VC Daily Digest - 31/08/2023

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Your Monday to Saturday Daily Dose of Venture Insights, Funding Updates and Startup Stories Delivered Straight to Your Inbox. Stay Informed, Stay Inspired and Stay Ahead In the World of Venture Capital !

📢 Top Venture Capital News

Lighter Capital raises $130M to fuel revenue-based financing model: Seattle-based Lighter Capital has announced two new funding facilities, injecting $100 million for U.S and Canada-based startups, and $30 million for those in Australia. Since its inception in 2010, Lighter Capital has invested over $300 million in 500+ tech companies across the U.S., utilizing a "revenue-based financing" model that allows startups to raise funds without sacrificing equity or board seats. More Here

Reid Hoffman, LinkedIn Co-Founder Reduces Role at Greylock Partners to Focus on AI: Venture firm Greylock Partners is undergoing a significant transition as Reid Hoffman, LinkedIn co-founder and tech industry titan, steps back from his role as a general partner. Despite this shift, Hoffman will remain a strategic partner at Greylock, potentially making occasional new investments, while focusing his attention on artificial intelligence (AI). This change mirrors a broader generational shift in the venture capital industry, with prominent investors like Michael Moritz of Sequoia Capital and Jeff Jordan of Andreessen Horowitz making similar moves. Greylock's new $1 billion fund, managed by six general partners, signifies a return to the size of its previous funds and a continued commitment to backing early-stage startups. More Here

Why PE firm Alitheia is banking on women in Africa: African women-founders often face significant challenges in raising capital, a gap that Alitheia IDF, a "gender-lens" fund, aims to bridge. Co-founded by Tokunboh Ishmael and Polo Leteka in 2015, Alitheia IDF supports often marginalized women-led or women-focused businesses. Ishmael, an investor with over two decades of experience, has a history of investing in various sectors across Africa, with a focus on climate and fintech. More Here

📢 Top Startups News

A.I. and big market shifts are making PCs interesting again: The future of personal computers is being shaped by the rise of artificial intelligence (AI), according to analysts. IDC predicts a return to market growth by 2024, but the advent of AI complicates the landscape, with IT decision-makers questioning budget priorities. Intel's CEO, Pat Gelsinger, sees the AI PC as a critical inflection point, with their Meteor Lake processors, designed to run AI applications locally, launching next month. IDC also notes rising shares for AMD and Apple in the PC processor market, hinting at significant shifts in commercial PC history. More Here

AI Startups Are Already Running Into Some Serious Problems: Less than a year into the AI boom and startups are already grappling with what may become an industry reckoning. Take Jasper, a buzzy AI startup that raised $125 million for a valuation of $1.5 billion last year — before laying off staff with a gloomy note from its CEO this summer. Now, in a provocative new story, the Wall Street Journal fleshes out where the cracks are starting to form. Basically, monetizing AI is hard, user interest is leveling off or declining, and running the hardware behind these products is often very expensive — meaning that while the tech does sometimes offer a substantial "wow" factor, its path to a stable business model is looking rockier than ever. More Here

AI Can Shrink 'Time to Market' for Web3 Startups: The mainstream push for artificial intelligence has prompted many investors to shift their focus away from cryptocurrency and instead invest in generative AI startups, hoping to find the next Google Bard or OpenAI’s ChatGPT. While speculators bet on the next big thing, however, Google Cloud’s Engineering Director of Web3, James Tromans, says the global tech giant aims to bridge the gap between AI and Web3 with an eye toward the future and digital ownership. More Here

📢 Featured: Today’s Featured Article

Understanding Churn And Building An Action Plan To Fix The Proverbial “Leaky Bucket” By Bessemer Venture Partners

It’s no big secret that acquiring a new customer is more expensive than keeping an existing one, but fighting churn isn’t always a priority, especially for growing startups. “It’s so easy at an early-stage company to focus on the prospect because the new revenue you’re trying to close is bigger than your recurring book of business,” says Gabe. But neglecting churn at these early stages can set you up for big problems down the line. Read More Here👇

📢 Top AI News

A ‘people-first’ view of the AI economy: In the past nine months, the rise of AI has been remarkable, transforming the way we interact with technology and promising to augment human capabilities. At Mayfield, we're guided by a 'people-first' philosophy and believe that AI, when responsibly developed, can empower humans to become 'Human2'. We're applying this philosophy to our AI investments, focusing on founders with a human-centric mission and a belief that AI will augment, not replace, humans. As we navigate this exciting era, we're committed to fostering responsible AI investing and championing entrepreneurs who are set to redefine the future with their innovative AI solutions. More Here

Steve Blank: AI will revolutionize the ‘lean startup’: AI is revolutionizing the startup landscape, according to Steve Blank, the man who invented the concept of the lean startup. He believes we're underestimating the potential of generative AI, citing the impact of AI tools like ChatGPT and Copilot, which have significantly increased productivity. Blank also highlights the strides made in AI-assisted research, such as AlphaFold's work on protein structures and the use of AI in identifying Parkinson's disease markers in eye scans. As AI continues to evolve, Blank predicts a significant shift in the "lean startup" concept and an exciting journey ahead. More Here

