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☆ This Bessemer-backed startup clamping down on bad data quality just raised $12.8 million. Check out the 15-slide pitch deck Sifflet used to raise the cash.
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-21 | by ( Callum Burroughs | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Sifflet, a data observability startup, has raised $12.8 million in Series A funding. Check out the 15-slide pitch deck the Bessemer-backed company used to raise $12.8 million. Paris-based Sifflet, a startup that helps companies improve their data quality, has raised $12.8 million in funding. "I saw how painful it was to work with unreliable data and wanted to see if we could do something better because poor data quality is very costly." "Companies have become very proficient at collecting data because they can leverage big data to become smarter as businesses," Bakouk added.

☆ Rocket Lab quarterly revenue stays steady as space company doubles order backlog
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-28 | by ( Michael Sheetz | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Rocket Lab conducted two successful launches of its Electron vehicle during the quarter, generating $12 million in revenue. Rocket Lab began production of the first Neutron tank structures, as well as construction of the launch pad for the rocket. Alongside its results, Rocket Lab announced a contract for four Electron launches from satellite company Capella Space. Shares of Rocket Lab are up 19% so far this year, as of Tuesday's close at $4.50. For the first quarter of 2023, Rocket Lab expects to see launch revenue of about $18 million, and between $32 million to $35 million in Space Systems revenue.

☆ How two high schoolers from Denmark built an NFT marketplace and secured funding through a DAO backed by Bessemer Venture Partners
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-22 | by ( April Joyner | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Bessemer Venture Partners has invested in the NFT marketplace OWND, which it found through its DAO. Better yet, this DAO had the backing of one of Silicon Valley's blue-chip venture firms, Bessemer Venture Partners. Bach Ryhl read all the crypto-related articles he could find on Medium and took a Web3 course on Udemy. Lunau Liechti, in particular, had been following the efforts of brands such as Nike and LVMH to launch NFT versions of their physical products. "We want to make it as easy to buy a Nike NFT as it is to buy a Nike sneaker online," Lunau Liechti said.

☆ Investors and techies gather in San Francisco to bathe in generative A.I. hype sparked by ChatGPT
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-17 | by ( Jonathan Vanian | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +8 min

They were there to discuss the latest craze capturing the attention of the tech world: generative artificial intelligence. The underlying AI software powering ChatGPT, a kind of machine-learning technology known as a "large language model," isn't new. As Bessemer Venture Partners' Sameer Dholakia told audience members, generative AI could change "the lives of billions of people." Blackwell credits OpenAI and ChatGPT with showing people what's possible with generative AI, shining a spotlight on the industry at large. But for one day in San Francisco, generative AI was more than just a tool.

☆ An entrepreneur who has used Shopify since it was in beta shares how he built an app to solve the biggest problem he faced on the platform while scaling to $1 million in sales
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-08 | by ( Madeline Stone | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Thomas Bertrand built a Shopify app after years of selling on the e-commerce platform. He launched his Shopify store, Bento&co, where he sells bento boxes and related accessories, in 2008. But he also created an app on Shopify's App Store that was directly inspired by his years as a merchant. Shopify's app store is home to more than 7,000 apps to help merchants with tasks like store design, product sourcing, SEO, marketing, and shipping. Shopify's merchants made $46.2 billion in sales on the platform in the third quarter of 2022 alone.

☆ Microsoft's landmark deal with OpenAI shows that ChatGPT is going to be the defining technology of 2023
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-02 | by ( Paayal Zaveri | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

It remains to be seen how generative AI will transform our lives, but the tech is here to stay. In 2022, investors put at least $1.37 billion into generative AI startups, usually at the seed stage. Why this iteration of ChatGPT made generative AI so popular right nowIt's important to note that nothing about ChatGPT or generative AI is especially new or novel. In other words, OpenAI's real innovation was taking AI technology that was already out there and making it something that was easy and accessible to anybody. That's one reason why there will be a lot more business uses for generative AI technology than consumer use cases in the near term, said Mark Shmulik, a Bernstein analyst.

