VC Daily Digest - 06/12/2023

📮Today’s Major News

🤗 Build Your MVP 🤝 Advertise 👉 Follow Us 

• Boston based VC Firm Shutting Down After Raising $570M

• Elon Musk Raising $1B For New AI Startup

• Facebook & Instagram May Extinct If not Match ChatGPT

• Fintech Startup Once Valued at $450M Shutting Down

• Featured Tweet: How To Identify Emerging Markets? By Elad Gill

Yesterday’s Poll 👇

We are in the process of Renaming This Newsletter (From VC Daily Digest) and with your yesterday’s response still confused between Venture Daily Digest & Venture Briefing… Here we go one more time between two names -

Once Again Between - Venture Daily Digest & Venture Briefing

🤝 In Partnership With AI Tool Report Partner

Learn AI In 5 Minutes A Day! 💡

AI Tool Report Partner is the daily newsletter that shares use cases of new AI tools with examples in a simple manner!

👉 Join Now!

💰 Massive Fundings Updates

Elon Musk aims to raise $1 billion for his AI company, xAI, having secured $135 million from four investors so far, according to an SEC filing. xAI is developing Grok, a rival to OpenAI's ChatGPT, designed to answer unconventional questions with a "rebellious streak." Musk, critical of OpenAI and its recent CEO changes, plans to differentiate Grok by incorporating real-time knowledge updates but faces the challenge of reassuring potential investors about X's management. More Here

Cubic Telecom, Dublin-based startup which provides a software-based networking solution for vehicles (and other devices) to link up with mobile networks in whichever country they happen to be, has picked up €473 million ($513 million) from SoftBank Corp. SoftBank is taking a 51% stake in the , valuing it at just over $1 billion (€927 million). More Here

Mine, An Israeli startup building a tool designed for consumers to quickly run an audit of their data privacy situation. the company is announcing $30 million in Series B funding to continue its growth. Battery Ventures and PayPal Ventures are co-leading this round, with participation also from Nationwide Ventures (from the insurance giant) and all its previous backers, including Saban Ventures, Gradient Ventures (Google’s AI fund), MassMutual Ventures and Headline Ventures. More Here

Beeper, which had been working on a multi-platform messaging aggregator, is launching a new app called Beeper Mini which will allow Android users to send and receive end-to-end encrypted iMessage. It has raised $16 million Series A, led by Garry Tan of Initialized Capital, now president and CEO at Y Combinator. Other backers include SV Angel, Samsung Next, Liquid2 Ventures, Niv Dror from Shrug Capital, Kevin Mahaffey and others. More Here

Kyron Learning, an AI-based learning startup, announced today its $14.6 million Series A funding round plus an $850,000 grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. More Here

Seismic Therapeutic, a startup based in Cambridge, Ma., that uses machine learning to develop new drugs for autoimmune diseases, raised a $121 million Series B round led by Bessemer Venture Partners, with Amgen Ventures, Codon Capital, Alexandria Venture Investments, Gaingels, and GC&H as well as previous investors Lightspeed Venture Partners, Polaris Partners, Boxer Capital, GV, and Samsara BioCapital also piling on. The company has raised a total of $222 million. More Here

Foretellix, which builds verification and validation solutions to test the full range of driver assistance and autonomous systems that are coming out on the market, has closed its Series C at $85 million. The round is being led by Israeli VC 83North, with Singapore’s Temasek and carmaker Isuzu investing alongside Woven Capital (Toyota’s venture fund), Nvidia, Artofin and previous backers MoreTech, Nationwide, Volvo Group VC, Jump Capital, Next Gear Ventures and OurCrowd. More Here

Omniful, The UAE- and Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA)-based Supply chain and e-commerce enablement startup has raised $5.85 million seed funding led by VentureSouq, with participation from 500 Global, DASH Ventures, Jahez Group, SEEDRA Ventures, Bunat Ventures, Hala Ventures, RZM Investments and several family offices, including Al Rasheed, Siraj Holding, Al Bawardi and Al Nafea. More Here

AM Batteries, a seven-year-old startup based in Chelmsford, Ma., that is focused on dry-electrode manufacturing for lithium-ion batteries, raised a $30 million Series B round led by Toyota, with strategic support from Porsche Ventures and Asahi Kasei. Other backers in the round also included RA Capital Management, Wilson Sonsini, and Industry Ventures, as well as previous investors. More Here

Extropic, a San Francisco startup that is attempting to develop says it is "building a computing paradigm which harnesses the power of out-of-equilibrium thermodynamics to fundamentally merge generative AI with the physics of the world," raised a $14.1 million seed round led by Kindred Ventures and including Buckley Ventures, HOF Capital, Julian Capital, Marque VC, OSS Capital, Valor Equity Partners, and the Weekend Fund. More Here

Gravel, Jakarta-based startup aims to change that by making it easier to find workers and other construction professionals. It has raised $14 million. Investors include New Enterprise Associate (NEA), Marvell Technology Group co-founder Weili Tai, Cadence Design System executive chairman Lip-Bu Tan, SMDV, East Ventures and other strategic investors. More Here

Joon, a four-year-old Seattle startup that conduct tele-therapy sessions with patients 13- to 24-years old who need help with issues such as anxiety, depression, disordered eating, sexual and gender identity, and academic problems, raised a $6 million round from previous investors PSL Ventures and Route 66 Ventures. More Here

January, a seven-year-old New York startup that aims to "humanize" debt collection, raised a $12 million Series B round led by previous investor IA Ventures, with past backers Brewer Lane Ventures, Third Prime, and Reciprocal Ventures as well as new investors Upper90 and Shrug Capital also joining in. More Here

