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Wednesday's batch of analyst research included bullish calls on a credit card giant and a sports betting name. The firm downgraded the pharmaceutical stock to neutral from overweight and lowered its price target to $55 per share from $68. The bank downgraded the Canadian Solar to underweight from neutral in a Wednesday note and lowered its price target to $22 per share from $32. The analyst noted that the guidance given confirms his bull case for the stock, which consists of a $70 price target. The bank initiated coverage of the credit card giant with an overweight rating and a $184 per share price target — which implies more than 17% upside from Tuesday's close.

Persons: Morgan Stanley, Guggenheim, John DiFucci, there's, Brian Evans, Cantor Fitzgerald downgrades, Myers Squibb Cantor Fitzgerald, We've, Olivia Brayer, Myers Squibb, — Brian Evans, Julien Dumoulin, Smith, Wells, Omar Mejias, Mark Strouse, DraftKings, Stephen Grambling, Grambling, Fred Imbert, millennials, Z, Gen, Terry Ma Organizations: CNBC, Barclays, American Express, Guggenheim, FactSet, Myers Squibb, Bank of America, Wells Fargo, Warner Music Group, accel, JPMorgan, American Locations: Bristol, Generac, Europe, CSIQ

☆ AI gave tech giants a $2.4 trillion boost to their market caps in 2023
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-17 | by ( Ryan Browne | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

Nvidia's high-performance chips power many advanced generative AI models, which produce new content from huge volumes of training data. The world has been abuzz with talk about generative AI tools like OpenAI's ChatGPT, Google's Bard and Anthropic's Claude. The U.S. led the way in generative AI funding deals, with the likes of OpenAI and Anthropic raising billions. AccelIn Europe, three of the biggest generative AI company rounds came out of France — Hugging Face ($235 million), Poolside ($126 million) and Mistral AI ($113 million). In Europe and Israel, 40% of new unicorns were in generative AI; in the United States, it was 80%.

Persons: Botteri, Google's Bard, Anthropic's Claude, Philippe Botteri, they're, OpenAI, they'd Organizations: Future Publishing, Getty Images, Accel, Apple, Microsoft, Nvidia, Companies, Nasdaq, U.S, Public, CNBC, Mistral, Tech, Big Tech, FAANG, Netflix, Google Locations: U.S, Unity, Europe, Israel, France, United States

☆ A lot of 2023's new unicorns have been generative AI startups. Here's what to expect from the sector next year, according to Accel.
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-17 | by ( Riddhi Kanetkar | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Generative AI startups have made up a lot of the world's new unicorns this year. High-profile investors have jostled to back, in some cases, weeks-old startups like Mistral as the hype around generative AI intensified. Both regions also tout a batch of promising unicorns across the generative AI stack. Generative AI will become a run-of-the-mill tool"Generative AI will unlock new verticalised applications built with smaller and dedicated models and industry-specific workflows," the Accel report said. Enterprises will also jump to incorporate generative AI more seamlessly into their automation tools, per the report.

Persons: —, Phillipe Botteri, Harvey Organizations: Venture, Mistral, US, Accel Partners, Runway, Accel, EU, Stanford University, Enterprises, Big Tech, Microsoft Locations: Europe, Israel, Jasper, France, EU

☆ Web Summit CEO apologises for comments on Israeli conflict
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

JERUSALEM, Oct 17 (Reuters) - Web Summit Chief Executive and founder Paddy Cosgrave on Tuesday apologised for comments he made on the Israeli-Hamas conflict that prompted some technology companies and investors to withdraw plans to attend its conference in Portugal next month. Web Summit, one of the world's largest tech conferences, will take place in Lisbon from Nov. 13-16, with attendees from companies such as Meta (META.O) and Microsoft (MSFT.O) to investors such as Atomico. "War crimes are war crimes even when committed by allies, and should be called out for what they are," wrote Cosgrave, who was born in Ireland. Among executives to have cancelled their participation at Web Summit are AI21 Labs' Ori Goshen; Tome's Keith Peiris; Sequoia Capital partner Ravi Gupta; Yinon Costica, co-founder of Israeli cybersecurity unicorn Wiz; and Y Combinator’s Garry Tan, according to LinkedIn and X posts. Philippe Botteri, CEO of tech investor Accel, said in a LinkedIn post on Monday he would no longer speak at Web Summit.

