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☆ U.S. Airman’s Winding Path Ended in Self-Immolation to Protest Israel
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-28 | by ( Nicholas Bogel-Burroughs | Colbi Edmonds | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Dressed in his U.S. Air Force uniform, Aaron Bushnell walked up to the Israeli embassy in Washington one afternoon this week and calmly described his intention to “engage in an extreme act of protest” against Israel’s military offensive in Gaza. He proceeded to pour a flammable liquid over his buzz-cut head, pulled his camouflage cap tightly over his forehead and lit himself on fire. “Free Palestine!” he shouted several times before collapsing onto the cement. “It’s hard to wrap my head around,” said Ashley Schuman, 26, who has known Mr. Bushnell since childhood. How did you get here?’”

Persons: Aaron Bushnell, ”, Bushnell, “, Ashley Schuman, “ I’m Organizations: U.S . Air Force Locations: Washington, Gaza, Massachusetts, cyberdefense, Texas

☆ Embat, a Spanish treasury-management fintech startup founded by ex-JPMorgan employees, just raised $16 million using this 14-slide pitch deck
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-27 | by ( Callum Burroughs | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Read previewSpanish fintech startup Embat has raised $16 million in fresh funding from VC fund Creandum, the company said Tuesday. This story is available exclusively to Business Insider subscribers. Treasury-management startups and similar offerings targeting the office of the CFO have become a key focus for fintech investors in recent years. Embat's proposition is directly aimed at financial software users, with data security at the forefront of its platform's architecture, cofounder Carlos Serrana told Business Insider. "We were probably born in the worst period to raise capital but we have built a solid product which has traction, and our sales have traction," Serrana told BI.

Persons: —, Embat, Carlos Serrana, Creandum, Serrana Organizations: Service, JPMorgan, Business, Treasury, Venture Locations: Madrid, Germany

☆ Opinion: ‘Dune: Part Two’ falls into a familiar – and telling – trap
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-26 | by ( Opinion Noah Berlatsky | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

His hero, Paul Atreides, is filled with doubts about his role as a Messianic leader and director of colonial conquest. (The distributor of “Dune” and “Dune: Part Two” shares a parent company, Warner Bros. So in the movie, it’s not just Paul who sees problems with his colonial power. Timothée Chalamet in "Dune: Part Two" Warner Bros. PicturesIn the book, Chani is mostly supportive of Paul, with few reservations. Paul feels bad for being the destined one; Herbert and Villeneuve, to varying degrees, seem to regret making Paul the destined one.

Persons: Noah Berlatsky, CNN — Frank Herbert’s, revel, Whitey, Edgar Rice Burroughs, James Fenimore Cooper, Rider Haggard, Herbert, Paul Atreides, Noah Berlatsky Noah Berlatsky Denis Villeneuve’s, ”, Villeneuve, he’s, Paul, Timothée, Atreides, Paul’s, Leto Atreides, Oscar Isaac, Arrakis, Emperor, Christopher Walken, Baron Harkonnen, Stellan, Leto, Jessica, Rebecca Ferguson, Natty Bumppo, it’s, Chani, Tasha Suri’s “, Ambha, Sriduangkaew’s, Thompson’s, Suri, Viet Thanh Nguyen, Paul doesn’t, “ Organizations: CNN, Warner Bros, Pictures Locations: Chicago, swash, Vietnam

☆ Spektr, a compliance and due diligence fintech startup, just raised $5.4 million with this 13-slide pitch deck
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-21 | by ( Callum Burroughs | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

Danish compliance startup Spektr has raised $5.4 million in seed funding. The company, set up by the founders of HelloFlow, has emerged from stealth. The company plans to use the funding to grow its team and begin to expand into the US. Spektr, a fintech startup that helps companies with compliance, has raised $5.4 million. The Copenhagen-based startup is emerging from stealth and aims to improve the client onboarding experience for companies.

Persons: Spektr, Mikkel Skarnager Organizations: HelloFlow, Business Locations: Copenhagen

☆ This AI startup founded by ex-Googlers just raised $35 million. Check out the 12-slide pitch deck Bioptimus used to land the funds.
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-20 | by ( Callum Burroughs | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Bioptimus, a new French AI startup for life sciences, has raised $35 million in seed funding. Founded in 2023, Bioptimus is the brainchild of Jean-Philippe Vert, a former research scientist at Google and recently chief R&D officer at French health AI startup Owkin. The company was formed to capitalize on the enormous potential of AI in biological sciences, Vert told Business Insider. "There is something very special now about AI," Vert said. Owkin, Vert's former employer, is an investor and partner to the startup, as is tech entrepreneur and investor Xavier Niel.

