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☆ The frenemies running Microsoft and Google's AI ops have some serious history
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-10 | by ( Beatrice Nolan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Less than four years later, Google acquired it for more than $500 million. AdvertisementWith Hassabis at the helm, the Google DeepMind is at the forefront of Google's AI push. Speaking about Suleyman, Hassabis told the newspaper: "Most of what he has learned about AI comes from working with me over all these years." AdvertisementLondon callingOne of Suleyman's first moves as Microsoft's newly installed AI chief was to launch an AI hub in London, which is also home to Google DeepMind. The move could prove savvy for Microsoft as major tech companies eye up Google's high-quality pool of AI talent.

Persons: —, Microsoft's Mustafa Suleyman, Suleyman, Hassabis, Shane Legg, Eric Schmidt, Schmidt, he's, he'd, Suleyman didn't Organizations: Service, University of Cambridge, Business, Google, Big, The New York Times, Fast Company, Microsoft, Greylock Partners, Hassabis Locations: London, DeepMind

☆ Exclusive: 11x, a London-based AI startup that builds automated digital workers, is raising money from US fund Benchmark
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-01 | by ( Callum Burroughs | Riddhi Kanetkar | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

11x, a London-based AI startup that creates automated digital workers, has raised funding from US investing giant Benchmark Capital. The company aims to provide businesses with "digital AI workers" that can complete repetitive and mundane tasks to free up employees to focus on other things. The startup has raised a Series A round of funding, led by US fund Benchmark, four sources familiar with the discussions told Business Insider. Related stories11x's deal was led by Benchmark general partner Sarah Tavel, who will join the startup's board. The startup created a digital sales worker named Alice and plans to release several other digital workers in the future.

Persons: Hasan Sukkar, Sarah Tavel, Uber, Alice, Slack Organizations: Benchmark, Business, US, Bessemer Venture Partners, Twitter, Benchmark Capital, Google, Project A, Ventures, Tiny Ventures, LinkedIn Locations: London, Syrian, Europe, Syria

☆ An internal email hints at the messy aftermath of Microsoft's hires from AI startup Inflection
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-03 | by ( Darius Rafieyan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

The AI startup Inflection raised over $1.5 billion from investors including Bill Gates and Nvidia. Last month, Microsoft hired its cofounders and most of its staff, leaving it a shell of its former self. One exec who was preparing to start in a new role at Inflection had misgivings following the news. Microsoft's unusual Inflection deal may have dented the startup's ability to recruit technical talent, according to an internal email obtained by Business Insider. Calvin Lee, a former director of product management at Uber, was hired as a product lead at Inflection.

Persons: Bill Gates, Reid Hoffman, Calvin Lee, Mustafa Suleyman, Lee Organizations: Nvidia, Microsoft, Business Locations: Greylock

☆ A recent Inflection hire was 'spooked' by Microsoft poaching and has 'a lot to reconsider,' according to internal VC email
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-03 | by ( Darius Rafieyan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

AI startup Inflection raised over $1.5 billion from investors including Bill Gates, Eric Schmidt, and Nvidia. Last month, Microsoft hired Inflection cofounders and most of its staff, leaving the startup a shell of its former self. One exec who was preparing to start in a new role at Inflection had misgivings following the news. download the app Email address Sign up By clicking “Sign Up”, you accept our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy . AdvertisementMicrosoft's unusual Inflection deal may have dented the startup's ability to recruit technical talent, according to an internal email obtained by Business Insider.

Persons: Bill Gates, Eric Schmidt, —, Greylock, Reid Hoffman, Calvin Lee, Mustafa Suleyman, Lee Organizations: Nvidia, Microsoft, Service, Business, Management, Uber

☆ Robo-lawyer startup DoNotPay did something almost unheard of in Silicon Valley: It paid a dividend.
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-01 | by ( Melia Russell | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

In January, the legal startup DoNotPay sent more than $1 million to employees and investors in its first-ever dividend. He got the idea from one of his own angels, Sahil Lavingia, whose startup Gumroad issued a dividend last year. The expectation is that when a company sells or goes public, employees will cash in their shares for untold riches. Last year, the digital commerce startup Gumroad paid a dividend of $1 million across employees, investors, and thousands of crowdfunding backers. Cash rewardsBrowder said he wanted to offer a dividend to reward those employees and investors who bet on the startup early.