Persons: Paddy Cosgrave, Cosgrave, I’m, Leo Varadkar's, Israel, Cosgrove, Goshen, Tome's Keith Peiris, Ravi Gupta, Yinon Costica, Y, Garry Tan, Philippe Botteri, Portugal Dor Shapira, Steven Scheer, Supantha Mukherjee, Josephine Mason, Alison Williams, Mark Potter Organizations: Web, Microsoft, Palestinian, Hamas, Irish, AI21 Labs, Sequoia Capital, Thomson Locations: Portugal, Lisbon, Gaza, Israel, Ireland, Jerusalem, Stockholm, London

SummaryCompanies India's Avendus to launch investment banking in Southeast AsiaKKR-backed Avendus' managing director Gupta to move to SingaporeAvendus expects Southeast Asia to grow fast in coming yearsMUMBAI, Oct 17 (Reuters) - Indian financial services firm Avendus will start offering investment banking services from Singapore to cash in on an expected technology sector dealmaking boom in the Southeast Asia region. Karan Sharma, a managing director for Avendus in India said the operations from Singapore will focus on advising technology sector funding rounds of $40-50 million in Southeast Asia. Sharma said Avendus India Managing Director Varun Gupta will lead the Southeast Asia operations and relocate to Singapore early next year. The demographics and infrastructure challenges are similar," said Sharma, who co-heads Avendus' Digital & Technology Investment Banking division in India. Dealmaking in Southeast Asia should help lift Asian mergers and acquisitions (M&A) activity in the second half of the year, bankers told Reuters in June.

Persons: Gupta, Avendus, Karan Sharma, Sharma, Varun Gupta, GoTo, Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, Sriram, Yantoultra Ngui, Aditya Kalra, Sharon Singleton Organizations: Asia KKR, Singapore Avendus, U.S, KKR, Avendus, & Technology Investment Banking, Tiger Global, Reuters, Asia, Accel, Lightspeed, Venture Intelligence, Thomson Locations: Asia, Singapore, Southeast Asia, MUMBAI, India

AI (Artificial Intelligence) letters are placed on computer motherboard in this illustration taken June 23, 2023. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsSTOCKHOLM, Oct 17 (Reuters) - Generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) companies have become the major driver of unicorns -- startups reaching $1 billion valuation -- with 60% of the new ones falling in this category, according to a report from venture capital firm Accel. AI foundation models, developed by Microsoft-backed OpenAI, Meta and others, are capable of generating text, images or other media in response to prompts. Europe, home to AI startups such as AI video avatar platform Synthesia and Stability AI, is already producing 50% more AI publications than the United States with similar citation rate, according to the report. Reporting by Supantha Mukherjee in Stockholm, editing by Deborah KyvrikosaiosOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Dado Ruvic, Philippe Botteri, Botteri, Supantha Mukherjee, Deborah Kyvrikosaios Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, Accel, Microsoft, Nvidia, Thomson Locations: Rights STOCKHOLM, Israeli, Meta, Europe, United States, Stockholm

Oct 4 (Reuters) - Headway, a healthcare tech startup that connects patients and in-network therapists, has raised $125 million in Series C funding, the company told Reuters. Insurance company Health Care Service Corporation also joined the round. Based in New York, Headway's platform connects patients with therapists and psychiatrists who can provide care covered by insurance. The company makes money by taking a cut of the payments that therapists on its platform receive from insurance companies. The pandemic prompted more people to turn to mental health services to deal with stress and burnout.

Persons: Andreessen Horowitz, Andrew Adams, We've, Adams, Will Reed, Krystal Hu, Tom Hogue Organizations: Reuters, Spark Capital, Accel, Andreessen Horowitz . Insurance, Health Care Service Corporation, Thomson Locations: New York, U.S, San Francisco

☆ Klaviyo's IPO gives CEO Andrew Bialecki a stake worth $3.6 billion. Here are the others getting rich.
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-20 | by ( Melia Russell | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: 1 min

Klaviyo went public after raising $576 million in its IPO. The opening price gives cofounder and CEO Andrew Bialecki a stake worth roughly $3.6 billion. Venture capital firms including Summit Partners, Accomplice, and Accel also made out handsomely. Klaviyo went public at a market cap of $11.3 billion on Wednesday, as it becomes the latest company trying to stir the initial public offering market from a deep slumber. This story is available exclusively to Insider subscribers.

