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☆ Some hear echoes of the Web3 frenzy around generative AI. But its future is likely to play out very differently.
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-19 | by ( Riddhi Kanetkar | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Mariam Pettit, partner at Global Founders Capital, said the rush toward AI was in part driven by investor FOMO. While investors and industry insiders don't anticipate the same fate for generative AI startups, many see the parallels between the two industries. Indeed, VCs are paying premiums and pre-empting rounds into hot AI startups in a bid to get a place on the cap table. AI founders are aware that they need to differentiate themselves in order to survive, at the very least. "And with vertical AI startups, it's much clearer that all the data we have is approved by the creator of that data."

Persons: Marc Andreessen, ChatGPT, Mariam Pettit, FOMO, Rainer Haeckl Web3, Sam Bankman Fried, Ash Arora, LocalGlobe, Arora, Sam Altman, Andreessen Horowitz, Ayman Fadil, Fadil, Pettit, Devang Agarwal Organizations: Business, Alpha, Global Founders Capital, Investors, Tech, Talis Locations: German, London, Web3, LocalGlobe, Jasper

☆ 'The gorilla is gone for the moment': OpenAI's rivals see ways to profit from a Silicon Valley drama
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-21 | by ( Riddhi Kanetkar | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

An in-demand talent pool"Many previously poorly understood secrets will be more widely disseminated across the ecosystem," one European AI founder who spoke on the condition of anonymity said. But European competitors can still benefit from OpenAI's implosion. The startup had been on an uninterrupted run for the past year, said EarlyBird VC partner and Aleph Alpha investor Andre Retterath. The turmoil at OpenAI has also galvanized both AI founders and investors in Europe. The company's top expenditure, besides employee salaries, is manually cleaning and sourcing the data they use to train their models, a European VC said.

Persons: Sam Altman, unseats, Nathan Benaich, Altman, Marc Benioff, Salesforce, Silvio Savarese, Einstein, 1RXoc9ekeo, Benaich, Alpha, EarlyBird, Andre Retterath, Retterath, Mariam Pettit, they've, OpenAI, Andrew Scott, 7percent, David Grimm, Grimm, Rebecca Gorman Organizations: Air Street Capital, Business, Aleph Alpha, Microsoft, Google, Alpha, Global Founders Capital, Albion Locations: Europe, OpenAI

☆ Defacto provides short-term loans to SMEs. It just raised $10 million with this 20-slide pitch deck.
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-14 | by ( Callum Burroughs | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

French fintech startup Defacto has raised a $10 million Series A extension from Citi Ventures. The Paris-based business, founded in 2021, provides short-term loans to small and medium-sized businesses. However, through integrations with businesses like fellow fintechs Pennylane and Qonto, Defacto wants to lower the cost and administration for smaller businesses. The new funding will go towards the continued growth of Defacto's platform as it pushes towards more personalized debt financing for small businesses. Check out Defacto's 20-slide Series A extension pitch deck below:

Persons: Pennylane, Morgan O'Hana, O'Hana, Northzone Organizations: Citi Ventures, Open Banking, Global Founders Capital Locations: Paris, integrations

KARACHI, Pakistan, Oct 5 (Reuters) - Pakistani ecommerce logistics startup Rider, backed by YCombinator, is looking into acquiring BlueEx (UNIV.PSX) the only listed Express Courier Logistics Company in Pakistan, it told Reuters on Thursday. "We are carving out and acquiring the e-commerce logistics business which currently operates under the brand name BlueEx. This is not an acquisition of Universal Network System Limited as a whole," said Salman Allana, founder and CEO of Rider. If the transaction goes through, this will be the first acquisition of a listed company by a startup, and the first major acquisition of a company listed on Pakistan's Growth Enterprise Market (GEM) board at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PAKS.PSX). While Rider has not disclosed the transaction value, it claims the acquisition will make Rider the third largest player in the ecommerce logistics space.