☆ As Deal Making Picks Up, Tech Chiefs Worry About Software Integration
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-27 | by ( Angus Loten | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +6 min

That is a potentially costly process that can require overhauling existing enterprise tech stacks, or even hiring high-priced experts to manage new IT tools, analysts said. SHARE YOUR THOUGHTS How can tech executives smooth the integration of new digital tools when their vendors make acquisitions? Hewlett Packard Enterprise this month said it acquired Pachyderm and would integrate new software tools into its enterprise-tech platform. HPE this month said it acquired Pachyderm, a San Francisco-based software startup, and would integrate the new software tools into its enterprise-tech platform. “Our existing customer base will want to know they won’t be forced to replace an existing technology they already buy,” Mr. Hotard said.

[1/4] Israelis protest against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's new right-wing coalition and its proposed judicial reforms to reduce powers of the Supreme Court, in Tel Aviv, Israel January 21, 2023. Israeli tech isn't going anywhere. FIDUCIARY RESPONSIBILITYIn a country rife with divisions over the conflict with the Palestinians and matters of synagogue and state, Israel's tech sector has generally stayed out of sensitive political debates. For some of those running tech businesses in Israel the judicial reforms plans may have tipped the scales. Additional reporting by Rami Amichay and Emily Rose in Tel Aviv; Writing by Maayan Lubell; Editing by James Mackenzie and Alexander SmithOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Tech Chiefs Fear ‘Frankenstein’ Software Integrations
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-25 | by ( Angus Loten | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +6 min

Microsoft Corp. this month said it plans to incorporate AI into all of its enterprise software, while boosting its multibillion-dollar investment in OpenAI, the startup behind chatbot ChatGPT. That is a potentially costly process that can require overhauling existing enterprise tech stacks, or even hiring high-priced experts to manage new IT tools, analysts said. Hewlett Packard Enterprise this month said it acquired Pachyderm and would integrate new software tools into its enterprise-tech platform. HPE this month said it acquired Pachyderm, a San Francisco-based software startup, and would integrate the new software tools into its enterprise-tech platform. “Our existing customer base will want to know they won’t be forced to replace an existing technology they already buy,” Mr. Hotard said.

Just weeks before crypto lender Genesis filed for bankruptcy, three former employees of the company had secured millions of dollars for a new crypto hedge fund, according to correspondence viewed by CNBC. Gemini, a crypto exchange and major Genesis client, accused Ballensweig of falsely reassuring Gemini in July that Genesis was financially stable. The ex-Genesis employees teamed up with Adam Guren from hedge fund Hunting Hill, Ballensweig said. Hunting Hill is a $718 million hedge fund, which launched in 2010 and moved into digital asset investing in 2020 with a crypto opportunities fund. Neither Hunting Hill nor Bessemer immediately responded to a request for comment.

☆ Researchers just tested ChatGPT on the same test questions as aspiring doctors – and found the AI was 'comfortably within the passing range'
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-20 | by ( Beatrice Nolan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

ChatGPT appeared capable of passing the US medical licensing examination in a research experiment. ChatGPT showed "moderate accuracy" and was "comfortably within the passing range," per the research. According to a new research experiment, ChatGPT showed "moderate accuracy" and was "comfortably within the passing range" in the exams. "ChatGPT performed at or near the passing threshold for all three exams without any specialized training or reinforcement," the researchers wrote in the paper. Another AI, developed by AI safety and research firm Anthropic, has passed a university-level law and economics exam, according to an academic at Virginia's George Mason University.

☆ Crypto tokens were once considered a fast track to riches for Web3 startup founders. Now some aren't bothering to launch them.
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-17 | by ( April Joyner | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Crypto tokens were once a quick way for Web3 founders to cash in. Just over a year ago, Web3 startups regularly raised money by selling their own cryptocurrencies directly to the public. But now, the crypto crash has made it an inauspicious time for them to launch tokens. Common has since postponed its token launch indefinitely. Georgen said that his aspirations to launch tokens weren't primarily motivated by cashing in.