Persons: Klaviyo, Andrew Bialecki Organizations: Venture, Summit Partners, Accel, MIT's Sloan School of Management

☆ Early Revolut backer Lakestar leads $40 million investment in French fintech startup Swan
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-13 | by ( Ryan Browne | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

European venture capital giant Lakestar, an early supporter of fintech unicorn Revolut, has emerged as a prominent backer of French fintech startup Swan. Swan raised the funds in a series B investment led by European venture capital giant Lakestar. Accel, another venture capital firm, previously led Swan's series A round in 2021. "What we had in mind with our co-founders was that it shouldn't be that complex," he told CNBC. Georgia Watson, a principal at Lakestar based in the firm's London office, said the firm had been tracking Swan "for about a year."

Persons: Swan, Nicolas Benady, Benady, Georgia Watson, Watson, Goldman Sachs Organizations: Accel, Swan, CNBC, ABN Amro, ING Group Locations: French, Netherlands, London

☆ India’s fintech partygoers nurse a needed hangover
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-11 | by ( Shritama Bose | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

MUMBAI, Sept 11 (Reuters Breakingviews) - India’s financial technology industry is suffering from overindulgence. And it was on full display at a sombre Global Fintech Festival in Mumbai last week. The South Asian country is the world’s third-largest fintech market by number of unicorns. Poster child Byju’s is squabbling with lenders as investors walk away and financial reports get delayed. Follow @ShritamaBose on XCONTEXT NEWSThe Global Fintech Fest organised by the National Payments Corporation of India and industry association Payments Council of India was held between Sept. 5 and 7 in Mumbai.

Persons: securitisation, ’, hesitatingly, Vishwas Patel, they’re, fintechs, Mukesh Ambani’s, Antony Currie, Katrina Hamlin, Thomas Shum Organizations: Reuters, Founders, Boston Consulting Group, Venture, Reserve Bank, One97 Communications, FSN, Commerce Ventures, Innoven Triple Blue Capital, XV Partners, Financial, National Payments Corporation of India, Thomson Locations: MUMBAI, Mumbai, India, fintech, Sequoia Capital’s India, Southeast Asia, Rwanda, Japan, Germany, Peru

☆ 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

☆ Read the pitch deck that Catch+Release, a startup that helps creators and everyday social-media users license their content to brands, used to raise $8.8 million
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-11 | by ( Marta Biino | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Catch+Release is a startup that licenses user-generated content for brands to use in ads. The company just announced an additional $8.8 million in Series A funding. Catch+Release, a startup that licenses user-generated content from creators and sells it to brands, announced in early August an additional $8.8 million in Series A funding led by return investor Accel. The fresh $8.8 million investment will go toward improving the platform's marketplace, the software that brands and agencies can use to discover relevant content. Read through 12 pages of the pitch deck Catch+Release used to raise its $8.8 million Series A round:

Persons: Nick Mehta, Rich Kleiman, Kevin Durant's, Goodin Organizations: Astia Fund, HarbourVest Partners, Ford, Walmart, Nike Locations: Delta

☆ Here's the trade on Amazon heading into earnings, according to analysts
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-03 | by ( Michelle Fox | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Wall Street analysts are bullish on Amazon heading into earnings. Here's how several analysts are trading Amazon ahead of its latest earnings report. Bank of America is also bullish, maintaining its buy rating and $154 price target into earnings, which suggests roughly 20% upside. "We continue to see an attractive set-up on the stock based on our Triple Trough Thesis (trough multiple, trough margin, and trough revenue growth). On Monday, the firm reiterated its buy rating and $145 price target, which suggests 13% upside from Wednesday's close.