Persons: Salman Allana, Rider, Allana, Ariba Shahid, Michael Perry Organizations: Express Courier Logistics Company, Reuters, Venture, Universal Network System, Pakistan Stock Exchange, GEM, YCombinator, Global Founders Capital, Flexport, i2i Ventures, Fatima, Ventures, Soma, Rebel Fund, Thomson Locations: KARACHI, Pakistan, Karachi

☆ Citadel Securities is locked in a legal battle with 2 ex-staff who left to start a crypto firm and say they're victims of 'corporate bullying'
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-24 | by ( Chris Johnston | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

The venture has faced legal challenges by Citadel Securities, whose European arm filed a case in London in June 2022. Portofino said in its initial response that Citadel's legal action was "unmeritorious, anticompetitive and a classic example of corporate bullying." AdvertisementAdvertisementIn January 2022 Griffin sold a $1.2 billion stake in Citadel Securities to venture capital firms Sequoia and Paradigm. "Further, their attempt to improperly poach Vincent Prieur, a New York-based employee described as the 'aggregator of all things crypto' at Citadel Securities, is undisputed. Prieur, who later joined Portofino, had also been the subject of legal action by Citadel Securities that was settled out of court, Bloomberg reported.

Persons: Alex Casimo, Leonard Lancia, Ken Griffin, Griffin, Peter Thiel, Slack, Zalando, Portofino, Casimo, it's, Peng Zhao, Matt Huang, Lancia, poach Vincent Prieur, Prieur Organizations: Citadel Securities, Portofino Technologies, Citadel, New, Service, Ventures, Global Founders Capital, Global Founders, Lancia, London Court, Portofino, Court, Southern, of, Sequoia, Paradigm, Financial Times, Bloomberg Locations: New York, Wall, Silicon, Miami, Swiss, London, Europe, of New York, Portofino

☆ Zelt, a HR startup founded by a former VC investor, just raised $3.5 million in seed funding with this 12-slide pitch deck
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-20 | by ( Callum Burroughs | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

London-based HR tech startup Zelt has raised $3.5 million in seed funding. The startup enables companies to manage HR, IT, and financial tasks on one platform. We got an exclusive look at the 12-slide pitch deck it used to raise the fresh funds. A startup that enables companies to manage HR, IT, and financial tasks on one platform has raised $3.5 million in fresh funds. "The current market is steps behind and people operations have become more difficult over the past five years as even small startups are global from day one."

Persons: Mumsnet, it's, Christopher Priebe, Priebe, Charlie Songhurst, Mandeep Singh, Felix Leuschner, Daniel Hegarty Organizations: Global Founders Capital, Zelt, 1, Village Locations: London

☆ Check out the pitch deck Maza used to get Andreessen Horowitz to lead its $8 million seed round to help immigrants access financial services in the US
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-28 | by ( Madeline Renbarger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Now, Maza has just raised $8 million in seed funding from investors like Andreessen Horowitz. A year and a half later, and Maza has raised $8 million in seed funding led by Andreessen Horowitz. Customers will have access to Maza's banking services, which include card services, check deposit, and tax services. Down the road, however, the cofounders envision Maza as an "identity" company rather than a banking company, akin to CLEAR in airports, said Arango. Check out the 14-slide pitch deck that Maza used to raise $8 million in seed funding: (Note: certain proprietary information has been redacted.)