Persons: Bioptimus, Jean, Philippe Vert, Rolophe Jenatton, Xavier Niel Organizations: Google, Business, Sofinnova Partners, Cathay Innovation, Harvest, Fundraising Locations: Owkin

☆ Embedded payments fintech Monite just raised $6 million from Peter Thiel's Valar Ventures with this 12-slide pitch deck
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-19 | by ( Callum Burroughs | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

Berlin-based fintech Monite has raised $6 million in seed funding from Peter Thiel's Valar Ventures. Monite, founded in 2020, works with companies to help streamline payments and reduce manual processing. Still, where this might generally be done across email, spreadsheets, and messaging systems, Monite aggregates a company's bills and invoices and then automates the process on their behalf. The startup has raised a top-up to its seed round, led by Third Prime, in March 2023, taking its total funding to $17.4 million. The funding from Valar Ventures closed in November after Monite opted against looking to raise a Series A, Maryasin said.

Persons: Monite, Peter Thiel's, Ivan Maryasin, Maryasin Organizations: Ventures, Monite, Business, Third Prime Locations: Berlin, Europe

Two teenagers were charged with resisting arrest and “gun-related” offenses in connection with a shooting that left one person dead and nearly two dozen others injured during a Super Bowl victory celebration in Kansas City, Mo., the authorities said on Friday. Additional charges are expected to be filed, according to a spokeswoman for the Office of the Juvenile Officer in Jackson County, Mo. The teenagers, who have not been publicly identified, remained in custody on Friday. The authorities have said that the shooting stemmed from a dispute among several people, and erupted on Wednesday afternoon outside the city’s Union Station, where thousands of Kansas City football fans were gathered for a rally. Twenty-two people were injured, and at least half of them were younger than 16, officials have said.

Organizations: Kansas City Locations: Kansas City, Mo, Jackson County, city’s

☆ This Monzo cofounder is set to launch a new startup with Index and General Catalyst in talks to invest, sources say
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-13 | by ( Callum Burroughs | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

Monzo cofounder Jonas Templestein is in talks to raise funds for a new startup, sources told BI. Top investors such as Index and General Catalyst are among those in discussions to back the startup. AdvertisementA cofounder of British fintech unicorn Monzo is set to raise funds from a smattering of high-profile investors for a new venture, Business Insider understands. Now, he's primed to raise around $5-6 million at a $50 million valuation cap for a new startup, two sources said. This story is available exclusively to Business Insider subscribers.

Persons: Jonas Templestein, Catalyst, — Organizations: Service, Business Locations: Monzo

☆ HiBob, a $2.7-billion HR unicorn, is acquiring Tiger Global-backed payroll startup Pento
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-13 | by ( Callum Burroughs | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Read previewHiBob, a London headquartered HR unicorn, is acquiring UK payroll startup Pento. The company is valued at $2.7 billion, has raised $574 million in funding, and is acquiring Pento to expand its payroll offering. The acquisition came about after seeing the fragmented payroll market in the UK with HiBob opting to go one step further than integration, CEO Ronni Zehavi told Business Insider. AdvertisementLondon-based Pento has raised $54 million in VC funding, including from General Catalyst and Tiger Global. Around 35 Pento staff will join HiBob as part of the deal, which is subject to closing conditions.

Persons: —, Ronni Zehavi, Zehavi, HiBob Organizations: Service, Business, General, Bessemer Venture Partners, General Catalyst, Tiger Global, Dealroom, HiBob Locations: London, Israel

☆ Conversational AI startup Vocode entered Y Combinator without a business plan. Now, it's raised $3.25 million without a pitch deck.
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-08 | by ( Callum Burroughs | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Vocode, a conversational AI startup, has raised $3.25 million in seed funding. Founded in 2023, by Ajay Raj and Kian Hooshmand, Vocode raised funding at Y Combinator without a formal pitch deck. Vocode's founders are friends from high school who made it into Y Combinator despite opting against pitching their original business plan. With 10 weeks until demo day, the team began interviewing teams across fintech, healthcare, and climate, searching for ideas before landing on conversational AI. The company began making waves in online hacker communities before its demo day pitch session in front of investors.