Persons: StreetAccount, Morgan Stanley, Brian Nowak, Nowak, Lloyd Walmsley, Walmsley, Justin Post, Amazon's, Mark Mahaney's, Mahaney, — CNBC's Michael Bloom Organizations: Amazon Web Services, UBS, Bank of America, AWS, Triple, Citi Locations: 1Q23

☆ Walmart buys out $1.4 billion Tiger Global stake in India's Flipkart, Wall Street Journal reports
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-30 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

July 30 (Reuters) - Walmart (WMT.N) has paid $1.4 billion to buy out hedge fund Tiger Global's investment in e-commerce firm Flipkart, the Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday, citing a letter by the hedge-fund to its investors. Walmart, Flipkart and Tiger Global did not immediately respond to Reuters' request for comment. Earlier this year the Economics Times reported that private equity firms Accel and Tiger Global, two early backers of Flipkart, were in talks to sell their remaining stake in the company to Walmart. Tiger Global held about 4% of the company, according to the ET report. Walmart acquired a majority stake of 77% in Flipkart for about $16 billion in 2018, and later that year said it could take the company public in four years.

Persons: Japan's SoftBank, Yana Gaur, Kim Coghill, Chris Reese Organizations: Walmart, Tiger, Flipkart, Wall Street, Tiger Global, Reuters, Economics Times, Accel, Thomson Locations: U.S, Flipkart, Bengaluru

☆ Trading app Public to launch in the UK as the Tiger Global-backed fintech unicorn begins its European expansion
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-13 | by ( Callum Burroughs | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

US investment app Public is launching in the UK as it pushes into the European market. The company is backed by funds like Tiger Global and Accel as well as celebrities like Will Smith. US trading app Public is set to launch in the UK as it begins its European expansion. Leif Abraham, Public cofounder, said the UK made a "lot of sense" for the company. Public also has plans to expand to other European geographies in future, having announced its intentions to grow out its offering last year.

Persons: Will Smith, Tony Hawk, Leif Abraham, Abraham, Robinhood, Otis Organizations: Tiger Global, Accel, Public, FX Locations: New York, Copenhagen, Europe

☆ Will Smith-backed U.S. broker Public launches in the UK in first foray overseas
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-13 | by ( Ryan Browne | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

Gabby Jones | Bloomberg | Getty ImagesAmerican stock brokerage startup Public launched its services in the U.K. Thursday, marking its first international expansion its launch in 2017. The app, backed by celebrities including Will Smith and skateboarding legend Tony Hawk, will offer U.K. users commission-free trading in over 5,000 U.S.-listed stocks during the country's regular trading hours. Bibas said that, for now, the U.K. is the only country Public is focusing on for its international expansion. In the future, it hopes to take learnings from its U.K. launch to open in other European markets. Freetrade, the U.K. brokerage startup, slashed its valuation by a whopping 65% last month to £225m in a crowdfunding round, citing a "different market environment."

Persons: Gabby Jones, Will Smith, Tony Hawk, AJ Bell, Hargreaves Lansdown, Leif Abraham, Public's, Abraham, Jannick Malling, PFOF, Dann Bibas, Bibas, he's Organizations: Bloomberg, Getty, Public, CNBC, Jannick, GameStop, Citadel Securities, European Union, Khepri Advisers, Financial, Authority, Accel, Tiger Global Locations: U.S, Abraham, Denmark, Germany, New York, Copenhagen, London, Amsterdam, Covid

☆ The cofounder of Iconiq-backed fintech Primer is stepping down as CEO, leaked memo shows
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-03 | by ( Callum Burroughs | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Paul Anthony, the cofounder of Iconiq-backed fintech Primer, is stepping down as co-CEO. The company's cofounder Gabriel Le Roux will assume the role of sole CEO. Le Roux confirmed the organizational restructure and said it was a "reflection of the state of the business today." Le Roux insisted that there was no major disagreement to prompt this decision. In a message to staff Anthony said the move was a "real big change on my side."

Persons: Paul Anthony, Gabriel Le Roux, Le Roux, Anthony, We've Organizations: Accel, Iconiq Capital, Apple, PayPal, Braintree Locations: Cocoa

☆ India’s push to democratise credit tests limits
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-30 | by ( Shritama Bose | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Yet barely half of them have active loans and only up to 10% have a credit card. That’s why the regulator is allowing the use of RuPay credit cards, the country’s low-cost answer to Mastercard (MA.N) and Visa (V.N), for UPI payments. Earlier, in June 2022, the central bank had allowed lenders to link RuPay credit cards to UPI accounts. HDFC Bank became the first private bank to go live on UPI with RuPay credit cards in February. Paytm tied up with SBI Cards and Payment Services in May to issue RuPay credit cards to its consumers via UPI, offering cashbacks on small-value payments.

