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☆ Meet the Instacart mafia: Here are 14 alumni of the grocery-delivery company who have founded their own startups and collectively raised at least $144 million from VCs
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-20 | by ( Samantha Stokes | Madeline Renbarger | Vishal Persaud | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

Some former Instacart employees have left the company to found their own startups. Meet 14 Instacart mafia members who have collectively raised at least $144 million for their own startups. Former Instacart employees are in good company. Meet the Instacart mafia, which includes former chief growth officer Elliot Shmukler and Andreea Akerele Francis, the company's head of product, retention and growth from 2018 to 2021. They and others have now founded companies of their own that have raised millions of dollars in VC funding.

Persons: Elliot Shmukler, Andreea Akerele Francis Organizations: Nasdaq, mafia Locations: insurtech

☆ Instacart's CEO, Sequoia's Michael Moritz and D1's Daniel Sundheim have broken open the locked IPO market. Here's how much money they made.
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-19 | by ( Madeline Renbarger | Samantha Stokes | Vishal Persaud | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: 1 min

Instacart went public on Tuesday after raising $924 million in its IPO. Many of Instacart's executives, founders, and investors stand to make millions. Instacart's cofounder Apoorva Mehta and CEO Fidji Simo's stakes are worth $1.2 billion and $21.6 million. After a long lull in the IPO market, Instacart has jumped in as one of the first companies to break the tech IPO drought of the past two years and go public. This story is available exclusively to Insider subscribers.

Persons: Instacart, Apoorva Mehta, Fidji, Brandon Leonardo, Max Mullen, Fidji Simo Organizations: Instacart's

☆ Curipod helps teachers make interactive lessons using generative AI. Check out the pitch deck it used to raise $4.6 million in seed funding.
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-14 | by ( Madeline Renbarger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

"Instead, I wanted this interactive lesson tool where students can express themselves and have agency — the opposite of this lecture model." With Curipod, teachers can create lessons on any school subject using generative AI, first by inputting the subject of the lesson, the grade level, and any additional learning objectives. Curipod is free for teachers and students to use at the moment, with paid tiers for school districts, said Seip. The team only launched its AI product at the beginning of this year, and had not previously sought venture capital funding. Check out the nine-slide pitch deck that Curipod used to raise $4.6 million in seed funding.

Persons: Jens Aarre Seip, Seip, Eirik Hernes Berre, Frikk Fossan, Curipod, GPT3 Organizations: Norwegian School of Economics, Reach, aha, Emerson, Sondo, Edovate Locations: Norway

☆ Insider Today: Y Combinator's Demo Day decline
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-07 | by ( Dan Defrancesco | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +10 min

Y Combinator's Demo Day, which will wrap up today, was long considered the event for early-stage startups. AdvertisementAdvertisementInvestors front-running Demo Day was previously considered a major faux pas. You might ask yourself: Who cares if startups line up investments before Demo Day? And companies that get investments before Demo Day might regret it in the long run. The new rating system for performance reviews determines pay — and managers were instructed to not share it with employees.

Persons: I've, that's, Madeline Renbarger, haven't, It's, it's, Samantha Lee, Madeline, There's, Martin, Ryan Reynolds, LeBron James, they're, Ed Yardeni, Jeremy Grantham, Brevan Howard, Peter Hornick, Eduardo Munoz, Sapna Chadha, Shopify, Arantza Pena Popo, YIMBYism, Elon Musk, Katy Perry, Hozier, Hayao Miyazaki's, Heidi Tissenbaum's, Dan DeFrancesco, Naga Siu, Hallam Bullock, Lisa Ryan Organizations: Service, NFL, Tech, Bank, Getty Images, REUTERS, Google, Google Asia Pacific, The Kansas City Chiefs —, Detroit Lions, 48th Toronto, Getty Locations: Wall, Silicon, Silicon Valley, Nevada, The, New York City, San Diego, London, New York

☆ VCs don't care as much about Y Combinator's Demo Day anymore
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-06 | by ( Madeline Renbarger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Y Combinator's Demo Day used to be the hottest in-person early-stage event in Silicon Valley. For early-stage venture capitalists, few days on the calendar used to compare to Y Combinator's biannual Demo Day. "All of the funds try to go meet the best YC companies before Demo Day," the same investor told Insider. When asked about startups raising before Demo Day, Y Combinator president and CEO Garry Tan told Insider in an emailed statement that "lots of the best companies raise at Demo Day and after." "Coinbase, Instacart, Whatnot, Rappi, Airbyte, Retool — you could have gotten into their rounds at Demo Day.