☆ Triller missed its target for going public again, as it waits for the SEC to OK its confidential filing
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-10 | by ( Dan Whateley | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

Triller is in a holding pattern on its path to becoming a public company. A spokesperson said that once its registration statement is declared effective, it will make the filing public for the required time ahead of its public listing. The long slog toward becoming a public company as lawsuits pile upTriller has been pursuing a public offering for over a year. In December 2021, Triller announced it instead planned to go public via a reverse merger with the video-tech company Seachange International. "After much deliberation, Triller has determined that the best course of action is a direct listing for Triller."

☆ The billionaire CEO of a top biotech VC firm details how a new type of AI could transform how we test and discover treatments
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-09 | by ( Sarah Braner | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Afeyan is the CEO and founder of Flagship Pioneering, the venture firm behind Moderna. Flagship has in its portfolio multiple companies using AI in areas like drug discovery and testing. The Flagship method for company building starts with a vague "what if" question, and if the idea survives testing, it's unveiled to the public, Afeyan told Insider in 2021. Afeyan isn't alone in predicting that generative AI is gearing up to play a bigger role in healthcare. Morgan Cheatham, a vice president at Bessemer Venture Partners, told Insider he predicted generative AI would result in more than $1 trillion in value for the healthcare industry by 2040.

☆ 71 top VCs landed on Insider's 2022 list of investors to watch. Here's what they're looking for in startups to back in 2023
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-27 | by ( Madeline Renbarger | Stephanie Palazzolo | Darius Rafieyan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Despite a tumultuous market for startup investing, VCs still landed top deals at hot startups. Behind these successes were the smart and savvy rising-star VCs working to transform the industry. Here are some of the rising stars of venture capital who are names to watch in 2023. Insider asked the VCs we named in last year's rising-stars list and the general public to nominate this year's most promising venture investors. For instance, OMERS Ventures' Chrissy Farr made the jump to healthtech investing after working as a journalist covering the venture industry for CNBC.

☆ The 10 most active European and US investors betting on India as Asia's tech powerhouse, as it hits 100 startups worth $1 billion or more
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-21 | by ( Riddhi Kanetkar | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Funding from US and European HQ'd investors into Indian startups. 2021 was a banner year, with nearly 75% of the total funds into Indian startups coming from foreign investors. Foreign investor traction in India remains strong, said Draganov, who expects US and European venture capitalists to maintain their presence in India in the coming years. Using data from Dealroom and PitchBook, Insider profiled the most active investors that are headquartered in Europe and the US that have backed Indian startups since 2016. Based on the deal volume and size of investments into Indian startups since 2016, here are the top European and US firms investing into Indian startups, in alphabetical order.

Funding raised: $27 millionNumber of employees: 20Why it's set to take off next year: Provider burnout is getting worse, and it's exacerbating healthcare's staffing crisis. Nof said he expected Abridge's technology to be in demand next year as hospitals worked to reduce the administrative burdens on doctors. "They've reached a tipping point where people are desperate to gain efficiencies in their workday with all the physician burnout," he said. Abridge's technology takes the audio from doctor-patient interactions and automatically turns it into documentation for billing purposes or a summary of the visit for the patient. That means doctors are relieved of the "hours of pajama time in the evening that they previously spent doing clinical documentation," Cheatham said.

☆ ChatGPT got all the buzz, but beneath it is a $1B developer framework that's quietly fueling the new era of lifelike AI at OpenAI and beyond
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-16 | by ( Matthew Lynley | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Beneath the buzz, the next-generation developer framework Ray was key in the viral model's training. "ChatGPT combined a lot of the previous work on large language models with reinforcement as well. Before deploying Ray, OpenAI used a hodgepodge set of custom tools built on top of "neural programmer-interpreter" model. All these tools, Ray and JAX included, are in service to a new generation of combustion engines for the internet called large language models. Multiple companies, both startups and giants, are building their own large language models including Meta, Hugging Face, OpenAI, and Google.