Persons: It’s, Paytm, –, Bernstein, Una Galani, Pranav Kiran, Thomas Shum Organizations: Reuters, UPI, Google, Reuters Graphics Reuters, Mastercard, Visa, Merchants, HDFC Bank, Axis Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Punjab National Bank, One97 Communications, Reserve Bank, Tiger, Uni, “, Reserve Bank of India, SBI Cards, Services, Thomson Locations: MUMBAI, India, Punjab

☆ Smaller valuations and a lack of ego helped Spain's startup scene avoid some of Europe's shocking collapse in VC funding, investors say
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-29 | by ( Tasmin Lockwood | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

Spain's startup scene has evaded some of the collapse in VC funding that has rocked Europe in 2023. Smaller check sizes and a lack of "ego" has somewhat protected the ecosystem, investors say. Smaller valuations, check sizes, and a distinct lack of ego helped Spain's startup scene evade some of the shocking collapse in venture capital funding that has rocked Europe so far this year. Smaller rounds give Spain's startups an edge in the downturnWhat correction was felt was eased by the fact there is less "ego" in Spain's ecosystem, according to Max Bray, an investor at early-stage firm K Fund. As well as the birth of local growth funds, investors see corporations playing a role in closing the funding gap.

Persons: SoftBank, Catalyst, Pablo Pedrejón, Max Bray, Dalia Silberstein, Pedro Arribas Gridilla, Juliette Simonin, Margarita Albors, Tasmin Lockwood, Bray, Marc Sabas, Fund's Bray, Wallbox cofounders Enric Asunción, Eduard Castañeda, Glovo, Wallbox, Oscar Pierre, Ship2B's Sabas, Danae Vara, Danae Vara Ship2B, hasn't, Sabas, CVCs, There's, Félix Ortega, K Fund's Bray, Sérgio Massano Organizations: Accel, Pedrejón, Venture, Fund, Esade Center, Social, Foundation, Spanish, K Fund, Investors, Danae Vara Ship2B Ventures, Investment, Corporations, Barcelona Activa, Telefónica, BBVA, Proeduca Locations: Europe, Spain, Madrid, France, Germany, Switzerland, Netherlands, Seaya, Bray, Vara, Barcelona, Silicon, London

☆ Check out this $110 million tech campus being built in Lithuania — the largest in Europe
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-23 | by ( Ryan Browne | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

The development, from Lithuanian infrastructure firm Tech Zity, is inspired by British renovation projects like the Battersea Power Station and Tate Modern art gallery. Tech ZityLithuania is building a huge tech campus — Europe's largest — in the capital of Vilnius, as it looks to become the new tech capital of the Baltics. Lithuania's growing tech sceneLithuania's tech ecosystem has grown dramatically over the past decade, Darius Zakaitis, Tech Zity's founder, told CNBC. Tech Zity manages three tech campuses in Vilnius, including Tech Park, Tech Loft, and Tech Spa, which are home to companies like Google, Bored Panda and Kilo Health. Currently occupying 20,000 square meters, Tech Zity plans to reach 80,000 square meters over time, considering new campuses, existing locations, and other projects.

Persons: Darius Zakaitis, Zakaitis, Tech Zity, Daniel Ek, Tom, Kevin, Vineted Organizations: Tech, Battersea Power, Tate, Tech Zity, New, Vilnius, Tech Zity's, CNBC, Nord, Google, Kilo Health, Tech Zity U.S, Netflix, Spotify, Nord Security, Summit, Accel Locations: Lithuanian, Battersea, Tech Zity Lithuania, Vilnius, Baltics, Lithuania, Paris, Europe, Baltic, Nord, France, Germany, Lisbon, Portugal, EQT, Russia

☆ $5 billion fintech Zepz looks to take on rivals like PayPal with digital wallet, M&A plans
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-15 | by ( Ryan Browne | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

With a $5 billion valuation, Zepz is one of the largest fintech companies in Europe, backed by leading investors including Accel, TCV and Leapfrog. The company enables users to send money from a smartphone or computer to people abroad, who can receive it in their bank account, mobile wallet, or as a mobile airtime top-up. Lenhard didn't identify which companies Zepz was looking to buy, but said the sharp slump in private fintech valuations made it an attractive time to kick off M&A exploration. A particular focus for Zepz product-wise in the near term is digital wallets, Lenhard said, with the company planning to launch its first digital wallet "imminently." He added that he hopes the company's upcoming digital wallet product will convince customers to rely more on Zepz, rather than using competing digital banks and other financial apps which have grown their services to offer a much wider range of products.