QuantHealth brings its AI-informed clinical drug trials to the US with $15M round: QuantHealth, a Tel Aviv-based startup, is leveraging AI to revolutionize drug development and clinical trials. With an AI-powered platform that boasts an integrated dataset of over 350 million patients and 700,000 biomedical graphs, the company aims to optimize clinical trials, reduce risks, and predict patient responses to treatments. Their model has demonstrated an impressive 86% accuracy in predicting clinical trial outcomes. Having recently raised $15 million in Series A funding, QuantHealth is set to expand its platform and support clinical development teams with its innovative trial design solution. More Here

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📢 Top Startup’s Fundraising News

Praso bags $9.3M, acquires Floki’s IP to simplify food purchasing for Brazilian retailers: Brazilian startup Praso, a distribution platform for small retailers, has secured $9.3 million in Series A funding and acquired the intellectual property of AI company Floki. Praso is transforming the retail landscape in Latin America, where small businesses often struggle with offline, manual processes to source products. The company, founded in 2021, uses a data-driven approach to connect large foodservice manufacturers with small retailers, streamlining demand generation, logistics, and purchasing behavior. As Praso continues to grow, it aims to expand its services, including a credit offering for merchants, and further integrate Floki's data intelligence into its operations. More Here

Teale, your mental health companion at work, raises $11 million: French startup Teale, a mental health platform for employees, has raised $11 million in a Series A funding round led by Alter Equity and Bpifrance’s Digital Venture fund. The platform, designed to help HR managers prevent burnout and "quiet quitting", allows employees to assess their mental health and access relevant content or professional help. Teale, used by companies such as Sanofi, SNCF, Cartier and EY, also provides HR teams with an overview of the company's mental health status, without revealing individual data. With this funding, Teale plans to expand its team and reach into new markets. More Here

Generative AI startup AI21 Labs lands $155M at a $1.4B valuation": AI21 Labs, the Tel Aviv-based startup specializing in text-generating AI tools, has successfully raised $155 million in a Series C funding round, bringing its total funding to $283 million and valuing the company at $1.4 billion. The company, co-founded by Amnon Shashua of Intel-owned Mobileye, has seen significant growth since launching its AI writing tool, Wordtune, in October 2020, more than doubling its workforce with plans for further expansion. AI21 Labs' flagship product, AI21 Studio, is a developer platform for building custom text-based business apps, offering refined control and up-to-date data. Despite competition from tech giants and startups alike, AI21 Labs is gaining traction, with Wordtune boasting over 10 million users and partnerships with several Fortune 100 companies. More Here

Context.ai wants to merge product analytics sensibilities with LLMs raised $3.5M: Context.ai, a startup aimed at helping companies understand how users interact with their Large Language Models (LLMs), has secured a $3.5 million seed investment. Founded by former Google employees Henry Scott-Green and Alex Gamble, the company uses natural language processing to analyze chat transcripts, grouping and tagging conversations based on topic and determining customer satisfaction. The goal is to provide insights into the performance of LLMs, often described as a "black box" by developers. The investment, co-led by GV and Theory Ventures, will be used to further develop and refine the product. More Here

Accel-backed Agave lets construction software talk to one another raised $2.9M: In an era where most construction software is decades old and lacks interoperability, Agave, a Y Combinator-backed startup, is stepping up to the plate. With a unified API that connects over 30 software systems, Agave is addressing the industry's pain point of fragmented data and manual transfer between applications. Leveraging their experience from Amazon and Procore, the co-founders are building what they describe as "the highway system of construction technology". Their solution not only streamlines data flow but also provides real-time analytics, making it a game-changer for the construction industry. With a recent $2.9 million seed round led by Accel, Agave is set to scale its operations and continue its mission to revolutionize construction software systems. More Here

Voxel uses computer vision to increase workplace safety raised $12M: The International Labour Organization reports an alarming 340 million workplace incidents annually. In response, Voxel, a startup leveraging computer vision to enhance workplace safety, has raised $12 million in strategic funding. Voxel's unique technology integrates with existing security cameras to identify hazards in real-time, sending alerts to on-site personnel. Currently utilized by companies like Michael’s, Dollar Tree, and Clorox, Voxel has proven its effectiveness with Americold reporting a 77% reduction in injuries after implementation, saving $1.1 million. With plans to expand into more industries and markets, Voxel is set to revolutionize workplace safety. More Here

Hyperproof, a compliance and risk management startup, raises $40M: Hyperproof, a SaaS risk and compliance management company, has successfully raised $40 million in a funding round, doubling its valuation from nine months ago. The company's growth is fueled by the increasing demand for compliance services, particularly in the face of new data privacy regulations. Hyperproof's platform offers a system of record for compliance data, automating non-strategic tasks and providing a suite of modules to support different types of risk and compliance management work. With the new funds, Hyperproof plans to expand its platform and team, and extend its go-to-market activities into new verticals and locales. More Here

ChatGPT-maker OpenAI accused of string of data protection breaches in GDPR complaint filed by privacy researcher: OpenAI, the creator of ChatGPT, is facing allegations of multiple General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) breaches, according to a complaint filed by privacy researcher Lukasz Olejnik with the Polish data protection authority. The complaint accuses OpenAI of infringing EU privacy rules across several dimensions including lawful basis, transparency, fairness, data access rights, and privacy by design. This comes after previous GDPR concerns raised by Italy's privacy watchdog, the Garante, earlier this year. The complaint suggests that OpenAI should have consulted with regulators prior to launching ChatGPT in Europe to avoid these issues. More Here

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✍️Written By The Venture Crew Team

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