Persons: Maza, Andreessen Horowitz, Maza cofounders Luciano Arango, Robbie Figueroa, Siggy, Arango, Anré Williams, Figueroa, Wells Fargo, Seema Amble Organizations: Maza's, LinkedIn, SV Angel, Restive Ventures, Global Founders Capital, American Express National Bank, William Hockey, Plaid Locations: United States, Bilstein, Maza, Wells, Colombia

☆ Sequoia bolsters London office with sixth partner hire as VC firm unveils radical restructure
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-06 | by ( Callum Burroughs | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Venture capital firm Sequoia has hired a sixth partner for its London office, Insider understands. Venture capital firm Sequoia has bolstered its presence in Europe with the hire of its sixth partner in London, Insider understands. "Since Julien joined us as an associate five years ago, he's become a valued member of our London team," Accel partner Sonali De Rycker said. Sequoia will expand in Europe despite a broader contraction in venture capital funding to European startups. Sequoia has closed 21 deals in Europe in the three years since it opened in London, Crunchbase data shows.

Persons: Julien Bek, Accel's Luciana Lixandru, Sequoia's Lixandru, Bek, Julien, he's, Sonali De Rycker, Slay, Matt Miller, George Robson, Anas Organizations: Sequoia, . Venture, Apple, Accel, London, Investment, Investments, Trade Republic, Global Founders Capital, Revolut Locations: Sequoia, Europe, London, California, China, India, Southeast Asia, Geneva, Switzerland, Lixandru

☆ Aibidia, a fintech helping multinational giants pay their taxes, just raised $14.2 million using this 10-slide pitch deck
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-15 | by ( Callum Burroughs | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

The Helsinki-based firm helps large multinationals automate and digitize their transfer pricing. Check out the 10-slide pitch deck it used to raise the round co-led by DN Capital and FPV Ventures. Aibidia, a fintech that helps multinational giants pay taxes globally, has raised $14.2 million in funding. Multinationals use transfer pricing to manage their tax exposures by moving transactions between subsidiaries, affiliates, or holding companies to reduce their overall tax burden globally. "The reason no one has done this before is the number of data points and its taxonomy," Leppänen said.

☆ Here's an exclusive look at the pitch deck that Y Combinator alum Opkit, a health insurance verification startup, used to raise funding from investors like Plaid CEO Zach Perret's VC firm
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-07 | by ( Madeline Renbarger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Opkit is a startup that helps telehealth companies verify and process patient health insurance. Software engineers Sherwood Callaway and Justin Ko first met as early employees at the fintech startup Brex and became fast friends. As more telehealth companies were popping up after the pandemic, they often had issues with quickly processing patient health insurance for care, Callaway told Insider. Opkit also offers providers an insurance dashboard, that allows telehealth employees to perform eligibility checks or inquiries to insurance companies about specific patients' plans. "Opkit was our first experience doing venture fundraising, and Y Combinator really helped us make connections with investors," said Callaway.

☆ Check out the pitch deck the Y Combinator alum SilkChart used to raise $5.2 million from investors like SoftBank
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-07 | by ( Madeline Renbarger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

The marketing startup SilkChart seeks to help businesses better understand their advertising data. It was in Y Combinator's spring 2022 class and says it was able to grow revenue during the program. Now, SilkChart has raised $5.2 million in funding to scale its data-analytics business. Investors include Y Combinator, SoftBank, the ad agency Dentsu, Harlem Capital, and Global Founders Capital. Check out the 12-slide pitch deck that the founders of SilkChart used to raise $5.2 million in funding:

☆ Check out the pitch deck that an ex-Uber product lead and the mom of YouTube's CEO used to raise $7 million for their startup that helps kids learn by making online videos
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-19 | by ( Madeline Renbarger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Tract is a new edtech startup where students can make hands-on videos for class projects. Veteran teacher Esther Wojcicki and YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki's mom, cofounded the startup. San Francisco-based Tract is a new edtech startup where students and teachers can learn through making and sharing educational videos within a safe web-based platform that other kids and teachers can engage with through likes and comments. Other investors included Moving Capital, Oceans Ventures, Global Founders Capital, Bessemer Venture Partners, K50 Ventures, G9 Ventures, Graph Ventures, Alumni Ventures Group, Minerva, and Correlation Ventures. Check out the 12-slide pitch deck that edtech Tract used to raise $7 million in seed funding:

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