Persons: Ajay Raj, Kian, Vocode, PrankGPT, Hooshmand, Y Organizations: Business Locations: San Francisco, fintech

☆ Sequoia-backed fintech Pennylane just became a unicorn. Check out the 15-slide pitch deck it used to raise $43 million.
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-08 | by ( Callum Burroughs | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

French accounting tech startup Pennylane has raised $43 million in a deal that valued the business at over $1 billion. Founded in 2020, Pennylane works with SMEs and accounting firms to simplify and digitize their accounting processes. The company's SaaS model pulls third-party data from platforms like Stripe and Qonto, to help SMEs with their accounting needs. This story is available exclusively to Business Insider subscribers. "We've seen very strong growth in users and revenues, without having to grow our sales and marketing spend," Waller told Business Insider.

Persons: Pennylane, Arthur Waller, Waller, it's, Visma Organizations: Business, Sequoia Locations: Paris, Pennylane

☆ Y Combinator-backed trading app Pluto Markets just raised $2.6 million with this 14-slide pitch deck
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-07 | by ( Callum Burroughs | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Pluto Markets, a trading app backed by famed accelerator Y Combinator, has raised $2.6 million in fresh funds. The Danish fintech startup, founded in 2021, wants to upend the market for retail trading offerings in Europe. "Companies raised a lot of money to blitz scale across the EU but have now focused on their core markets. Unlike most fintech brokerages, Pluto secured an EU-wide investment license before it had raised $1 million in funding, having bootstrapped and stayed lean. You can check out Pluto Market's 14-slide pitch deck below:

Persons: Joakim Bruchman, Goldman Sachs, We've, Bruchmann, Pluto, Oscar Vingtoft Organizations: Business, Companies, Trade Republic, Saxo Bank, EU Locations: Danish, Europe, Denmark, France, Germany, Berlin

☆ 9 Key Revelations in Maui’s First Review of the Lahaina Inferno
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-06 | by ( Mike Baker | Nicholas Bogel-Burroughs | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Six months after a firestorm destroyed the town of Lahaina, Hawaii, a detailed new report on the tragedy reveals that a large number of victims died along a single street — a stark indication of the ferocity of the blaze that swept through the historic island town, killing 100 people. The 98-page report from the Maui Police Department on the Aug. 8 disaster came after months of pressure to provide more information about the fire and the government’s response to it, which has been criticized for failing to adequately warn residents in time for them to evacuate. It provides a detailed timeline of a fire that started near a downed electrical line in the morning hours, then flared up in the afternoon and burned through the city for hours. As residents fled for their lives, many were unable to leave because key exit routes were blocked by downed power lines, trees and the raging fire itself. The fire claimed victims across a distance of more than two miles, and possibly over many hours, the report showed, including in neighborhoods that were already ablaze before evacuation alerts were issued.

Organizations: Maui Police Department Locations: Lahaina , Hawaii

☆ Tuum wants to provide AI-powered core banking infrastructure. It just raised $27 million with this 16-slide pitch deck.
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-06 | by ( Callum Burroughs | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

Estonian fintech startup Tuum has raised $27 million in new funding. The startup, founded in 2019, provides cloud-native core banking infrastructure technology. The startup raised cash from CommerzVentures and Speedinvest to fuel its expansion plans. Estonian banking fintech startup Tuum has raised $27 million in new funding. Tuum, founded in 2019, provides core banking infrastructure for banks and other financial institutions that enables them to offer cloud-native services through APIs.

Persons: Myles Bertrand Organizations: Estonian, Tuum, Business Locations: CommerzVentures

☆ AudioStack can create voice adverts in 8 seconds with AI. Check out the 18-slide pitch deck it used to raise $3.1 million.
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-06 | by ( Callum Burroughs | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Read previewAudioStack, an AI audio production startup, has raised $3.1 million in funding. The company works with major businesses that produce thousands of pieces of content a month to generate audio, mix, level, and master voice and music for advertising purposes. AdvertisementThe startup works with large advertising agencies to ingest audio content and speech, with the intention of reducing the speed and cost of producing adverts. AudioStack has raised $3.1 million to scale its operations in a funding round led by Quadri Ventures. "The landscape has fundamentally changed previously it was all about Web3, and it was hard to raise as an AI company despite our good traction," Kunz added.