Persons: It's, Erik Bruckner, Y, Garry Tan, it's, Bruckner, They're, Y Combinator, Jeff Weinstein, Combinator, Tan, haven't Organizations: YC, Bruckner Ventures, FJ Labs Locations: Silicon Valley, Columbus , Ohio

☆ The 25 most promising education-tech startups of 2023, according to top VCs
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-05 | by ( Madeline Renbarger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: 1 min

Aprende InstituteEsteban Sosnik, a cofounder and partner at Reach Capital. Reach CapitalRecommended by: Esteban Sosnik, Reach CapitalRelationship: InvestorTotal funding: $27.2 million, according to the companyWhat it does: Aprende Institute offers vocational training for the US Hispanic community. Why it's on the list: While there are several prominent trade and upskilling startups, not all of them offer instruction in Spanish. Aprende Institute offers career training catering to the US Hispanic community, operating "in support of their economic empowerment," said Sosnik. Aprende Institute last raised $22 million in Series A funding in the fall of 2021, led by Valor Capital Group.

Persons: Esteban Sosnik Organizations: Aprende, Reach, Aprende Institute, Valor Capital

☆ A VC firm has built an AI-powered pitch deck generator for startup founders — and is giving it away for free
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-31 | by ( Madeline Renbarger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Growth Warrior Capital is launching a new tool Elevo, an AI-powered pitch deck generator. For Phelon as an investor, the sheer amount of pitch decks that she was sorting through began to become overwhelming. Elevo will then generate a pitch deck for them with the key details that VCs are looking for. Elevo's interface allows founders to input details about their startup and generate a short pitch deck. Growth Warrior CapitalThe designs are typically simple and the slide numbers are short, but that's oftentimes what investors who see dozens of decks a week prefer.

Persons: Phelon, Ashley Pilipiszyn, TapInfluence, Lizzie Widhelm, Elevo's waitlist, Elevo, I'm Organizations: Morning, OpenAI, Growth

Adept: a machine learning research labNiki Pezeshki is a general partner at Felicis Ventures. FelicisStartup: AdeptRecommended by: Niki Pezeshki, FelicisRelationship: No financial interestTotal funding: $415 million, according to the companyWhat it does: Adept is a machine-learning research and product lab aiming to build AI technology that can automate human tasks as varied as running software and browsing the web. Why it's on the list: "Fresh off a massive round of funding, Adept is poised to deliver artificial general intelligence that truly benefits working people," Pezeshki said. "So much software is repetitive tasks, and Adept is creating an AI that will enable workers to increase productivity and focus on more creative tasks."

Persons: Niki Pezeshki, Pezeshki Organizations: Felicis Ventures, Felicis

☆ How Preply became one of the largest online language learning startups in the world
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-28 | by ( Madeline Renbarger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

He started to see the potential for online language tutoring as a viable business model, since online lessons were cheaper than in-person lessons and class schedules were more flexible. In the summer of 2012, Bigai, Voloshyn and Lukyanov founded the online language learning startup Preply. Last month, Preply raised a $70 million Series C extension round with a combination of debt and equity led by Horizon Capital. Reach Capital, Hoxton Ventures and Owl Ventures, which led its previous $50 million Series C in 2022, also participated. The company's successful fundraising comes after a difficult year personally for the Preply team.

Persons: Preply, Kirill Bigai, Dmytro Voloshyn, Sergey Lukyanov, Bigai, Lukyanov, James Kim Organizations: Preply, Horizon Capital, Morning, Skype, Horizon, Reach, Hoxton Ventures, Owl Ventures, Datadog, Bain, Reach Capital Locations: Ukraine, Boston, Texas, Barcelona, Kyiv, Berlin, Czech, Russia

☆ Here's an exclusive look at the pitch deck a former Meta VP used to raise $7.5 million in seed funding for his AI chatbot tutoring startup that helps students with STEM homework
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-22 | by ( Madeline Renbarger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Sizzle AI is a new AI tutoring chatbot startup where students can get help with STEM homework. Sizzle AI was founded by an ex-Meta vice president and just raised $7.5 million in seed funding. Sizzle AI has launched in both the Apple App store and Google Play store and just raised $7.5 million in seed funding led by Owl Ventures, with participation from 8VC. Other AI tutoring chatbots have popped up in recent months, most notably Khan Academy's Khanmigo chatbot. See the pitch deck that Sizzle AI used to raise $7.5 million in seed funding:

Persons: Jerome Pesenti, Pesenti, Khan, Sizzle, Emily Bennett Organizations: Meta, Apple, Google, Owl Ventures, 8VC

☆ Edtech startup Kinjo incentivizes kids to play educational mini-games in Roblox. Check out the pitch deck it used to raise $6.5 million in seed funding.
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-21 | by ( Madeline Renbarger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

With Kinjo, kids can earn virtual currency called Robux by playing higher-ranked learning games. To earn these Robux, kids can spend real-world money, or they can play simple mini games to "grind" for Robux rewards. Kids who use Kinjo are three times more likely to spend time on games that are more productive than kids without Kinjo, Malcolm said. Many edtech gaming platforms are already on the market, such as the social-emotional learning game Social Cipher or the STEM learning game Royelles. Check out the 16-slide pitch deck that Kinjo used to raise $6.5 million in seed funding:

Persons: Charles Thornburgh couldn't, Thornburgh, Jim Breyer's Breyer, Kinjo, Laura Malcolm, Kinjo's, Malcolm said, Krishna Srinivasan Organizations: Austin, LiveOak Venture Partners, Silverton Partners, Jim Breyer's Breyer Capital, Roble, Robux, Roblox Locations: Roblox, Silverton, Austin , Texas, Fortnite

☆ 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

From Karat to Spill, venture capitalists are betting on creator-focused companies in 2023.Insider is highlighting 14 VC firms that are backing startups in the space right now. About three years ago, the "creator economy" was a fiery buzzword that emerged out of the bustling influencer-marketing and social-media industries. By 2021, the space had raised approximately $939 million in venture capital, according to Crunchbase data. Insider is highlighting over a dozen VC firms, as well as their partners who specialize in creator-focused startups, that are funding the next wave of creator-economy companies. Here are 14 VC firms funding the creator economy in 2023:Note: Firms are listed in alphabetical order.

Persons: Marlon Nichols, Nichols, Karat Organizations: MaC Venture

☆ VC Jennifer Stojkovic's post went viral after a founder harassed her in a LinkedIn pitch: 'It's much more common than you think'
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-15 | by ( Madeline Renbarger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Jennifer Stojkovic, a general partner at Joyful Ventures, commonly turns down founder pitches. But after she and her husband, also an investor, both rejected the same founder, he blew up at her. After explaining to the founder that her fund doesn't invest in "insects," or insect proteins, the founder replied with several expletives and personal insults. The founder continued to insult Stojkovic in the post's comments, and he appeared to delete his LinkedIn profile on Monday. Are you a female founder or investor who has faced harassment?

Persons: Jennifer Stojkovic, doesn't, Stojkovic, Aaron Dossey, Dossey, –, we're, she's, She's, you've, —, Madeline Renbarger Organizations: Joyful Ventures, LinkedIn, Center for Strategic, International Studies Locations: United States

☆ These education-tech startups are aiming to help kids with autism, ADHD and dyslexia in school
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-15 | by ( Madeline Renbarger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

A new group of startups are helping children with conditions like autism and ADHD learn in schools. And neurodivergent students that require special education assistance and mental health support are behind the learning curve. Staffing qualified special education teachers has also become a problem for schools. As more districts look for solutions that can help address these problems, startups can be the ones offering the tools. In the last two years, though, more generalist investors have begun to invest in startups in this area.

Persons: Vanessa Castañeda Gill wasn't, Castañeda Gill, Gill, Vanessa Castañeda Gill, Guadalupe Lara, Edweek, Rebecca Kaden, Vijay Ravindran, Suchi Deshpande, Ravindran, Floreo, Alex Alvarado, Alvarado, Daybreak's, Diana Heldfond, Dan Povitsky Organizations: Venture, Morning, Progress, Staffing, National Center for Education Studies, ABC News, Union Square Ventures, Meta, Vine Ventures Locations: Manhattan Beach , California, Floreo, America

☆ The pandemic learning loss was worse for kids with special needs. Now, startups are helping students with autism, dyslexia, and ADHD get back on track.
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-15 | by ( Madeline Renbarger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

A new group of startups are helping children with conditions like autism and ADHD learn in schools. And neurodivergent students that require special education assistance and mental health support are behind the learning curve. Guadalupe Lara, an intensive behavioral instruction aide for students with special needs at Pacific Elementary in Manhattan Beach, California, said helping her students recover from the learning losses during remote learning during the pandemic has been very tough. Staffing qualified special education teachers has also become a problem for schools. In the last two years, though, more generalist investors have begun to invest in startups in this area.

