VC Daily Digest - 29/11/2023

📮Today’s Major News

• Reddit Going Public In 2024? - IPO Season is Back!

• Dataminr, an Unicorn Startup Layoff 20% Staffs

• Berkshire Hathaway vice-chairman Charlie Munger dies aged 99

• Featured Article: Don't Fall In Trap Of Tarpit Ideas, It's Worst Than Bad Ideas, Why?

Crypto Rollercoaster: Scandals, CEO Convictions, and Regulatory Uncertainty in 2023

The crypto industry faced a tumultuous year marked by scandals and regulatory actions, including the conviction of FTX's former CEO and Binance's CEO stepping down.

Despite calls for clearer guidelines, regulatory messages in 2023 were perceived as mixed, with enforcement actions by the SEC and CFTC dominating. The industry awaits potential regulatory clarity in 2024 amid concerns about the chilling effect of enforcement, emphasizing the need for a legislative framework and anticipating a major courtroom showdown over crypto regulation. More Here….

🤗 Access Startups 🤝 Advertise 👉 Follow Us  

🤝 In Partnership With Thunder.vc

Thunder's Team Has Helped Secure $100M+ In Debt & Equity For Startups At All Stages. 💡

Ngotiating a term sheet? or Want to learn about VC term sheets?

👉 Download Thunder.vc's free guide on the Top 10 Terms to Negotiate in a Term Sheet for raising venture capital.

Thunder.vc is a tech-enabled investment bank that has helped companies secure over $100M in capital.

Try the free tools for founders - VC Finder Tool and Debt Finder Tool.

💰 Massive Fundings Updates

Oxford Quantum Circuits, a six-year-old startup based in Oxford, UK, that offers quantum computing via a SaaS-based model, raised a $100 million Series B round led by SBI Investment, with additional funds provided by Oxford Science Enterprises, University of Tokyo Edge Capital, Lansdowne Partners, and OTIF. More Here

WeRoad, a six-year-old Milan startup that is creating a marketplace for group adventure travel, raised a $19.7 million Series B round. H14 was the deal lead. The company has raised a total of $36 million. More Here

Biomel, a six-year-old London startup that produces drinks, snack bars, and powders for gut health care, raised a $6.9 million Series A round. IRIS Ventures was the deal lead. More Here

Plane, a US based startup aims to build a open source project management tool for software teams. It has now raised $4 million in a seed round funded entirely by OSS Capital. More Here

Hexa, the Paris-based startup studio that has launched dozens of B2B software companies. The company just raised a funding round of $22 million in fresh capital (€20 million). This funding round lead by family offices with local founders like Luc Pallavidino (Yousign), Adrien Van Den Branden (Canyon), Paul Vidal (Collective) and Arnaud Schwartz (Marble). More Here

Inflow, a Vietnam based startup building platform that gives small brands visibility into manufacturers’ supply chains and the design-to-production cycle. It has raised $2 million in seed funding. Investors included App Works, 500 Global, January Capital, Spiral Ventures and Saison Capital. More Here

Pika, US Based Generative AI startup creating an AI-powered platform to edit and generate videos from captions and still images. It raised $55 million in a funding round led by Lightspeed Venture Partners with participation from Homebrew, Conviction Capital, SV Angel, Ben’s Bites and notable angel investors including Quora founder Adam D’Angelo, ex-GitHub CEO Nat Friedman and Giphy co-founder Alex Chung. More Here

Candex, US based startup that aims to simplify procurement — specifically vendor management and payment processes — for businesses. It had raised $45 million in a Series B investment led by Goldman Sachs with participation from WiL (World Innovation Lab). More Here

Solve Intelligence, a Delaware-based legal tech startup, builds AI software specialized for patent attorneys to write drafts for IP analysis and generation. It has raised $3 million in funding from investors, including Y Combinator, Amino Capital, General Advance, SAV, Translink Capital and Nomad Capital. More Here

Lassie, a pet health app and insurance provider raised €23 million in Series B funding led by Balderton Capital. Previous investors including Felix Capital, Inventure, Passion Capital and Philian (H&M chair Karl-Johan Persson) also participated in the round. Lassie has now raised a total of €36.5 million. More Here

Vimcal, a YC-backed calendar app, has raised a $4.5 million seed round from Altos Ventures to expand its team and enterprise offerings. Vimcal has launched an AI-powered free-time finder, which lets you paste meeting slots shared by others in text form. More Here

Augment, a French based edtech startup provide online courses like MBA program. It has raised a $6 million seed round led by RTP Global with other funds also participating, such as Motier Ventures, Origins Fund, Kima Ventures, Bpifrance and Financière Saint James. Several angel investors also invested in the startup, such as Thibaud Elziere and Roxanne Varza. More Here

Wind app, The Singapore-based startup aims to make Defi accessible to average consumer. It has raised $3.8 million in pre-seed funding co-led by Global Founders Capital and Spartan Group, with participation from backers like Saison Capital, Alumni Ventures and Tiny VC. More Here

