VC Daily Digest - 03/11/2023

📮Today’s Major News

• SpaceX's Starlink Ready For Public Debut

• This Robotics Startups got Funding From All Unicorn Founders

• Booming VC Funding In African Startups

• FTX Founder Guilty - Sentence Of 115 Year In Prison

Former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried has been found guilty on all seven counts, including fraud and money laundering, related to a scheme involving misappropriation of over $8 billion in customer funds. Following a five-week trial, he faces a possible sentence of 115 years in prison, with sentencing determined by a judge within 90 days of the verdict…….

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💰 Massive Fundings Updates

Matic, formerly known as Matician, is developing robots that can navigate homes to clean more like a human, it has raised $29.5 million, inclusive of a $24 million Series A led by a who’s who of tech luminaries, including GitHub co-founder Nat Friedman, Stripe co-founders John and Patrick Collison, Quora CEO Adam D’Angelo and Twitter co-founder and Block CEO Jack Dorsey. More Here

Payroll Integrations, the San Diego-based company aims to provide ways for employers to support their employees’ financial wellness. It has raised $20 million in Series A funding, led by growth equity firm Arthur Ventures, for that growth and approach. More Here

Charm is a four-year-old company founded by former Apple setting out to transform the command line interface (CLI) into something a little more fitting for the modern age. Charm had previously raised around $4 million in funding spread across various angel and seed rounds, and now the company is adding a further $6 million to its coffers, with Google’s VC fund Gradient Ventures leading the charge, supported by Cavalry Ventures, Fuel Capital, Firestreak, and a slew of angel backers. More Here

Dashtoon, the San Francisco and London-based startup wants to make anyone with a story to tell into a comic-artist, even if they can’t draw. announced today it has raised $5 million in seed funding led by Matrix Partners India and Stellaris Venture Partners with participation from angel investors. More Here

Flavrs, an iOS app that lets foodies discover recipes and then shop for ingredients, is introducing a new takeout feature and AI-powered recommendation systems thanks to a custom integration with OpenAI. The startup has raised $7 million in seed funding from Andreessen Horowitz, Wellington Access Ventures and celebrity chefs. More Here

Factory that aims to use AI to automate the software dev lifecycle, closed a $5 million seed round co-led by Sequoia and Lux with participation from SV Angel, BoxGroup, DataBricks CEO Ali Ghodsi, Hugging Face co-founder Clem Delangue and others. More Here

AirLoom, a nontraditional form of wind power, and naturally, it seeks to fill the gaps Rickner listed while also bringing the price down significantly. It has raised $4 million seed round. The round was led by Breakthrough Energy Ventures and saw participation from Lowercarbon Capital, MCJ Collective and others. More Here

Govly, a platform allows companies to assess, search for and analyze government contract requirements across disparate sources. Backed by Y Combinator, Govly recently closed a $9.5 million Series A round led by Insight Partners that valued the startup at $41 million post-money. More Here

Xage Security, a startup providing software to thwart network intrusions, it raised $20 million in a B2 funding round that brings the company’s total raised to $80 million. Piva Capital, March Capital, SCF Partners, Overture Climate Fund, Valor Equity Partners, Chevron Technology Ventures and Science Applications International Corporation participated in Xage’s B2. More Here

Cedar, A Austin based startup is targeting real estate developers with some software to reduce the cost and time it takes them to source and evaluate new housing projects. It has raised $3 million in seed funding. The round was led by Caffeinated Capital and included participation from developer Tishman Speyer, Kojo CEO Maria Davidson, David Rubenstein via Shorewind Capital and Alumni Ventures. More Here

Agentio, the New York-based startup is building a platform for creators to sell ad slots to brands. The startup has raised $4.25 million in seed investment funding co-led by Craft Ventures and AlleyCorp, with participation from additional institutional investors including Antler, Protagonist and Permanent Capital. More Here

🚀 Venture Capital Highlights

Norrsken22, a Pan-African growth-stage investment venture capital firm, close of its debut fund, raising a total of $205 million. Approximately 59% of the funding came from a consortium of 30 unicorn founders globally, including Flutterwave CEO Olugbenga Agboola, Skype co-founder Niklas Zennström, iZettle co-founder Jacob de Geer, and Delivery Hero co-founder Niklas Östberg. More Here

Japan’s SBI Holdings commits $40M to anchor Novastar Ventures’ future funds: SBI Holdings, a Japanese financial services conglomerate and one of the largest venture capital firms in the East Asian country, has made a $40 million multifund commitment to anchor Pan-African VC firm Novastar Ventures’ future funds. The commitment is the first direct investment by the Tokyo Stock Exchange–listed company into a VC in Africa. More Here

New York-based venture firm ex/ante, backed by former Google CEO Eric Schmidt's philanthropic venture arm, has secured $33 million in capital to invest in startups focusing on "agentic tech," which pertains to human agency and digital rights. The firm, spun out of Schmidt Futures, plans to fund pre-seed and seed stage companies in this domain, aiming to address critical issues in the digital age. More Here

💡 Startups Snap: The Latest Buzz

Former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried has been found guilty on all seven counts, including fraud and money laundering, related to a scheme involving misappropriation of over $8 billion in customer funds. Following a five-week trial, he faces a possible sentence of 115 years in prison, with sentencing determined by a judge within 90 days of the verdict. More Here

SpaceX's Starlink, Plans For Public Debut: SpaceX CEO Elon Musk announced that Starlink, the company's satellite internet unit, has achieved cash flow breakeven and plans to go public once its cash flow is predictable. Starlink, with around 5,000 satellites in low-Earth orbit, is now the world's largest satellite operator, providing essential communications support in conflict zones like Ukraine and Gaza. The unit aims to fund SpaceX's ambitious projects, including the development of the next-generation Starship rocket for NASA missions. More Here

Unicorn Boom, Decade of Billion-Dollar Startups: The unicorn boom saw a surge in billion-dollar startups from 2015 to 2021, with peak exits in 2021 totaling $965.94 billion. The USA dominates with the most unicorns, followed closely by New York and global cities like Beijing and Shanghai. Despite a slowdown, unicorn creation will continue, fluctuating with venture capital trends and technological advancements. More Here

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🤖 The Latest In Emerging Tech: AI

UK Launches AI Safety Institute: The UK has officially launched the AI Safety Institute, led by investor Ian Hogarth and renowned AI expert Yoshua Bengio, to test the safety of emerging AI technologies. This move aims to foster global collaboration on assessing risks associated with "frontier AI" technologies. The UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak emphasized the need for international cooperation while also stating it's too early for regulations due to the rapid pace of AI development. More Here

🗞️ Today’s Must Read On: Startup, Technology & VC

• 3 Things Founders Should Prioritize Early to Ensure a Successful Exit Read More (Venture Capital)

• Strategies for Startups to Outmaneuver Competition in a Turning Economy Read More (Startups & Venture Capital)

• How Much Should Quotas Increase Next Year? Read More (startups & technology)

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✍️Written By Sahil R | Venture Crew Team

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