Persons: Mark Lenhard, Zepz, It's, Lenhard, Sendwave Organizations: Getty, CNBC, Accel, Bank of England, Sky News, PayPal Locations: Europe, Western Union

☆ How Nvidia-backed A.I. video platform Synthesia works
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-13 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailHow Nvidia-backed A.I. video platform Synthesia worksSynthesia is an online platform that helps users create video presentations with artificial intelligence-generated avatars. The company raised $90 million from investors including Accel, Nvidia and Kleiner Perkins at a $1 billion valuation.

Persons: Kleiner Perkins Organizations: Accel, Nvidia

☆ Generative AI startup Synthesia just raised $90 million in fresh funds from US fund Accel and Nvidia at a $1 billion valuation
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-13 | by ( Callum Burroughs | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

London-based generative AI firm Synthesia has raised $90 million in new funding. Synthesia is now valued at $1 billion, making it the latest AI unicorn despite the difficult market. Generative AI startup Synthesia has raised $90 million in new funding at a unicorn valuation. "What we're also proud of is being a leading AI company that's based in Europe, we intend to stay in Europe and build an impactful AI company here because the talent is available." Synthesia previously raised $50 million in funding in December 2021 in a Series B round led by Kleiner Perkins, with participation from GV.

Persons: Synthesia, We've, Victor Riparbelli, OpenAI's, it's, Kleiner Perkins, Riparbelli, David Beckham Organizations: Accel, GV Locations: London, NVentures, Europe

☆ AI startup Synthesia gains unicorn status after Nvidia-backed fundraise
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-13 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

June 13 (Reuters) - Synthesia, a UK-based artificial intelligence (AI) startup, said on Tuesday it has raised about $90 million at a valuation of $1 billion from a funding round led by venture capital firms Accel and Nvidia-owned (NVDA.O) NVentures. The startup's technology helps more than 50,000 businesses including Amazon.com (AMZN.O) in creating custom AI avatars used in instructional and corporate videos. AI startups have emerged as a bright spot for investments this year amid a wider slowdown in funding caused by rising interest rates and high inflation. However, the hype around AI has also deepened concerns that video platforms could be used to create deepfakes, a realistic or fabricated video or image created by AI algorithms trained on copious online footage. Riparbelli has said that six-year-old Synthesia navigates the issue by only creating avatars of people who have consented.

Persons: Victor Riparbelli, Riparbelli, Jaspreet Singh, Devika Organizations: Accel, Nvidia, Amazon.com, NVIDIA, Thomson Locations: Bengaluru

☆ A Nvidia-backed platform that turns text into A.I.-generated avatars boosts valuation to $1 billion
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-13 | by ( Ryan Browne | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

In this article NVDA Follow your favorite stocks CREATE FREE ACCOUNTAn animated avatar generated by the AI video platform Synthesia. To do that, Synthesia has created animated avatars which look and sound like humans, but are generated by AI. Synthesia is a form of generative AI, similar to OpenAI's ChatGPT. The company doesn't disclose its sales or revenue metrics, though it says it "consistently driven triple digit growth," with over 12 million videos produced on the platform to date. Synthesia plans to ramp up investment into its technology, with a particular focus on advancing its AI research and making Synthesia avatars capable of performing more tasks.

Persons: Synthesia, Slack, Kleiner Perkins, Morgan Stanley, Victor Riparbelli, Matthias Niessner, Steffen Tjerrild, Lourdes Agapito, Philippe Botteri, Riparbelli, Nvidia isn't, it's, They're, Felix Capital, Atomico, they're, David Beckham, Beckham Organizations: Nvidia, CNBC, Accel, Facebook, Spotify, GV, FirstMark, MMC, YouTube, Netflix, Business, Iconiq, Felix, Meritech Locations: London, A.I

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