☆ The edtech startup funding slowdown may be hitting the 'bottom of the market'
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-08 | by ( Madeline Renbarger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Edtech venture capital funding in 2023 may be on pace for its lowest annual total since 2016. The one exception to this edtech funding dropoff is in AI tools for education and upskilling. This puts the estimated total funding for 2023 at only $3.5 billion, the lowest annual total since 2016, according to HolonIQ. Additionally, there has not been a single edtech "mega round," or a startup funding round valued at over $100 million since 2022, with the exception of the Indian edtech unicorn Byju's $250 million fundraise this spring. Pujji and Mushin also indicated that AI edtech deals were the exception in this slowdown period.

Persons: VCs, It's, Vinny Pujji, Iynna Halilou, Leeor Mushin, Avalanche's Katelyn Donnelly, Mushin, they've, Chegg's, Cheggmate, Khan, Pujji Organizations: Left Lane Capital, Global, Bloomberg, Investors

☆ Paper, the online tutoring unicorn, just had a second round of layoffs. The cuts come a year-and-a-half after raising $270 million in Series D funding.
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-02 | by ( Madeline Renbarger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Paper, an edtech unicorn focused on online tutoring for K-12 students, has laid off staff. The cuts come as edtech startups are facing increasing pressure amid a downturn. The Canadian online tutoring startup Paper has laid off 106 employees, or 4% of staff, Insider has learned. Unlike other online tutoring companies, the bulk of the startup's online tutors are categorized as employees, not contractors, according to Paper's website. Other prominent edtech startups including Byju's, GoStudent, and Degreed have also cut jobs in the past year.

Persons: Slack, we've, Cutler Organizations: Employees, SoftBank Investment, Sapphire Ventures, Los Angeles Unified Locations: Canada, Los Angeles

☆ What does Elon Musk's 'Burnt Hair' perfume really smell like? We asked our newsroom to do a blind test of the new fragrance.
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-30 | by ( Lakshmi Varanasi | Sarah Jackson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Elon Musk's Boring Company launched a $100 perfume called "Burnt Hair" in October. Last October, he added "perfume salesman" to his list when he began selling a scent called "Burnt Hair" to the world. The unisex fragrance is sold through The Boring Company, where it was originally listed for $100. Upon sniffing Burnt Hair directly from the bottle he concluded that it actually smelled better than most perfumes. "It's pretty gross…It does smell like burnt hair."

Persons: Elon, Elon Musk, Musk, it's, Boring, Madeline Renbarger, Nathan McAlone, Darius Rafieyan, Rafieyan, Taylor Rains, Meghan Morris, Maddie Berg, who'd, Brad Davis, Tim Levin Organizations: Elon Musk's Boring Company, SpaceX, The, Company, Twitter, The Boring Company, eBay, Boring Company, Boring, Aviation, Transportation Locations: Colorado

From Karat to Spill, venture capitalists are betting on creator-focused companies in 2023.Insider is highlighting 14 VC firms that are backing startups in the space right now. By 2021, the space had raised approximately $939 million in venture capital, according to Crunchbase data. Many startups have raised money in 2023, from pre-seed stages to larger later-stage rounds. Insider is highlighting over a dozen VC firms, as well as their partners who specialize in creator-focused startups, that are funding the next wave of creator-economy companies. Here are 14 VC firms funding the creator economy in 2023:Note: Firms are listed in alphabetical order.

Persons: Marlon Nichols, Nichols, Karat Organizations: MaC Venture

☆ How the 23-year-old founder of GPTZero turned his student anti-cheating tool into a leading startup that detects AI-generated text online
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-28 | by ( Madeline Renbarger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Over the course of the holiday break last year, Tian built what would become the main tool for his startup, GPTZero. They became some of the earliest adopters of GPTZero, Tian explained. "You have to imagine, this is before TurnItIn even knew what AI detection was, and OpenAI wasn't considering this at all either," Tian said. As customer and media interest grew in GPTZero, Tian realized he had built something that could be a full-fledged startup. Tian and the GPTZero team acknowledge that errors can happen with GPTZero as well, but that focusing on "human" detection can be one way around it.