☆ Read the 18-slide pitch deck that creator-marketing startup Pearpop used to raise $18 million in fresh funding
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-30 | by ( Dan Whateley | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

It just completed a $18 million fundraising round at a $300 million valuation. Here's the pitch deck it used to woo investors at a tricky moment for the creator industry. The company announced on Tuesday that it raised $18 million in a fundraising round that valued the company at $300 million, adding to last year's $10 million Series A round. The company plans to spend its new cash pile on engineering resources, product development, and growing its sales operation, Mason said. Pearpop shared with Insider the 19-page pitch deck it used to raise its $18 million round.

☆ Read the 18-slide pitch deck that creator-marketing startup Pearpop used to raise its latest funding round at a $300 million valuation
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-29 | by ( Dan Whateley | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

☆ Papaya Global: 2022 Top Startups for the Enterprise
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-07 | by ( Cnbc.Com Staff | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Israel is a well-known hub for some of the world's most advanced cybersecurity startups, but Papaya Global is aiming to make the nation known for leading in payroll technology as well. Combining onboarding, payroll and compliance on a global basis for both staff and contract workforces of companies with operations in over 140 countries, investors accelerated funding in 2021 and Papaya reached unicorn status, still a rare feat for a female-led startup. The company now handles over $3 billion in payroll for 700-plus customers including Cyberark, Shopify , Vimeo, Payoneer , Microsoft , Panasonic and fellow Top Startups company Canva. Investors include Workday's VC arm, Sir Ronald Cohen's family investment firm Dynamic Loop Capital, Bessemer Venture Partners, New Era Capital and Tiger Global. The 2022 Top Startups for the Enterprise list is powered and inspired by the members of CNBC's Technology Executive Council (TEC).

☆ Generative AI Startups Attract Business Customers, Investor Funding
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-25 | by ( Angus Loten | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +5 min

Based on keyword prompts, generative AI platforms can then mimic these sources to produce fanciful stories and pictures of their own. Other generative AI startups offering enterprise applications include Replikr, a New Zealand startup that uses generative AI to create customer-service avatars, and Dutch startup Musico Ltd., which can be used to create original copyright-free advertising jingles. GoCharlie.AI, an early-stage startup based in San Francisco, in May launched a generative AI marketing assistant designed to create promotional social-media posts. By promising to save workers hours of productive time creating promotional materials, the commercial value proposition around generative AI has always been clear, he said. Rowan Curran, an AI and data science analyst at IT research firm Forrester Research Inc., said he expects generative AI to impact enterprises from top to bottom.

☆ 19 top venture capitalists to know that invest in AI and machine-learning startups like Hugging Face and Databricks
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-24 | by ( Sindhu Sundar | Matthew Lynley | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

In 2021, VC-deal activity in AI tech shot up to $118 billion, according to PitchBook data. Investment journeys have validated some long-term AI VCs over the past decade. In 2022, VC investments in AI and machine learning amounted to $48.2 billion as of June 30, according to a recent PitchBook report. Last year, VC deals in AI and machine learning amounted to $118 billion, a roughly 80% increase from 2020, according to the report. Here are 19 venture capitalists to know who specialize in AI and machine learning:

☆ Although the crypto hype is fading, 3 VCs say there's still 'low-hanging fruit' opportunities in Web3 security and compliance. Here's why.
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-20 | by ( April Joyner | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Despite the crypto winter and a funding slowdown, several VCs remain interested in Web3 security. Like in most other areas of the market, venture funding for cybersecurity has dropped this year. These are prime areas, in his view, for security startups to step in. In September, Solidus Labs made Insider's list of the most promising crypto startups of 2022. Crypto security, according to Seewald, is not so different from security for other tech applications.

☆ Here's how generative-AI startup Jasper raised $125 million in Series A funding from Insight Partners and became a unicorn
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-18 | by ( Stephanie Palazzolo | Emilia David | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Jasper uses artificial intelligence to create content from marketing copy and blog posts to images. The Texas startup has raised $125 million in Series A funding, led by Insight Partners. The startup runs on GPT-3, an AI model from its fellow generative-AI company OpenAI. For instance, in addition to online blog posts and marketing content, Jasper can feed user-generated content back into the model to refine its output over time. The startup also trains its model on content that users "favorite" or copy onto clipboards to improve quality.

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