Persons: Joshua Browder, Browder, DoNotPay, it's, Sahil Lavingia, Josh Seidenfeld, Cooley, Steve Huffman, Spencer Platt, Seidenfeld, Lavingia, Andreessen Horowitz, Greylock, Dylan Field, Scott Belsky, Daniel Dines, Balaji Srinivasan, Cash, there's Organizations: Business, Big Law, Employees, Founders Fund, Adobe Locations: San Francisco

☆ LinkedIn cofounder Reid Hoffman and Microsoft's AI chief are backing Abigail Spanberger's 2025 Virginia governor run
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-14 | by ( Ellen Thomas | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Two of the tech industry's biggest AI champions are backing Rep. Abigail Spanberger's run for governor of Virginia in 2025, campaign finance records show. Hoffman donated $250,000 on November 30, and Scott donated $125,000 on December 22. The donations, representing a total of $500,000 are the three largest individual contributions on record for Spanberger's campaign, which ended 2023 with over $3.6 million in funds received. Aside from their personal connections to the state, Virginia is home to the largest concentration of data centers in the world. Hoffman has previously donated over $300,000 to WinVirginia, a PAC that supports Democratic candidates in the state.

Persons: Abigail Spanberger's, Reid Hoffman, Kevin Scott, Hoffman, Scott, Shannon Hunt, Hunt, Prince William County, they're, Spanberger, Glenn Youngkin, Ohio US Sen, JD Vance, Joe Biden's, Nikki Haley, Ellen Thomas Organizations: Microsoft, Business, Democratic, Spanberger, University of Virginia, Culpeper ., CIA, Virginia Gov, Republican, LinkedIn, Ohio US, Trump Republicans, South Carolina Gov, PAC Locations: Virginia, Greylock, Prince William, Spotsylvania, Culpeper, Richmond, San Francisco Bay, Rural America, Silicon, Hampshire

☆ In Silicon Valley, Venture Capital Meets a Generational Shift
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-13 | by ( Erin Griffith | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Reid Hoffman, a founder of LinkedIn and a longtime venture capitalist, is no longer the public face of the venture firm Greylock. Michael Moritz, a force at Sequoia Capital for 38 years, officially separated from the investment firm last summer. They are among the most recognizable of a generation of Silicon Valley investors who are getting out of venture capital at the end of a lucrative 15-year upswing for the industry. Investors at Tiger Global, Paradigm, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Emergence Capital and Spark Capital have all announced plans to step back. Foundry Group, a venture firm in Boulder, Colo., that has backed 200 companies since 2006, said in January that it would not raise another fund.

Persons: Reid Hoffman, Michael Moritz, Jeff Jordan, Andreessen Horowitz Organizations: LinkedIn, Sequoia Capital, Tiger Global, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Spark, Foundry Group, Apple, Google Locations: Silicon, Boulder, Colo, —

☆ Meet Boston's new power venture capitalist
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-06 | by ( Melia Russell | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +10 min

A changing of the guard is underway at Boston-based venture capital firm Underscore VC. The venture capitalist, wearing a cherry red cardigan and Apple Watch, cracked open a notebook and set it beside an iced coffee. Underscore VCLyman's Facebook credentials could have given her a ticket to many venture firms located down the road in Menlo Park. "The thesis is that if you get the right people around the business at the right time, it'll change the trajectory of the business," Lyman said. As Lyman steps up, so does UnderscoreUnderscore is moving into its next phase during a reckoning for venture capital.

Persons: Lily Lyman, —, Mike Greene, Marley, Lyman, Greene, she's, Michael Skok, John Pearce, Lyman —, Lily, they're, Skok, Alessandra Henderson, Pamela Aldsworth, Jeff Bussgang, Hi Marley, Gordon Ritter, Kevin Bacon, There's, Ritter Organizations: Service, Harvard University, Facebook, House, Apple Watch, Elektra Health, JPMorgan, New England Venture Capital Association, MIT, Allston Venture Fund, Harvard, Boston's, Capital Partners, OpenView Venture Partners, SEC, Old, Capital Locations: Boston, Old, Menlo Park

☆ Ex-Olympian pleads guilty to sexually assaulting boys – but number of victims ‘remains unknown,’ DA says
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-10 | by ( Holly Yan | Nic F. Anderson | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +12 min

“The total number of Conrad Mainwaring victims remains unknown,” said Timothy Shugrue, the district attorney in Berkshire County, Massachusetts. For decades, the victims’ abuse was a closely guarded secret. I must be defective in some way or ways,’” Waxman told Mainwaring. “We would talk about school and sports and whatever teenage boys want to talk about,” Kriesberg told CNN. “Mainwaring told Joseph that this procedure was necessary so he could properly understand Joseph’s sex drive and provide proper counseling.

Persons: Conrad Mainwaring, Mainwaring, ”, Timothy Shugrue, ‘, Greylock –, ” Shugrue, Camp Greylock, “, Michael Waxman, ” Waxman, –, Waxman, he’s, He’s, I’m, ’ ” Waxman, ” Mainwaring, ’, Greylock, That’s, Joe Kriesberg, ” Kriesberg, Kriesberg, “ Mainwaring, Joseph, massaging Kriesberg, masturbate Joseph, Mainwaring ”, Kat Thomas, ” Thomas, Mainwaring doesn’t, …, Larry Nassar’s, Thomas ’, Stewart, Finaldi Organizations: CNN, Berkshire County –, ESPN, Attorney’s, Syracuse University, Nottingham High School, Nottingham, Syracuse City School District, Syracuse University campus, High, USA Gymnastics, Michigan State University, New, Manly Locations: Massachusetts, New York, Berkshire County , Massachusetts, Caribbean, Antigua, Barbuda, Montreal, Berkshire County, Berkshire, Nottingham, Syracuse

☆ Invite-only Lapse wants to rival Instagram. It's about to raise a lot of cash to do just that.
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-19 | by ( Callum Burroughs | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Lapse, a buzzy social media app that wants to rival Instagram, is set to raise fresh funding, Business Insider understands. Based on the number of shares allocated, the company has raised approximately £24.48 million, $31 million. One London-based source familiar with the deal said Lapse was set to secure around $30 million. A look at the Lapse app. It aims to help satisfy the demand for more authenticity on social media.

Persons: Instagram, Jacob Andreou, Ben, Dan Silvertown, Plural's Ian Hogarth, Dmitry Tokarev Organizations: Business, Meta, Greylock Ventures, Facebook, Companies, Octopus Ventures, Redbus Ventures Locations: London

☆ OpenAI’s Cast of Characters
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-22 | by ( Jennifer Korn | Paul Glader | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +12 min

Before OpenAI, Altman was president of Y Combinator, mentoring a host of founders and expanding his network in Silicon Valley. “We are encouraged by the changes to the OpenAI board,” he wrote on X on Wednesday. Mira MuratiNamed by the OpenAI board as Altman’s interim successor on Friday, Murati was replaced by Shear before the weekend was done. In September, she joined the board of directors of Shield AI, a defense technology company building AI pilot technology for aircraft. Will HurdAfter joining the OpenAI board in 2021, Hurd was the third director to exit in 2023.

Persons: OpenAI, Sam Altman, Altman, Elon, Satya Nadella, OpenAI’s ChatGPT, Kiko, Emmett Shear, Y, Nadella, ”, Mira Murati, Murati, Shear, “ Mira, ” Nadella, Ilya Sutskever, Brockman, Sutskever, “, we’ve, Adam D’Angelo D’Angelo, Mark Zuckerberg, D’Angelo, Forbes, ” Bret Taylor, Bret Taylor, Elon Musk, Taylor, Justin Kan, Tasha McCauley McCauley, Joseph Gordon, Levitt, McCauley, Greg Brockman Greg Brockman, Peter Thiel, Musk, Helen Toner Toner, AI’s, Toner, Joshua Kushner Kushner, Kushner, Jared Kushner, Karlie Kloss, Charles Kushner, Donald Trump, Larry Summers Summers, Obama, Clinton, Summers, Shivon Zilis, Zilis, Walter Isaacson, Will Hurd, Hurd, Nikki Haley, Reid Hoffman, Hoffman, OpenAI . Hoffman, He’s Organizations: CNN, Stanford University, Microsoft, OpenAI, Colby College, Dartmouth University, Tesla, Time, Phillips Exeter Academy, California Institute of Technology, Facebook, Twitter, Google, Yale University, Justin.tv, GeoSim Systems, Rand Corporation, Centre, Bard College, University of Southern, Harvard University, MIT, Elon, Georgetown’s Center for Security, Emerging Technology, Open, Oscar Health, Memphis Grizzlies, Harvard College, Harvard Business School, Republican, CIA, Allen & Company, Texas, M University, Reid Hoffman LinkedIn, PayPal, LinkedIn, Greylock Partners, SpaceX, Boring Company Locations: Silicon Valley, St, Louis , Missouri, OpenAI, Seattle , Washington, Israel, University of Southern California, North Dakota, Beijing, Georgetown, Canada, United States, Texas, Oxford

☆ Argentina investors on edge as Milei decides who to put in economic hot seat
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-20 | by ( Jorgelina Do Rosario | Thomson Reuters | Jorgelina Do Rosario Is Emerging Markets Correspondent At Reuters Based In London | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

"Who is appointed...as central bank president and economy minister, and the details of an urgent economic stabilization plan without a majority in Congress, will be the key for asset prices in the days ahead." The Economy Ministry is always a hot seat, with Argentina a nine-time debt defaulter caught in a decades-long boom-and-bust cycle. Milei will take office on Dec. 10 after beating ruling Peronist coalition Economy Minister Sergio Massa. "Milei said that he is going to reorganize the central bank instead of imploding it or shutting it down. The new economy minister will have to negotiate a new programme with the IMF "relatively quickly" to avoid entering arrears with the fund, Morgan Stanley said on Monday.

Persons: Milei, Macri, Javier Milei, Milei's, embolden Milei, Armando Armenta, defaulter, Sergio Massa, Hans Humes, Humes, Carlos Rodriguez, Roque Fernandez, Dario Epstein, Emilio Ocampo, Mauricio Macri, Juan Manuel Pazos, Pazos, Morgan Stanley, Morgan Stanley ´, Massa, Jorgelina, Adam Jourdan, Kirsten Donovan Organizations: Monetary, Ministry, Peronist, Economy, Greylock Capital Management, Reuters, Thomson Locations: BUENOS AIRES, South, AllianceBernstein, New York, Argentina, Argentine, Buenos Aires, Washington, refinance, Santiago del Estero, Formosa, Rosario

☆ Snap's longtime vice president of engineering and monetization is exiting the company
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-08 | by ( Kali Hays | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Biswanath Panda, vice president of monetization engineering who reported to Khajehnouri, left the company in May after just a year in the role and joined Uber. Jacob Andreou, Snap's former senior vice president of product and growth, left after working there since 2015 and then joined Greylock. Vice president of product Peter Sellis left Snap in September after eight years, taking on a similar role with Discord. Snap in June hired Eric Young as its new senior vice president of engineering, with Khajehnouri then reporting to him. In addition to Young, Darshan Kantak joined as senior vice president of revenue product, Patrick Harris joined as president of Americas, Ronan Harris joined as president of EMEA, and Ajit Mohan joined as president of APAC.

Persons: Nima Khajehnouri, Khajehnouri, Evan Spiegel, Spiegel, he's, Jeremi Gorman, Peter Naylor, Jerry Hunter, Gorman, Ben Schwerin, Biswanath Panda, Uber, Jacob Andreou, Greylock, Peter Sellis, Hunter, Eric Young, Young, Darshan Kantak, Patrick Harris, Ronan Harris, Ajit Mohan Organizations: Snap, EMEA Locations: Snapchat

☆ Reid Hoffman-backed PAC may fund primary campaign against progressives Rashida Tlaib, Cori Bush
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-02 | by ( Brian Schwartz | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Mehlhorn told CNBC that he recently approached the heads of the Mainstream Democrats PAC about the idea of backing a primary effort against the two progressive House lawmakers. "I have been asking them [Mainstream Democrats PAC] if there is any possibility of ousting the most extreme members of Congress, and I have been asking about Cori Bush and Rashida Tlaib," Mehlhorn said on Wednesday. The possible primary fight would be the latest election cycle that the Mainstream Democrats PAC has moved against candidates from within the Democratic Party. The Mainstream Democrats PAC helped defeat some progressive Democrats during the 2022 congressional midterms, according to data from the nonpartisan OpenSecrets. The Democratic Majority for Israel's nonprofit donated $500,000 to the Mainstream Democrats PAC last year, according to an FEC record.

Persons: Reid Hoffman, Rashida Tlaib, Cori Bush, Dmitri Mehlhorn, Mehlhorn, Bush, Alexandria Ocasio, Cortez, Jamaal Bowman, Rashida, Hoffman, it's, Deborah Simon, Mel Simon, Daniel Benton, Paul Finnegan, Wesley Bell, Sen, Josh Hawley, Tlaib, Nina Turner, Shontel Brown, Henry Cuellar, Jessica Cisneros Organizations: LinkedIn, CNBC, Mainstream Democrats PAC, New York Democratic, Mainstream, PAC, Mainstream Democrats, Democratic Party, Democrats, Commission, FEC, Simon Property Group, Rep, Democratic, Israel Locations: New York City, U.S, Gaza, Louis, Ohio, Texas, Israel

☆ Legal tech startup Responsiv is bringing AI to in-house attorneys to help them save time and money. It just raised $3 million from Greylock.
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-02 | by ( Samantha Stokes | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

But by building a program with "guardrails," a new legal tech company is working to bring all of the benefits of artificial intelligence to companies' in-house legal teams without the risks. Based in Chicago, Responsiv is an AI assistant for in-house legal teams. With Responsiv, in-house counsel can quickly get answers to legal questions that are easily verifiable, saving companies time and money. "There's a noticeable gap in innovation tailored specifically to in-house legal teams," Domash said. Funding for legal tech has fallen in 2023, according to Crunchbase, but many startups in the space focus on law firms.

Persons: ChatGPT, Mike Duboe, Nikita Solilov, Jordan Domash, Jordan, Nikita, Duboe, Domash, Responsiv, We'll, Darrow Organizations: Greylock Partners Locations: Chicago, Silver, Greylock

Zambia was the first African country to default in the COVID-19 era, in late 2020, but its restructuring process has been beset by delays. International bondholders also complained they were left out of the process, which started with drawn-out negotiations with bilateral creditors including China. Zambia's three international bonds rose sharply after the announcement, adding as much as 3.9 cents on the dollar, Tradeweb and MarketAxess data showed. The committee of bondholders owns or controls 40% of the outstanding bonds, Zambia's finance ministry added. Earlier this month, Zambia agreed a memorandum of understanding with its official creditors, including China and members of the Paris Club of creditor nations, to restructure about $6.3 billion of debt.

Persons: Situmbeko Musokotwane, Susana Vera, amortization, Rachel Savage, Karin Strohecker, Bhargav Acharya, David Holmes Organizations: Zambia's, International Monetary Fund, World Bank, REUTERS, IMF, Bondholder, Amia, Amundi, RBC BlueBay Asset Management, Farallon Capital Management, Greylock Capital Management, Paris Club, Thomson Locations: Marrakech, Morocco, JOHANNESBURG, Zambia, China, Rosario

☆ Insider is seeking nominations for the 2023 rising stars of venture capital
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-24 | by ( Samantha Stokes | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Insider is putting together a list of the best up-and-coming venture capitalists of 2023. download the app Email address Sign up By clicking “Sign Up”, you accept our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy . AdvertisementAdvertisementWe are seeking nominations for Insider's yearly list of rising stars of venture capital, and we want to hear from you. In the past, we've had people with a variety of roles and experiences from VC funds like Founders Fund, Greylock Partners, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Tiger Global, and Spark Capital. Please email Madeline Renbarger at mrenbarger@insider.com or Samantha Stokes at sstokes@insider.com with any questions or issues submitting your nominations.

Persons: VCs, —, we've, Madeline Renbarger, Samantha Stokes Organizations: Service, Founders, Greylock Partners, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Tiger Global, Spark Locations: mrenbarger@insider.com, sstokes@insider.com

Investors arrive to the election looking at an economy in recession as a crippling drought hit the key agricultural sector. The gap to the official rate is above 150%. On the line is the survival of the country's $43 billion program with the International Monetary Fund and the possibility that Argentina defaults on its debt for a 10th time. "Dollarization would not cure the main issue in Argentina, which is a really large fiscal problem." "Debt does not need to be an immediate priority," said Khan, who doesn't expect dollarization to top the near-term list either.

Persons: Patricia Bullrich, Martin Cossarini, Javier Milei, Sergio Massa, Alejandro di Bernardo, Bernardo, Milei, Massa, Gabriel Rubinstein, Elijah Oliveros, Rosen, Zulfi Ali, Shamaila Khan, Khan, Hans Humes, Humes, Rodrigo Campos, Karin Strohecker, Susan Fenton Organizations: el Cambio, REUTERS, NEW, International Monetary Fund, Jupiter Asset, Bullrich, WE, JPMorgan, China, Institute of International Finance, IMF, America, PGIM, Oxford Economics, Reuters, Emerging Markets, Asia Pacific, UBS Asset Management, Massa, Greylock Capital Management, Thomson Locations: Buenos Aires, Argentina, Washington

☆ Reid Hoffman backs 'blitzscaling' AI for the 'elevation of humanity'
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-01 | by ( Polly Thompson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Reid Hoffman backed "blitzscaling" AI in an interview with Time. Hoffman is optimistic about AI, in contrast to other business leaders who want its development paused. AdvertisementAdvertisementThe LinkedIn co-founder and billionaire tech investor Reid Hoffman has again called for faster adoption of AI for "the elevation of humanity." Hoffman has invested in dozens of AI companies through his venture capital firm, Greylock Partners, and was an early investor in OpenAI. On the issue of how to instill AI with universal values within AI, Hoffman admitted that technology isn't neutral, but said developers could be make them as "humanity-positive" as possible in partnership with customers.

Persons: Reid Hoffman, Hoffman, —, ChatGPT, Steve Wozniak, Elon Musk Organizations: Service, Greylock Partners, New York Times Locations: Silicon, OpenAI

☆ LinkedIn cofounder Reid Hoffman thinks pausing AI development is 'foolish' and 'anti-humanist'
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-14 | by ( Sawdah Bhaimiya | Hasan Chowdhury | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Reid Hoffman dismissed efforts to pause AI development in an interview at CogX Festival. Hoffman compared the development of AI to cars which also posed many risks and dangers at first. Hoffman pointed to other powerful technologies built in the past as an example of why the letter didn't have a logical basis. AdvertisementAdvertisement"When we built the car, we didn't know about safety belts, we didn't know about window washers, we didn't know about the crumple zone," Hoffman told the audience. Experts are divided on their opinions about the rapid development of AI.

Persons: Reid Hoffman, Elon, Hoffman, Elon Musk, Steve Wozniak, Pinterest, Evan Sharp, Emad Mostaque, we'd, Eliezer Yudkowsky Organizations: CogX, Service, Apple, Greylock Partners Locations: Wall, Silicon, London, OpenAI

☆ Young startups are feeling the pinch as seed funding succumbs to the VC winter
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-13 | by ( Melia Russell | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

There were 441 seed rounds recorded on Carta in the second quarter of this year, the slowest quarter for deal activity since early 2019. Funding for early-stage startups leveled off in the second quarter of this year. That has to do in part with a greater number of seed startups trying to raise extension rounds, multiple investors said. Carta data shows the median seed valuation hit $13.7 million in the second quarter, which is significantly higher than any quarter prior to 2021. "The founders that are raising seed rounds are raising them for decent cash and at decent valuations — healthy on both fronts," said Peter Walker at Carta.

Persons: That's, Jenny Fielding, Fielding, Carta, Andreessen Horowitz, they're, Marlon Nichols, Lily Lyman, —, it's, Brian Sugar, Sugar, Peter Walker Organizations: Carta, Ventures, New, Sequoia, Greylock Partners, MaC Venture Capital, Fund, Sugar Capital Locations: New York, Boston, Carta

☆ Venture Capitalist Reid Hoffman to Scale Back Investment Role at Greylock
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-30 | by ( Berber Jin | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

This copy is for your personal, non-commercial use only. Distribution and use of this material are governed by our Subscriber Agreement and by copyright law. For non-personal use or to order multiple copies, please contact Dow Jones Reprints at 1-800-843-0008 or visit www.djreprints.com. https://www.wsj.com/business/venture-capitalist-reid-hoffman-to-scale-back-investment-role-at-greylock-9590a19a

Persons: Dow Jones, reid, hoffman

☆ AI startup Modular raises $100 mln in General Catalyst-led funding
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Aug 24 (Reuters) - AI startup Modular said on Thursday it had raised $100 million in a new funding round, led by venture capital firm General Catalyst, with participation from existing investors Google Ventures, SV Angel, Greylock and Factory. Modular is among a clutch of AI startups that have benefited from a boom in the hi-tech sector following the runaway success of ChatGPT, attracting strong interest from venture capital firms and other investors. The company did not disclose the valuation at which it raised capital in the new round, but a report by The Information put it at $600 million earlier this month. It had raised $30 million in June last year. "This new funding will enable us to scale to the incredible customer demand we are seeing," co-founder and CEO Chris Lattner said in a statement.

Persons: Catalyst, Chris Lattner, Jaiveer Singh, Tasim Zahid Organizations: Google Ventures, SV Angel, Nvidia, Thomson Locations: Bengaluru

☆ A message to OpenAI's Sam Altman was an AI startup founder's last ditch effort to help save her company — and it worked
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-21 | by ( Madeline Renbarger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

The AI startup was recently named by VCs as one of 2023's most promising startups. Thompson named her startup Milo, an acronym for "my important loved ones," and raised some early funding from the accelerator Y Combinator in 2020. "You never hear someone talk about the power of these models to help families," said Brad Lightcap, OpenAI's chief operating officer. On Milo, parents can send text messages of grocery lists, photos of permission slips or sign-up-sheets for school activities to the Milo chatbot. To date, Milo has raised an undisclosed amount of pre-seed and seed capital from Y Combinator, OpenAI, Magnify Ventures, Bronze Ventures, and several angel investors.

Persons: Milo, Avni Patel Thompson, Sam Altman, VCs, Thompson, Mary, Archa Jain, Brad Lightcap, Milo chatbot, Cleo, Sara Ittelson, I'm Organizations: Starbucks, Reebok, Accel, Bronze Ventures Locations: Y

Aug 15 (Reuters) - Abnormal Security, an AI-powered email security startup, said it has crossed $100 million in annual recurring revenue, meeting a milestone for software companies as it eyes an eventual initial public offering, the company told Reuters. It also hired former Forescout chief executive Michael DeCesare as its president and Maya Marcus as its chief people officer. Evan Reiser, chief executive at Abnormal, said the company will continue to invest in products and get ready to be a public company as the market for initial public offerings (IPOs) improve, without specifying the timeline. Abnormal Security last raised $210 million in May 2022 at a valuation of $4 billion from investors including Insight Partners and Greylock Partners. Now more than ever, we need AI solutions to protect against AI threats," said Asheem Chandna, a partner at Abnormal investor Greylock.

Persons: Michael DeCesare, Maya Marcus, Evan Reiser, Reiser, DeCesare, Asheem Chandna, Krystal Hu, Lincoln Organizations: Reuters, Insight Partners, Greylock Partners, Microsoft, Xerox, Mattel, Thomson Locations: Europe, Japan, U.S, cybersecurity, New York

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