Persons: —, Timo Kunz, Kunz, AudioStack, " Kunz Organizations: Service, Porsche, Business, Quadri Ventures Locations: London

☆ Lightbeam.ai helps companies manage AI governance. It just raised $17.8 million with this 16-slide pitch deck.
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-01 | by ( Callum Burroughs | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Read previewLightBeam.ai, a data privacy and security startup, has raised $17.8 million in fresh funds. Founded in 2020, the company wants to help businesses adapt their data security in an increasingly AI-powered world. "In the era of generative AI breakthroughs, organizations are empowered to unlock valuable insights from customer data," Prasad told Business Insider. Advertisement"However, this advancement poses the crucial challenge of ensuring secure and compliant handling of customer data within the evolving landscape of AI governance and privacy regulations." The new funding will go towards scaling the San Francisco-based startup's head count having previously focused predominantly on technology investment.

Persons: —, Priyadarshi Prasad, Prasad Organizations: Service, Business, Vertex Ventures, Dropbox Ventures Locations: Francisco

☆ Salary data revealed: Here's how much 16 top US and European AI startups like OpenAI, Anthropic, and Hugging Face are paying staffers
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-01 | by ( Riddhi Kanetkar | Tasmin Lockwood | Callum Burroughs | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

AI talent is very much in demand, with some staffers from the likes of Stripe, Amazon, and Google making the switch to smaller upstarts. AI companies are using some of those funds to shell out on sizable salary packages to attract talent, according to data obtained by Business Insider. While salary transparency remains a problem in both Europe and the US, the latter has taken more steps to make salary data visible to employees and candidates. With considerable research prowess, Europe has become a hotbed for producing AI talent. Business Insider has pulled together salary data from some of the most in-demand AI companies that have published H1B salary data, including OpenAI, Anthropic, and Midjourney.

Persons: Sam Altman, queued, chunky, DeepMind's, Mustafa Suleyman Organizations: Google, Business, Mistral, Companies Locations: Europe, Atomico

☆ New Murder Trial for Alex Murdaugh? A Judge Will Soon Decide.
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-29 | by ( Nicholas Bogel-Burroughs | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

At the climax of one of the most closely watched trials in South Carolina history, the packed courtroom was silent except for one woman: the court clerk, who read the guilty verdicts aloud in March 2023 that put Alex Murdaugh, a prominent lawyer, in prison for life for the murder of his wife and son. Now, a new court hearing is getting underway on Monday to determine whether the clerk, Rebecca Hill, improperly influenced the jurors who voted to convict Mr. Murdaugh, 55, and whether Mr. Murdaugh should have a new trial. A state police agency is investigating allegations from Mr. Murdaugh’s lawyers that Ms. Hill made comments during the trial that could have influenced the jurors’ votes. Among the allegations are that Ms. Hill told jurors not to be “fooled” by Mr. Murdaugh’s defense, that she had private conversations with a juror, and that she told jurors before they started deliberating that “this shouldn’t take us long.”Ms. Hill has not been charged, and she has denied many of the most serious allegations. She and the jurors are expected to testify on Monday at a hearing in Columbia, S.C., that is part of Mr. Murdaugh’s appeal of his convictions.

Persons: Alex Murdaugh, Rebecca Hill, Mr, Murdaugh, Hill, Ms Locations: South Carolina, Columbia

☆ Alabama Set to Carry Out First U.S. Execution by Nitrogen
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-25 | by ( Nicholas Bogel-Burroughs | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Alabama is set to carry out the first American execution using nitrogen gas on Thursday evening, potentially opening a new frontier in how states execute death row prisoners despite concerns from death penalty opponents about the untested method. As it stands, prison officials plan to begin the execution around 6 p.m. Central time. Mr. Smith, 58, is one of three men convicted in the 1988 murder of a woman whose husband, a pastor, had recruited them to kill her. The protocol released by prison officials calls for strapping Mr. Smith to a gurney in the state’s execution chamber in Atmore, Ala., after which a mask will be placed on his head and a flow of nitrogen will be released into it, depriving him of oxygen. It would be the second time the state has tried to kill Mr. Smith, after a failed lethal injection in November 2022 in which executioners could not find a suitable vein before his death warrant expired.

