolen funds in exchange for a "finder's fee," the court rejected this and sentenced him to prison, as well as ordered him to forfeit the stolen funds and pay restitution. More Here

Tesla has slashed the price of its Full Self Driving (FSD) autonomous driving software from $199 a month to $99 per month despite CEO Elon Musk's previous claims that the price of FSD would only go up. More Here

LATEST IN EMERGING TECH

Vana, a startup, is building a platform that allows users to pool their personal data, including chats, speech recordings, and photos, to be used for training generative AI models. The company aims to give users more control over their data and enable them to profit from its use, including through a Reddit Data DAO that allows users to collectively decide how their Reddit data is licensed to AI companies. More Here

Meta is testing its AI chatbot, Meta AI, on its WhatsApp, Instagram, and Messenger platforms in India and parts of Africa, aiming to leverage its massive user bases across these apps to scale its AI offerings. More Here

Apple has firmly denied Epic Games' allegations of violating a court order regarding its App Store practices, urging the judge to reject Epic's request to hold Apple in contempt. The dispute stems from a lawsuit filed by Epic Games in 2020, accusing Apple of antitrust violations due to its control over the App Store ecosystem, with both sides continuing to argue their positions in court. More Here

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.

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

  Advertise || Join The Community