Keboola, a 16-year-old Prague company whose mission is to help businesses manage and control their data more effectively, raised a $32 million Series A round led by Viking Global, with additional participation from Presto Ventures, Reflex Capital, and TCF Capital. More Here

Rohirrim, a startup based in Reston, Va., that says it can analyze a company's data and use generative AI to create contextually relevant original content for proposals, grants, and white papers, raised a $15 million Series A round led by Insight Partners, with General Purpose VC also anteing up. More Here

Wakeo, a seven-year-old Paris startup that provides shipping companies with supply chain insights such as a ship's estimated time of arrival, raised a $19.5 million round led by Statkraft Ventures, with previous investors Promus Ventures, 360 Capital, 50 Partners, and Techstars also pitching in. The company has raised a total of $32.5+ million. More Here

Joon, a four-year-old Seattle startup that conduct tele-therapy sessions with patients 13- to 24-years old who need help with issues such as anxiety, depression, disordered eating, sexual and gender identity, and academic problems, raised a $6 million round from previous investors PSL Ventures and Route 66 Ventures. More Here

🚀 Venture Capital Highlights

Boston based VC Firm Shutting Down: Just nine months after closing on $570 million in new funds, Boston-based VC firm OpenView Venture Partners is laying off most of its staff and shutting down. More Here

Israel's OurCrowd and Thailand's RISE have launched Rise OurCrowd Exponential (ROCX), a $50 million VC fund focused on deep technologies. ROCX, Thailand's first Israel-centric VC fund, plans to invest in early-stage Israeli startups in areas like cybersecurity, AI, life sciences, semiconductors, and climate-tech, aiming to support up to 30 companies with scalable solutions for commercial growth, especially in Southeast Asia. The partnership is seen as a bridge between Thailand, Southeast Asia, and emerging Israeli technologies. More Here

Avenir Growth Partners is seeking to raise $800 million for its fifth fund, it disclosed in a securities filing, two years after it began the paperwork to raise its IV fund, which it closed with about $780 million in capital commitments. The New York-headquartered firm is an investor in nearly four dozen startups including DuckDuckGo, Flutterwave, and India’s Zetwerk and Spinny. More Here

📬 Featured: Today’s Featured Tweet

How To Identify Emerging Markets? By Elad Gill

Recently Elad Gill shared an interesting perspective on how can one identify emerging market and build a business in that particular space. He shared 3 different approaches for this… Read More Here👇

💡 Startups Snap: The Latest Buzz

Elon Musk's company X, formerly Twitter, has expanded its money transmitter licenses to include South Dakota, Kansas, and Wyoming, bringing the total to 12 U.S. states. Musk aims to transform X into an "everything app" with its own payments system, competing with PayPal, and has expressed plans for users to send money and extract funds on the platform, potentially involving cryptocurrencies. Amid recent advertiser departures, X faces challenges in monetizing through ads, impacting its creator economy and payment ambitions. More Here

Startup Shutdown

ZestMoney, a buy now, pay later startup whose ability to underwrite small ticket loans to first-time internet customers attracted many high-profile investors, including Goldman Sachs, is shutting down following unsuccessful efforts to find a buyer. In a period of 8 year it raised $130 M and once valued over $450M. More Here

Layoffs

Navan, formerly Trip Actions, Expense management startup has laid off 5% of its workforce, totaling 145 employees, as part of a restructuring effort to enhance operational efficiency and move faster toward profitability. The Palo Alto-based company, valued at $9.2 billion post-funding, had recently secured $150 million in debt and $154 million in equity. Despite strong growth, Navan, competing with Ramp and Brex, aims to go public in April 2024, citing market readiness as a factor in delaying its initial public offering. More Here

People

Yann LeCun, Meta's top AI scientist and a professor at New York University, reportedly told Meta cofounder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg that Facebook and Instagram could become extinct if Meta didn't catch up with ChatGPT. More Here

Keith Rabois, a prominent investor, claimed that X (formerly Twitter) prevented a second Holocaust by allowing citizens to report truth independently. When pressed for specifics, Rabois criticized mainstream media outlets and insisted the claim was self-evident, but failed to provide evidence. Rabois attributed X's role in maintaining American support for Israel by countering what he sees as biased reporting. Critics challenge Rabois's assertions, pointing to media coverage and questioning the credibility of his claims. More Here

Join 7500+ Avid Readers For Daily Morning Venture Insights, Funding Updates And Startup Stories In Your Inbox. 🚀!

🤖 The Latest In Emerging Tech: AI

Today’s AI funding rush reminds of the fintech investing hype of 2021: AI startups are experiencing a funding frenzy globally, with recent notable rounds including CoreWeave's $642 million, Aleph Alpha's $500 million, and Mistral AI's potential €450 million. The trend extends to various sectors, such as Rohirrim, Atomic Industries, and Assembly AI, reflecting heightened investor interest and a belief in the potential for transformative AI technologies, leading some to speculate on the emergence of trillion-dollar AI companies. However, the influx of capital raises concerns about the tech risk associated with delivering on promises in this booming market. More Here

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

• 'You Can’t Raised Funding Without Using Old Sales-Marketing Funnel’ : Y-Combinator Read More (Startups & VC)

• How Did The Great Startups Like Airbnb or Instagram Make Pivot Decisions? Read More (Startups)

• Steve Jobs On Importance Of Product People In A Company. Read More (Startup)

• Every Customer is a Design Partner - Leading Your Sales Motion with Sales Engineering Read More (Startup)

🚀 Break Into VC - Join VC Crafter Community 

Building, Learning, Networking, & Landing on VC roles is challenging without the right direction. We're a community for learning, sharing insights, and getting help from others who know the VC best.

Become A Member & Get Access To Resources

✍️Written By Sahil R | Venture Crew Team

 🤗 Build Your MVP 🤝 Advertise 👉 Follow Us