Persons: Kenneth Smith, Smith, strapping Mr, gurney Organizations: Alabama, U.S, Supreme Locations: Atmore, Ala

☆ The Alabama Execution Case: What We Know
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-25 | by ( Anna Betts | Nicholas Bogel-Burroughs | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Alabama carried out on Thursday the first execution using nitrogen gas in the United States, an untested method that was the subject of debate before it was used. Here are a few things to know about the case. According to court documents, Ms. Sennett, a mother of two, was stabbed 10 times in the attack by Mr. Smith and another man. Charles Sennett Sr., Ms. Sennett’s husband, had recruited a man to handle her killing, who in turn recruited Mr. Smith and another man. Mr. Sennett arranged the murder in part to collect on an insurance policy that he had taken out on his wife, according to court records.

Persons: Kenneth Smith, William C, Kenneth Eugene Smith, Elizabeth Dorlene Sennett, Sennett, Smith, Charles Sennett, Sennett’s Organizations: Alabama, Holman Correctional, U.S, Supreme Locations: United States, Atmore, Ala, Colbert County

☆ After a Botched Execution, Alabama Is Trying an Untested New Method
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-23 | by ( Nicholas Bogel-Burroughs | More About Nicholas Bogel-Burroughs | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

Mr. Smith, who had been on death row for more than a quarter-century after being convicted of murdering a woman, recalled thanking God for his final week alive and thinking of his family. At the time, the state was using the same method of execution that has been used in the vast majority of modern U.S. executions: lethal injection. And like many other states, Alabama had problems. Now, more than a year later, Alabama is preparing once again this week to execute Mr. Smith, this time employing a method that has never been used in a U.S. execution: nitrogen hypoxia. Alabama is one of several states that are looking at alternatives, including nitrogen hypoxia, and some states have recently authorized the use of a firing squad.

Persons: Kenneth Smith, Smith, God, Smith’s Locations: gurney, Alabama, U.S, Europe

☆ European startups were twice as likely to accept a down round than US counterparts in 2023, new data shows
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-23 | by ( Callum Burroughs | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Europe's tech startups were twice as likely to accept a reduced valuation in order to raise funds than their US counterparts in 2023, new data shows. Zurich-based Ledgy surveyed 2,500 tech firms across 10 countries for its study and found that by comparison, only 9% of US startups reported a down-round last year. Similarly, smaller firms with fewer than 250 employees were 26% more likely than larger firms to have experienced a valuation cut in the past year, Spirig added. Of the companies surveyed, one in five said they had delayed moves to go public amid tepid macroeconomic conditions, per Ledgy's report. Around a third of respondents indicated that a listing in the US would be their ultimate preference over other destinations, although 72% of UK-based companies surveyed wanted to list in London.

Persons: Yoko Spirig, Spirig Organizations: US, Business, Venture Locations: Europe, Zurich, Germany, Netherlands, Finland, London

☆ Ansel, a health insurance startup that wants to upend the claims industry, just raised $20 million using this 12-slide pitch deck
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-23 | by ( Callum Burroughs | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Read previewHealth insurance startup Ansel has raised $20 million in new funding. Founded in 2019, Ansel is a platform that provides supplemental health insurance via carriers across 48 US states. This story is available exclusively to Business Insider subscribers. Advertisement"We're focused on making health hardships not become financial burdens," Veer Gidwaney, founder and CEO of Ansel, told Business Insider. The new capital will go towards expanding the company's partnerships with leading insurance providers, developing its tech platform, and scaling its marketing and distribution.

Persons: —, Ansel, Veer Gidwaney, Gidwaney Organizations: Service, Business, Gallup, Nationwide, Portage, Sigma Ventures, Brewer Lane Ventures, SixThirty Ventures Locations: New York City

☆ AI voice cloning startup ElevenLabs confirms $1.1 billion valuation after it closes third funding round in year
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-22 | by ( Riddhi Kanetkar | Callum Burroughs | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Read previewElevenLabs, an early-stage AI startup that has captured the attention of some of the world's biggest investors, has raised its third funding round in a year. The Series B round values the business at over $1 billion, confirming Business Insider's earlier reporting from November. ElevenLabs last raised a funding round in June, when it tapped up investors for $19 million at a $100 million valuation. It has also released a new AI Speech Classifier tool, which lets anyone detect if an uploaded sample contains AI-generated audio from ElevenLabs. ElevenLabs now aims to expand its Classifier tool to other AI voice models in the coming year.

Persons: —, ElevenLabs, Andreessen Horowitz, Nat Friedman, Uber, Daniel Gross, Piotr Dabkowski, Mati Staniszewski Organizations: Service, Business, Google, Github Locations: London, New York, Sequoia

☆ 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

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