CheckRewards, a Dubai startup that says it uses machine learning to offer consumers cash incentives based on promotions, cashback rewards for everyday purchases, and receipt scans, raised a $1.2 million round. Mitgo Group led the investment. More Here

Nanochon, a Washington, D.C.—based regenerative cartilage innovator. Nanochon develops solutions utilized by sports medicine physicians to treat active patients requiring cartilage restoration. It has raised undisclosed amount from cultivate(MD) Capital Funds LP, funds. More Here

🚀 Venture Capital Highlights

The Fearless Fund's Strivers Grant Program, facing a lawsuit by the American Alliance for Equal Rights (AAER) alleging discrimination, was already in jeopardy as documents revealed Mastercard cut funding and showed concerns about the program's viability. The briefing disclosed Mastercard's diminished passion for the cause and highlighted organizational changes, while the fund sought to revamp the grant before the lawsuit. The legal battle has resulted in a temporary injunction against the grant, and the status of Fearless Fund's relationship with Mastercard remains uncertain. More Here

NXTP, a Latin America VC firm investing in early-stage, business-to-business startups, secured $98 million in capital commitments for its third fund — its largest fund to date. This fund aims to invest in B2B Startups from Latin America. A majority of NXTP’s existing limited partners backed the new fund. Those include U.S. and global institutional funds, regional fund-of- funds, multi- and single-family offices, high-net-worth individuals and technology founders. More Here

📬 Featured: Today’s Featured Article

Don't Fall In Trap Of Tarpit Ideas, It's Worst Than Bad Ideas, Why?

Till now, most of you heard about bad ideas, and there is always the suggestion that stay away from bad ideas.

But ‘Tarpit Ideas’ are way worse than bad ideas.

The only difference between a bad idea and a Tarpish idea is that you would know when to stop pursuing a bad idea. A Tarpit Idea is identified a little bit too late - when money is already spent on developing it. Looks scary, right? Read More Here👇

💡 Startups Snap: The Latest Buzz

Startup Acquisition

Webull, a rival of Robinhood offers low commission based trading platform acquired Mexican investment platform Flink, giving it an entry into the Mexico market. The flink, a Maxico based startup backed by leading investors like accel partner, sequoia capital & more. More Here

Going Public

Reddit is reportedly considering an IPO in 2024 with a valuation of $10 billion. In 2022, the platform generated around $670 million in revenue, presenting a challenge to justify its high valuation, especially if it remains unprofitable. Investors will closely watch Reddit's IPO performance to gauge the translation of private-market valuations to the public markets. More Here

Shein, the fast-fashion giant, is contemplating a U.S. public offering in 2024. With a reported 2022 revenue of $23 billion and a valuation of $66 billion, the IPO will be closely watched to assess how the company's valuation translates to the public market. More Here

People

Berkshire Hathaway vice-chairman Charlie Munger dies aged 99: Charlie Munger, Berkshire Hathaway's vice chairman and close associate of Warren Buffett, has passed away at the age of 99 in California. A key figure in Berkshire Hathaway's success, Munger was known for his wisdom and contributions. His death comes a week after Buffett's significant stock donation and marks the end of a nearly six-decade journey in finance. More Here

Billionaire businessman Mark Cuban, owner of the Dallas Mavericks and a longtime "Shark Tank" investor, announced on the "All the Smoke" podcast that the upcoming 16th season will be his last on the show. ABC has not officially confirmed his departure. Cuban has been a prominent figure on "Shark Tank" since its third season, influencing and inspiring generations of entrepreneurs. More Here

If X were a house, one might reasonably suspect that Elon Musk was trying to burn it to the ground in order to collect the insurance. The billionaire tweeted today in support of Pizzagate, a debunked QAnon conspiracy theory. He deleted the post in less than an hour. More Here

Layoffs

Dataminr, a New York-based big data company valued at $4.1 billion, is reportedly laying off approximately 20% of its staff, around 150 people, citing economic challenges, operational efficiencies, and advancements in its AI platform. The restructuring aims to strengthen the company's financial position, with plans to launch a new AI platform in Q1 and achieve near-term profitability, signaling a potential shift away from seeking external funding. 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

AWS takes the cheap shots: In AWS CEO Adam Selipsky's re:Invent keynote, there's a notable shift as AWS faces competition in the generative AI market. Unlike the container era, generative AI is a new battleground, and AWS is defending its lead against rivals like Google and Microsoft. Selipsky takes subtle jabs, highlighting AWS' advantages in data center resilience and questioning competitors' confidence in AI model security, while emphasizing AWS' adaptability and strategic partnerships in the rapidly evolving AI landscape. More Here

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

• Predicting VC Success Through Crunchbase data Read More (startups)

• When Do You Know You Have PMF? By Elad Gill Read More (Startups)

• Great Ideas Look Bad At Early Stage - By Sam Altman Read More (Venture Capital)

🚀 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

 🤗 Access Startups 🤝 Advertise 👉 Follow Us

👉Download Thunder.vc's free guide on the Top 10 Terms to Negotiate in a Term Sheet for raising venture capital.