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☆ Software security startup Chainguard is raising a new funding round at a $1.1 billion valuation, sources say
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-08 | by ( Sri Muppidi | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

It will be valued at $1.1 billion in a new funding round, sources say. AdvertisementChainguard, a startup that boosts the security of customers' software supply chains, is raising a new funding round at a $1.1 billion valuation, Business Insider has learned. The latest fundraise would triple the startup's valuation from its last funding round, a $61 million Series B last November that valued it at $411 million, according to PitchBook data. Founded in 2021, Chainguard's investors include Spark Capital, Sequoia Capital, Amplify Partners, The Chainsmokers' Mantis VC, and Banana Capital. This story is available exclusively to Business Insider subscribers.

Persons: — Organizations: Sequoia, Spark, Service, Sequoia Capital, Banana, Business

☆ How Rak Garg became Bain Capital Ventures' youngest partner at just 27 years old in less than 3 years
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-02 | by ( Sri Muppidi | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

After spending two years building products at Atlassian, Garg quit his job to start his own company. However, through his efforts to start a company, Garg met Enrique Salem, a board member of Atlassian and partner at Bain Capital Ventures, the multi-stage venture fund managing over $10 billion in assets and a unit of Bain Capital. In response, Garg helped start Atlassian Access, a new identity management product that scaled to thousands of customers. AdvertisementBecoming BCV's youngest partner in under 3 years"I didn't know anything about venture," Garg said. "We are very high-touch in how we work with these companies," Garg said.

Persons: —, Garg, Enrique Salem, Salem, Rak Organizations: Service, Business, Bain Capital Ventures, Bain Capital, BCV, UCLA, Atlassian, Viso Trust, BCV Labs Locations: Atlassian, Delhi, Bay, ideating

☆ AI startup Abnormal Security is set to be valued at $5 billion in new funding round, sources say
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-01 | by ( Ben Bergman | Sri Muppidi | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

Abnormal Security uses AI to guard users from cyber threats across email and apps. It is set to be valued at $5 billion in a fresh funding round, according to two sources. The company was valued at $4 billion in a 2022 funding round led by Greylock Partners. AdvertisementAbnormal Security, a startup that uses artificial intelligence to guard users from cyber threats across email and apps, is set to be valued at $5 billion in a fresh funding round, according to two sources familiar with the deal. The company has raised a total of $374 million in venture funding.

Persons: — Organizations: Security, Greylock Partners, Service, Insight Partners, Menlo Ventures, The Syndicate Group, Business

☆ VCs clamor to invest in the red-hot early-stage round for AI safety startup Haize Labs
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-29 | by ( Sri Muppidi | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Read previewHaize Labs, an AI safety startup, is raising an early-stage round that investors are clamoring to invest in, Business Insider has learned. However, for hot startups, there can be more investor demand than a startup can accommodate, as with Haize Labs' round. One source indicated that Haize Labs received term sheets with valuations ranging from $30 million to over $100 million. Haize Labs is building automated red-teaming and stress-testing algorithms to identify risks in AI models and agents. AI safety has increasingly become a concern, especially as AI usage increases among both consumers and enterprises.

Persons: —, Leonard Tang, VentureBeat, OpenAI, Sama, Steve Li, Richard Liu, Tang Organizations: Service, Business, Haize, Haize Labs, Soma, Google, Netflix, Harvard, Carnegie Mellon, Washington Post

But, not all AI startups are created equal. AdvertisementBusiness Insider surveyed nine VCs who invest in AI startups at firms like Bain Capital Ventures, Flybridge, and Sapphire Ventures. Startups building AI's "picks and shovels" are a better bet than yet another LLMStep aside, OpenAI and Anthropic. In contrast, unstructured data encompasses various formats such as text documents, images, audio files, emails, social media posts, and videos. Some AI investors say they're shying away from point solutions—think online payment processing or project management—in favor of full-stack solutions.

Persons: —, Harvey, Navin Chaddha, Chip Hazard, they're, Kahini Shah, there's, Rak Garg, Garg, Shah, Lauri Moore, Moore, Chaddha, Capital's Moore, she's Organizations: Service, Accel, Business, Bain Capital Ventures, Flybridge, Sapphire Ventures, Google, Meta, Mayfield Fund, Flybridge Capital Partners, Obvious, Investors, Obvious Ventures, Foundation, Dig Ventures Locations: Mayfield, Hazard, Flybridge

☆ Sequoia-backed security startup Vanta will see its valuation soar past $2 billion in new funding round, sources say
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-20 | by ( Ben Bergman | Sri Muppidi | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

It will be valued at more than $2 billion in a new funding round, Business Insider has learned. AdvertisementVanta, a startup that helps companies comply with security standards, is set to be valued at more than $2 billion in a new insider funding round, multiple sources told Business Insider. Vanta was last valued at $1.6 billion in a 2022 funding round led by Craft Ventures on October 12, 2022, according to Forbes. CrowdStrike Holdings, Atlassian Ventures, HubSpot Ventures, Workday Ventures, Acrew Capital, Pioneer Fund, ASDF Ventures, Zag Capital, Sequoia Capital, Frontline Ventures, Y Combinator and LAUNCH Fund also participated in the last round. This story is available exclusively to Business Insider subscribers.

Persons: —, Vanta Organizations: Sequoia, Craft Ventures, Service, Business, Forbes, CrowdStrike Holdings, Atlassian Ventures, HubSpot Ventures, Acrew, Pioneer Fund, ASDF Ventures, Zag, Sequoia Capital, Frontline Ventures Locations: Acrew Capital

☆ Decagon raises $35 million from Accel and A16z to build AI customer support agents. Here's an exclusive look at the pitch deck it used.
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-18 | by ( Sri Muppidi | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

AI startup Decagon builds AI agents to automate customer support for enterprise customers. Founded in July 2023, Decagon uses generative AI to automate customer support for enterprise customers. The company has emerged from stealth and raised $35 million in funding for its seed and Series A rounds. Accel led the company's $30 million Series A, with participation from Andreessen Horowitz, A*, and Elad Gil. A16z led the company's $5 million seed round.

Persons: Andreessen Horowitz, —, Jesse Zhang, Ashwin Sreenivas, Zhang, Elad Gil, A16z, Decagon, Aaron Levie, Howie Liu Organizations: Accel, Service, Decagon, Business

☆ The Oakland A's are leaving the city, but a new baseball team is trying to fill the void. Here's an exclusive look at the pitch deck the Ballers used to raise $2 million.
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-17 | by ( Sri Muppidi | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Read previewOakland was once home to three major sports teams: the Golden State Warriors, Oakland Raiders, and Oakland Athletics. The Oakland Ballers raised $2 million from 53 individual investors. Before founding the Ballers, Freedman was a serial entrepreneur in the human capital and education sectors. "We're a minor league team in a major league market," Freedman said. Check out the 15-slide pitch deck the Ballers used to raise $2 million:

Persons: —, Paul Freedman, Freedman, Bryan Carmel, " Freedman, Carmel, Michael Fitzgerald, Gagan Biyani, Biyani, Kara Nortman, Angel City, Alexis Ohanian, Serena Williams, Natalie Portman, Williams, Venus, Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy Organizations: Service, Golden State Warriors, Oakland Raiders, Oakland Athletics, NBA's Warriors, NFL's Raiders, Las, MLB's Athletics, Business, Oakland, Pioneer League, MLB, Education, A's, Maven, Area, cofounding Angel City Football Club, Angel, TGL Locations: San Francisco, Las Vegas, Oakland, Ireland, Ballers, Los Angeles, Ohanian

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