Persons: Edward Tian, he's, He's, Tian, Bard, TurnItIn, OpenAI, Alex Cui, Cui, Jack Altman's, Emad Mostaque, Tom Glozer, Mark Thompson, GPTZero, Greylock's Asheem, graf, It's, they've, we've Organizations: Princeton, Princeton University, NPR, Educators, BBC, University of Toronto, Uncork Capital, Altman, New York Times, Microsoft Locations: British, GPTZero, Uganda, Kenya

☆ I'm a generative AI startup founder who got into Y Combinator this year. But I turned them down for Neo, another smaller accelerator program. Here's why.
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-25 | by ( Madeline Renbarger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Here's why my cofounder and I decided to go with Neo and turned down a spot in Y Combinator. We also worked at another YC company, Fractional, after that too. So we changed ideas, and I think YC was maybe not too happy about that. I do think YC, outside of Silicon Valley, is still a bigger name, and there's a huge number of unicorns that have come out of there. If you're a B2B company, YC is probably a better buy, because YC's network can be great for finding new customers.

Persons: Combinator, Wesley Tian, Ali Partovi, scrappy, Neo's, Reid Hoffman, Erik Goldman Organizations: YC Locations: Aragon, Silicon Valley, Oregon

Adonis: AI revenue collection for healthcare providersBen Ling, the founder and a general partner at Bling Capital. Bling CapitalStartup: AdonisRecommended by: Ben Ling, Bling CapitalRelationship: InvestorTotal funding: $22.9 million, according to PitchBook. What it does: Adonis uses AI to automate and create intelligent revenue-collection software between healthcare providers such as doctors, hospitals, and insurance companies. "They are trending to significantly exceed revenue expectations in 2023 and is considered one of the fastest growing healthcare software companies in the United States. As a result, Adonis is overseeing the processing of billions of dollars of claims and impacting revenue outcomes for thousands of the nation's providers," Ling said.

Persons: Adonis, Ben Ling, Ling Organizations: Bling Locations: United States

The market for e-bike delivery has grown dramatically in the past few years. Here's how startups, delivery companies, and city governments are improving safety. The explosion of delivery startups and e-bikes in the past few years has led to a new type of boom: increasing battery fires. "E-bike batteries are made up of a bunch of small batteries stacked together," Charlie Welch, ZapBatt's cofounder and CEO, said. JOCOOther startups, such as Popwheels, are engineering safe batteries that are compatible with the e-bikes delivery drivers already own.

Persons: —, Uber, Ravindra Kempaiah, Michael Pecht, Brian O'Connor, O'Connor, Charlie Welch, ZapBatt's, Welch, Jonathan Cohen, Grubhub, Jonathan A, Cohen, David Hammer, Hammer, Baruch Herzfeld, they've, We've Organizations: Bloomberg, Zen Electronics, University of Maryland, Fire Protection Association, UL Solutions, US Consumer Product Safety Commission, UL Locations: New York City, New York, Halifax , Nova Scotia, China, Carlsbad , California, Brooklyn , New York

☆ Here's an exclusive look at the pitch deck AI-powered hiring startup RecruitBot used to raise $8.2 million in seed funding led by Slow Ventures
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-11 | by ( Madeline Renbarger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Recruitbot is a startup that uses AI to analyze and match potential job candidates to open roles. The team has just raised $8.2 million in new seed funding led by Slow Ventures. Some of the features include using AI for automating the search for qualified candidates by scraping data from LinkedIn and with other talent databases. The team got in touch with Sam Lessin, the general partner at Slow Ventures, after many of Lessin's portfolio companies started using RecruitBot for their hiring. Check out the 19-slide pitch deck that Recruitbot used to raise $8.2 million in seed funding: Note: certain proprietary information has been redacted.)

Persons: Jeremy Schiff, Schiff, Recruitbot, Kevin Mahaffey, Sam Lessin Organizations: Slow Ventures, OCA, Freestyle Capital, Parade Ventures Locations: OpenTable

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