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☆ Amazon aggregators Branded and Heyday plan to merge as once-booming industry continues to shrink
▼ + stars: | 2024-08-26 | by ( Annie Palmer | In Annierpalmer | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Amazon aggregators Branded and Heyday plan to merge, CNBC has learned, as a segment of the e-commerce industry that boomed during the Covid era continues to consolidate. The new name will be officially rolled out in the coming days, and the combined companies are expected to generate annual revenue of $400 million, Rymarz wrote. Heyday and Branded are part of the crowded and turbulent market of Amazon seller aggregators. Prior to the deal with Paris-based Branded, Heyday explored a possible tie-up with Dragonfly, whose backers include L Catterton, before the talks fell apart, CNBC previously reported. WATCH: What's behind the hype and billion-dollar aggregators buying Amazon sellers

Persons: Sebastian Rymarz, Rymarz, Aggregators, Jared Kushner's, highflier Thrasio, aggregators Organizations: CNBC, Apollo Global Management, BlackRock, Bloomberg, Companies, Jared Kushner's Affinity Partners Locations: New York, Silicon Valley, BlackRock, Paris

☆ Lucy Guo's second act: After the 29-year-old left Scale AI, she has the 'itch to build' something new
▼ + stars: | 2024-08-23 | by ( Sri Muppidi | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +10 min

But Lucy Guo, the 29-year-old cofounder of data labeling startup Scale AI blurs the line between the two archetypes. Yet this is the persona many have come to know since Guo left Scale AI in 2018. But, midway through the program, they pivoted again, this time to what would eventually become Scale AI. Lucy GuoThe idea of Scale AI came from a suggestion by one of their YC roommates, who proposed creating an "API for humans." Advertisement"The itch to build"After Scale AI, Guo decided to apply her learnings to a new entrepreneurial opportunity: investing.

Persons: —, Lucy Guo, Billie Eilish, Charlie XCX, Guo, she's, Adam D'Angelo, Alexandr Wang, Alex, Wang, Guo's, Cruise, Dave Fontenot, Kylie Jenner's lipsticks, Jake Paul's, Passes Organizations: Service, Business, Fry's Electronics, Carnegie Mellon University, Thiel, Facebook, Multicoin, Bond Locations: Miami, Fremont , California, San Francisco, China, hackathons, Quora

☆ Inside The Engine Accelerator, the anti-Y Combinator for 'tough tech' startups
▼ + stars: | 2024-08-16 | by ( Melia Russell | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

The Engine Accelerator is part coworking space and part startup accelerator, though it doesn't invest. The Engine AcceleratorThe Engine Accelerator provides shared resources like chemistry fume hoods, flow cytometers, microscopes, spectrometers, ovens, and lathes. The anti-Y CombinatorThe Engine Accelerator isn't a typical accelerator in one key way. The Engine Accelerator separated into a venture fund and an accelerator late last year. Correction: August 16, 2024 — An earlier version of this story misstated what the Massachusetts Institute of Technology provided for The Engine Accelerator.

Persons: —, Emily Knight, Y Combinator, Knight, Adam Slavney, Jinyoung Seo, Slavney, Pascal, Peña, Peña Feliz, He's, MacroCycle Organizations: Service, Business, Minks, Harvard, MIT, Pascal, Khosla Ventures, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engine Ventures Locations: Cambridge , Massachusetts

☆ More public healthcare companies will be taken private. Here's what PE firms are betting on.
▼ + stars: | 2024-08-12 | by ( Rebecca Torrence | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Read previewRevenue cycle management company R1 RCM just announced its acquisition by two private equity firms for a whopping $8.9 billion — signaling a long-awaited resurgence of big healthcare deals. Private equity's return to the sceneThe debt market is finally correcting for the types of deals healthcare companies have been waiting for. Revenue cycle management has long been a hot area for private equity firms. AdvertisementSpringer said she thinks private equity firms are "very unlikely to buy a care delivery company in this environment." Sen. Markey introduced the Health Over Wealth Act in July that would limit private equity investment in healthcare providers.

Persons: —, Augmedix, Altaris, hasn't, dealmakers, David Marks, They're, Thad Davis, haven't, Davis, Tanay Tandon, Commure, Athelas, it's, Rebecca Springer, we'll, Shiv Rao, Abridge Springer, she'd, Springer, Steward, Sen, Markey, Brian Snyder, Knight's Marks, I've, Marks Organizations: Service, Business, Holland &, Leerink Partners, Epic, Mayo Clinic, Reuters, Holland, FTC

☆ 'These are not normal;' A new type of dealmaking for AI startups is rattling Silicon Valley
▼ + stars: | 2024-08-10 | by ( Ben Bergman | Sri Muppidi | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Google unnerved Silicon Valley last week when it agreed to pay $2.5 billion to license Character.AI's technology, hire its two superstar cofounders and 20 percent of employees. The deal came after AI developers Adept and Inflection both effectively sold themselves to Amazon and Microsoft, respectively, in recent months. It was only last year Character.AI raised $150 million in venture funding, which valued the company at $850 million. Its appeal as a chatbot that uses AI to make virtual characters that interact with users seems decidedly niche. Related storiesMost of the founders and investors Business Insider spoke to for this story say Google has little interest in Character.AI's actual product.

Persons: cofounders, Brent Queener, Kyle Sanford, Character.AI, Iris Sun, Noam Shazeer, Daniel De Freitas, Jack Selby, Peter Thiel's, Steve Brotman, Shazeer, De Freitas, PitchBook's Sanford, they're, Roy Bahat, Arvind Jain, Cameron Lester, Lester Organizations: Service, Microsoft, Bonfire Ventures, Business, Apple, Big Tech, AZ, Biden Administration, Federal Trade Commission, