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Behind most startup founders is an early-stage investor who saw their potential, nurtured their ambition, and backed their ideas. The end of a record bull run in tech rebooted the startup landscape, and now early-stage investors are embracing the change. Founders have gone back to basics, staying lean and mean from the start and harnessing tailwinds of the artificial intelligence boom. This story is available exclusively to Business Insider subscribers. Become an Insider and start reading now.

Organizations: Business

Early-stage investing is a delicate dance. It demands an understanding of markets, a knack for recognizing potential, and sheer tenacity to weather the cyclical storms of the startup world. Now in its fourth year, our Seed 40 list illuminates the women who have mastered this craft. They are on the front lines, locking arms with visionary founders to transform ideas into full-fledged businesses, often putting money and support behind those builders before others see the opportunity. This story is available exclusively to Business Insider subscribers.

Organizations: Business

☆ Anne Dwane has been a jack-of-all-trades in the startup world. Here's how that's helped her build a successful investing career.
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-06 | by ( Samantha Stokes | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Over the course of 20 years, Anne Dwane has made a name for herself as a successful entrepreneur and executive. For Dwane, her career as a startup founder and operator helped her find success as an early-stage investor. Dwane left Monster in 2008 to become the CEO of Zinch, an edtech startup that helped colleges recruit and students find programs and scholarships. With the guidance of a mentor, Chegg's CEO Dan Rosensweig, the experience also helped her understand that her superpower lay in helping early-stage companies grow. Village Global is an early-stage fund that leads seed and pre-seed funding rounds.

Persons: Anne Dwane, she's, Reid Hoffman, Jeff Bezos, Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, Dwane, I've, Chegg, Dan Rosensweig Organizations: Monster Worldwide, Business, Village, Georgetown University, Harvard Business School, Research, Monster, Accelerator Fund, Brightside, Airbase Locations: Palo Alto , California, Chegg

☆ Massachusetts woman beats incredible odds to win $1 million lottery prize twice in 10 weeks
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-05 | by ( Rebecca Rommen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Christine Wilson from Massachusetts won her second $1 million lottery prize within 10 weeks. AdvertisementA woman has claimed her second $1 million lottery prize within 10 weeks, playing the Massachusetts State Lottery. Wilson's first $1 million prize was from Dubs's Discount Liquors, also in Mansfield. New Jersey native Evelyn Adams also won the lottery twice — in 1985 and 1986, earning her a total of $5.4 million. The odds of winning the lottery twice are 283 billion to one, according to UK National Lottery operator Camelot.

Persons: Christine Wilson, —, Wilson, Stuart C, aren't, Kevin Miller, Kenneth J Stokes, David, Kathleen Long, Evelyn Adams, didn't sate Adams, Juan Hernandez, he'd Organizations: Massachusetts, Service, Massachusetts State, Massachusetts State Lottery, Juan Hernandez of, New York, UK National Lottery, Camelot Locations: Attleborough , Massachusetts, Mansfield, Liverpool, Massachusetts, . New Jersey, Juan Hernandez of Nassau County , New York

☆ AI is ushering edtech into a new era. Three investors share what they're most excited about in the space.
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-01 | by ( Samantha Stokes | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

The past few years have been tough for edtech companies. In recent months, multiple edtech startups have raised fresh funding rounds while specifically touting AI as a core part of their business model. These deals could signal that AI is ushering in a new era for edtech companies, and VCs who invest in the space are excited about the renaissance. And Ednition, also one of Donnelly's portfolio companies, provides an infrastructure-as-a-service platform for other edtech companies to improve the data that goes into their AI models. That's why it's so important to invest in ed-tech AI startups that help people rethink how they interact with technology and learn new skills necessary to successfully enter the workforce, he said.

Persons: PitchBook, VCs, Brian Dixon, Dixon, we've, Numerade, Kapoor, Katelyn Donnelly, she's, I've, you'll, Donnelly, Avalance, OpenAI, we're, ChatGPT, Ryan Craig, Craig, edtech Organizations: Business, Labs, Kapor, Partners, Chingona Ventures, TechCrunch, Kapoor Capital, Lirvana Labs, Odyssey Education, University Ventures, ACT Locations: VCs, edtech

Steve Bowsher, In-Q-TelSteve Bowsher, president and CEO of In-Q-Tel. He made an early bet on Palantir, blowing the doors open for Silicon Valley techies to go after federal contracts. The son of a federal employee who grew up devouring spy novels, Bowsher has always been interested in the work of the government but actually cut his teeth in Silicon Valley. After graduating from Stanford, he worked for three startups and spent eight years at venture fund InterWest Partners. By combining Silicon Valley's swashbuckling ethos with a government agency's mission-driven mentality, Bowsher has helped shepherd some of the biggest defense tech success stories of the past two decades.

Persons: Steve Bowsher, Bowsher Organizations: Magazine, Stanford, InterWest Partners Locations: Menlo Park , California, Silicon Valley

☆ Check out the pitch deck productivity startup Read AI used to land $21 million to fuel its meeting-summary generator
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-24 | by ( Samantha Stokes | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

The startup, Read AI, closed a $21 million Series A funding round in April. Goodwater Capital led the round, with participation from existing investor Madrona Venture Group, which led the startup's $10 million seed round in 2021. David Shin, who co-founded Read AI alongside Robert Williams and Elliott Waldron, told Business Insider that the generative AI boom over the last year has supercharged what the startup can offer clients. Read AI offers multiple pricing plans, including a basic, free version for individual users as well as enterprise and enterprise plus accounts that cost $22.50 and $29.75 a month per user, respectively. Check out the 23-slide presentation Read AI used to raise $21 million in Series A funding.

Persons: David Shin, Robert Williams, Elliott Waldron, Read Organizations: Goodwater Capital, Madrona Venture Group, Business, Microsoft, Google, Read, Bloomberg Locations: Seattle

☆ VCs are obsessed with vector databases. Here are seven AI startups in the space that have raised millions from investors.
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-19 | by ( Samantha Stokes | Darius Rafieyan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

VCs are hungry to back vector database startups and other behind-the-scenes tech that improves AI. Vector databases store and structure data that LLMs can then pull from. Business Insider has idenfied seven vector database startups that have been early winners. download the app Email address Sign up By clicking “Sign Up”, you accept our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy . Vector databases capture and store the essence of a particular piece of data that a machine-learning program or LLM can then pull from.

Persons: — Organizations: Business, Service

☆ Check out the presentation edtech startup Superintellignet used nab $2 million in pre-seed funding to help people learn how to use AI tools
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-10 | by ( Samantha Stokes | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Newly launched startup Superintelligent is betting it can solve this problem and help more people master using AI in their work and personal lives. The company just exited stealth with $2 million in pre-seed funding from Learn Capital, an edtech-focused VC fund. Based in New York, Superintelligent is a learning platform designed to help people understand how to use AI tools. "People who never would have cared about taking an online course before will 100% find themselves looking for online tools for learning AI." More broadly, AI is providing a boon to the edtech space, with startups such as Lirvana Labs, which provides AI learning for kids; Curipod, which lets teachers create AI lesson plans; and AI-powered study assistants Digest.ai and FoondMate all raising funding recently.

Persons: —, OpenAI's DALL, Superintelligent, Nathaniel Whittemore, Whittemore, Digest.ai, he's Organizations: Service, Pew Research Center, Learn, Business, Labs Locations: New York

☆ RFK Jr. raises possibility that January 6 wasn’t a ‘true insurrection,’ suggests ‘political objectives’ are motivating prosecutions
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-05 | by ( Aaron Pellish | Marshall Cohen | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

“That would fit a disturbing pattern of the weaponization of government agencies — the DoJ, the IRS, the SEC, the FBI, etc. In the statement, Kennedy pledged to name an independent special counsel to investigate “whether prosecutorial discretion was abused for political ends” in January 6 cases. Without the impartial rule of law, there is no true democracy or moral governance,” Kennedy said. “(Trump) overthrowing — trying to overthrow the election clearly is threat to democracy,” Kennedy said in a CNN interview on Monday. “But the question was, who is a worse threat to democracy?

Persons: Robert F, Kennedy Jr, President Trump, ”, “, Kennedy, ” Kennedy, Donald Trump, Undercutting Kennedy’s, Trump, Trump’s, —, Joe Biden’s, stokes, Matt Corridoni, Stefanie Spear, CNN’s Erin Burnett, Biden, I’m, Erin Organizations: CNN, Independent, Capitol, Trump, J6, DoJ, IRS, SEC, FBI, Justice Department, Democratic National Committee, RFK Jr

☆ Lirvana Labs developed an AI companion that it thinks will revolutionize the classroom. Here's the pitch deck the startup used to land $5.3 million.
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-04 | by ( Samantha Stokes | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Read previewAI has been a boom for the education space, and one startup just raised millions by convincing investors that large language models and generative AI will supercharge kids' learning. The startup, Lirvana Labs, just raised $5.3 million in seed funding from Kapor Capital, Transcend Capital Partners, and Chingona Ventures, Business Insider has learned. Lirvana Labs is betting that AI can counteract these trends. The startup's tech is available via a mobile app, which costs $9.99 monthly or $69.99 annually. Check out the 13-slide pitch deck Lirvana Labs used to raise its seed-funding round.

Persons: —, Christie, Clement Pang, Pang, Christie Pang Organizations: Service, Lirvana Labs, Kapor, Partners, Chingona Ventures, Business, National Center for Education Studies, Nations Locations: Menlo Park , California, Lebanon

☆ Diddy's ex-girlfriend Misa Hylton shared a video of his two sons being detained during house raid, and said feds used 'excessive force'
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-03 | by ( Ayomikun Adekaiyero | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Read previewSean "Diddy" Combs' ex-girlfriend Misa Hylton said federal agents used "excessive" force against the rap mogul's son, as she shared new footage of the raid on his Los Angeles home last month. "The over zealous and overtly militarized force used against my sons Justin and Christian is deplorable," Hylton wrote in the caption. AdvertisementThe surveillance footage appeared to show Christian Combs being handcuffed against a wall and officers pointing firearms at Justin Combs. Hylton added that Justin Combs' attorney, Jeffrey Lichtman, was investigating what she described as "the excessive use of force." Joi Stokes / WireImageRepresentatives of Combs and his sons, Hylton, and the Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to a request for comment from BI.

Persons: —, Sean, Diddy, Combs, Misa Hylton, Aaron Dyer, Hylton, Justin Dior Combs, Christian Combs, Kim Porter, Justin, Christian, Justin Combs, Jeffrey Lichtman, Joi Stokes, Dyer, Mr Organizations: Service, Department of Homeland Security, Business, Forbes, Los Angeles Times, MEN Locations: Los Angeles, LA, Miami, Instagram, WireImage

☆ Women in New York City are getting randomly punched in the face, and no one knows why
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-30 | by ( Alia Shoaib | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

Several women in New York City have made TikTok videos about being randomly punched in public. AdvertisementWomen in New York City are getting randomly punched in the face, and no one knows why. The random punching attacks have unsettled women in New York CityNew York City at dusk. AdvertisementPsychological impactThe spate of random punching attacks has unsurprisingly unsettled women in New York City. AdvertisementDespite the recent influx of alarming stories, data shows that crime rates in New York City have decreased in 2024 compared to last year.

Persons: stokes, —, Halley Kate, Kate, Stora, Olivia Brand, we're, Mikayla Toninato, Selena Pikanab, Gizem, didn't, Bethenny Frankel, Toninato, Kathy Hochul, Elon Musk, Hochul, you've Organizations: NYPD, Service, Business, NBC, New York City New, BI, West 42nd, New School, Guardian, Housewives, New, New York Gov, National Guard, Democratic Locations: New York City, New York City New York City, SoHo, Kenmare, Mulberry, West, NoHo, Germany, Manhattan, New York

☆ More startups are paying for ChatGPT as generative AI becomes a go-to tool for tech employees like engineers
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-26 | by ( Samantha Stokes | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

65% of startups on Kruze Consulting's platform are paying for OpenAI, up from just 3% when the chatbot launched in late 2022. Back then, OpenAI had an API service that one to three percent of his clients were using, Jones told Insider in an interview. At fintech unicorn CloudWalk, which is building a payments network, a few engineers started using ChatGPT Plus on their own and praising the application on company Slack channels. Indeed, the growing adoption of ChatGPT is creating demand for engineers who are especially savvy at using generative AI to get work done more quickly. "The feedback we got, which is indirectly related to our using AI, is that investors didn't understand how our team has so many clients and has built so much," Siegal said.

Persons: Healy Jones, OpenAI, Jones, Luis Silva, Carlyle, Lauder, ChatGPT, Silva, We're, CloudWalk, he's, Anthropic, GitHub Copilot, Jared Siegal, Siegal, Copilot, Axel Springer Organizations: Kruze Consulting, OpenAI's, Business, OpenAI, Kruze, ChatGPT, eBay, Slack, ChatGPT Enterprise, Lauder Companies Locations: Brazil, Kruze, GitHub

☆ Sam Altman's act may be wearing thin
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-26 | by ( Dan Defrancesco | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

download the app Email address Sign up By clicking “Sign Up”, you accept our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy . In today's big story, we're looking into how some in Silicon Valley are starting to sour on OpenAI's Sam Altman . AdvertisementFrom hardball tactics when raising funds to relentless self-mythologizing about his role in the future of tech, Altman's act is wearing thin on some . Even VCs uninterested in AI deals are quickly becoming servants to Altman's AI empire. Big market, fall hard.

Persons: —, Baltimore's Francis Scott Key, Sam Altman, Alastair Grant, Rebecca Zisser, Darius Rafieyan, Altman, Elon Musk, à, Steve Jobs, VCs, Samantha Stokes, Eric Baradat, Torsten Slok, David Rosenberg, BofA, Drew Watson, Birkin, Abanti Chowdhury, Elon, Don Lemon, that's, Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, Google's, Meta, Dave Calhoun, Aaron Schwartz, Adam Neumann, Neumann, Robert F, Kennedy Jr, Dan DeFrancesco, Hallam Bullock, George Glover, Grace Lett Organizations: Business, Service, Baltimore Fire Department, Tech, Apple Vision, NFL, ChatGPT, Kruze Consulting, Apollo Global Management, Federal Reserve, Bank of America, Abanti, Getty Images, Street Locations: Silicon Valley, Plenty, Big, Orlando, New York, London, Chicago

Reddit went public on Thursday after raising $748 million in its IPO. CEO Steve Huffman and Sam Altman and his network of investment firms are some who profited the most. Reddit is the most recent tech company to debut in the public markets as Wall Street watches to gauge the dormant IPO market. The company, founded in 2005 by Steve Huffman and Alexis Ohanian, had been rumored to go public over the past several years. However, the market has been shaky for the past two years, causing several companies to put off pursuing IPOs because of less-than-desirable macro conditions.

Persons: Reddit, Steve Huffman, Sam Altman, Alexis Ohanian Organizations: Business

☆ Reddit's co-founder is bickering with investors on the company's big IPO day
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-21 | by ( Samantha Stokes | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

But Reddit's co-founder took to X to call out a perceived slight by investor Initialized Capital. But it's not all sunshine and roses for Reddit, whose co-founder and early investors are bickering on social media. Alexis Ohanian called out Initialized Capital investors on X after the firm's social media account failed to congratulate him by name on Reddit's IPO. Garry Tan tweeted a congrtulations to both Alexis Ohanian an Steve Huffman on Reddit's IPO. Ohanian, Tan, and representatives for Initialized Capital did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Persons: Reddit, Reddit's, —, it's, Alexis Ohanian, Steve Huffman, Y, Garry Tan —, Ohanian, Tan, Brett Gibson, Jen Wolf, @jenhwolf, George Floyd's, Michael Seibel, Tan's, confidentially, Instacart, Huffman, Garry Tan, Garry Organizations: Service, Twitter, VC, NYSE, New York Stock Exchange

☆ Big Oil’s green-bashing stokes backlash as campaigners hit out at 'talking points from the 1970s'
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-20 | by ( Sam Meredith | In Samuelmeredith | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Aramco and Saudi ministry officials have previously advocated for ongoing investment in hydrocarbons to avoid energy shortages until renewables can fully meet global energy demands. Nasser's comments drew applause from the audience at CERAWeek — an annual energy conference by S&P Global that's known as the "industry's Super Bowl." Other oil and gas executives at the event echoed Nasser's views, but spoke less directly about the state of the energy transition. Separately, Exxon Mobil CEO Darren Woods on Monday said that demand for petroleum products is "still very, very healthy." And the impact that price has on demand," Woods told CNBC's "Squawk on the Street."

Persons: Amin Nasser, Nasser's, Wael Sawan, Darren Woods, hasn't, Woods, CNBC's Organizations: Aramco, Saudi, Shell, Reuters, Exxon Mobil Locations: Houston , Texas, Saudi Aramco, Europe

☆ Anthropic-backer Menlo Ventures is preparing for a 'gold rush' of AI infrastructure startups. Here's why.
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-18 | by ( Samantha Stokes | Darius Rafieyan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Menlo Ventures has been an early backer of AI powerhouses including security startup Abnormal, LLM developer Anthropic, and vector database Pinecone. "AI itself is not new, I think it's just how mainstream it's become," Matt Murphy, a Menlo Ventures partner who invests in SaaS and robotics startups, told Business Insider in an interview. AI's "picks and shovels"Murphy and fellow Menlo Ventures partner Tim Tully say that 2024 will be a big year for the "picks and shovels" of AI. There's room in the game for more LLMsSam Altman's OpenAI has been at the forefront of the generative AI revolution. Other vector database startups including Chorma and Weaviate have also raised millions from VCs.

Persons: —, Siri, Warby Parker, Matt Murphy, OpenAI, AI's, Murphy, Tim Tully, Tully —, Sana, Lindy, we've, Tully, Sam Altman's OpenAI, it's Organizations: Service, Valley's, Menlo Ventures, Business, Menlo, Cisco, Oracle, Meta, Google Locations: Snowflake, Anthropic

☆ Inside Startupland's 'Shroom Boom'
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-13 | by ( Samantha Stokes | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +11 min

This story is available exclusively to Business Insider subscribers. Frohman is part of a small but growing community within the startups industry that is experimenting with small doses of psilocybin to improve focus and productivity. Business Insider spoke with multiple founders and investors who microdosed, but wished to be anonymous. The person declined to share their name for publication, but their identity is known by Business Insider. Vancouver-based Filament Health is working to expand access to natural psychedelics through an extraction and drug-discovery process, while brick-and-mortar shops Shroomyz and Fun Guyz are further fueling the Canadian "'Shroom Boom".

Persons: Scott Frohman, Frohman, hasn't, Microdosing, James Fadiman —, Koel Robinson, Robinson, Richard Laver, Steve Jobs, Peter Grinspon, Grinspon, Peggy Van de Plassche, Van de Plassche, She's, Justin Zhu, I'm, microdosing, they're, It's Organizations: Business, Rocket Beverage Group, Erewhon, Foods, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, BMO, PsyMed Ventures, Noetic Fund Locations: Florida, San Francisco, Denver, Minneapolis, In Oregon, California , Iowa, Washington State, Vermont, Massachusetts, Vancouver, Palo Santo

☆ Boeing whistleblower who warned of aircraft safety flaws found dead
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-12 | by ( Patrick Smith | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

A Boeing 737 MAX sits outside the hangar during a media tour of the Boeing 737 MAX at the Boeing plant in Renton, Washington. In a statement Monday, Boeing said: "We are saddened by Mr. Barnett's passing, and our thoughts are with his family and friends." A former Boeing quality inspector who filed a whistleblower complaint over alleged plane safety flaws was found dead "from what appears to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound," officials in Charleston, South Carolina, said Monday. Boeing said then that it was following the ruling and would look to improve the design of the nut, but also said it wasn't a flight safety issue. After his retirement in 2017, Barnett filed a whistleblower complaint to federal regulators about his experiences at the South Carolina plant.

Persons: Barnett, Mitch, , Barnett's, Bobbi Jo O'Neal, John Barnett, —, I'd, John, Vicky Melder Stokes, Mike Barnett, Robbie Barnett, Rodney Barnett Organizations: Boeing, Boeing, NBC, The New York Times, FAA, Times, Department, Alaska Airlines, Max, Prevention Locations: Renton , Washington, Charleston , South Carolina, Charleston County, South Carolina, Charleston, Sydney, Auckland , New Zealand

☆ Fijoya is bringing AI to employer-sponsored healthcare benefits. Here's the pitch deck it used to raise $8.3 million.
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-07 | by ( Samantha Stokes | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Digital health benefits startup Fijoya just came out of stealth and announced an $8.3 million seed round from Team8, the Israeli venture group that creates startups and invests in existing ones across the cyber, data infrastructure, fintech, digital health, and AI industries. As Americans are spending more than ever on healthcare, Fijoya is one of many healthtech startups cropping up to tackle the financial aspects of healthcare. Now, out of stealth, Fijoya is focusing on giving employees an easier way to choose healthcare benefits that best suit their lifestyles. "This end-to-end approach signifies our commitment to simplify health benefits by offering a wide range of options with a seamless discovery, selection, and payment process.'" Check out the 15-slide pitch deck Fijoya used to raise its seed funding round.

Persons: Team8, Baruch Levy, Levy Organizations: Business, Health, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Norwest Venture Partners Locations: Team8, Israel

☆ AI-powered devices could drastically change how we interact with technology. But will they catch on?
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-01 | by ( Samantha Stokes | Vishal Persaud | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

"The key isn't hardware but the user experience it enables," Khosla, whose firm Khosla Ventures, is an investor in Rabbit, told Business Insider in an email. This story is available exclusively to Business Insider subscribers. At the same time, I don't think the average consumer wants to carry around multiple devices," S. Somasegar, a managing director at Madrona, told Business Insider. That's where we're at," he told Business Insider. Ginsberg said he's excited about the Humnane Pin because AI voice assistants have finally become powerful enough to be useful for average consumers.

Persons: Vinod Khosla, Khosla, Navin Chaddha, Ai, Somasegar, Bernstein, Nielsen, Zachary Ginsburg, Ginsberg, Marc Benioff, Sam Altman, Lachy Groom, Avi Schiffmann, it's, Chaddha Organizations: Khosla Ventures, Software, Business, Mayfield, Microsoft, Calm Ventures, Bond Ventures, Forerunner Ventures, Harvard Locations: Humane's

☆ Big-name investors are betting AI gadgets could change the way we interact with tech
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-01 | by ( Dan Defrancesco | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

download the appSign up to get the inside scoop on today’s biggest stories in markets, tech, and business — delivered daily. What's on deck:This story is available exclusively to Business Insider subscribers. The big storyAI (literally) in your pocketTech workers are criticizing Humane's hotly anticipated Ai pin. AdvertisementIn fact, heavy hitters like legendary investor Vinod Khosla believe that AI devices will completely change how we interact with technology. Humane's Ai Pin, which can project text onto users' hands and translate voice messages, didn't get a warm welcome when it launched late last year .

Persons: —, Oompa, I've, Willy Wonka, Elon Musk, Sam Altman, Humane's, Vinod Khosla, Samantha Stokes, Vishal Persaud, Khosla, Ai, didn't, Tim Cook, Salesforce's Marc Benioff, OpenAI's Sam Altman, Franck Robichon, Paul Krugman, shouldn't, we're, Wells, Bank of America's Merrill, Bitcoin, Tyler Le, maven, Alexei Navalny's, Dan DeFrancesco, Hallam Bullock, Jordan Parker Erb, George Glover Organizations: Service, Business, Humane, Khosla Ventures, Rabbit, Bank of America's, Wall, The New York Times, WW, SEC Locations: Franck, Wells Fargo, New York, London

☆ SimpleClosure just landed more VC funding, and its a sign that another wave of startup shutdowns is likely on the way
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-27 | by ( Samantha Stokes | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Infinity Ventures's Jeremy Jonker, former head of corporate development and PayPal Ventures at PayPal, led the most recent funding round, joining investors including Michael Vaughn and Jon Pomerantz of Vera Equity and Rex Salisbury of Cambrian Ventures. "It's been sign up after sign up after sign up," he told Business Insider in an interview. SimpleClosure's funding round comes as more startups than ever are shutting down thanks to a tech-market downturn that's left plenty of companies in the lurch. 770 startups shut down in 2023, up from 467 the year before, according to data from cap-table management startup Carta. "More than half of our customers have been entrepreneurs who are already starting their next company," Yona said.

Persons: VCs, Jeremy Jonker, Michael Vaughn, Jon Pomerantz, Vera Equity, Rex Salisbury, Dori Yona, SimpleClosure, Yona, he's, couldn't, doesn't, there's, We've, what's Organizations: Business, PayPal, Cambrian Ventures, SimpleClosure, Carta Locations: fintech

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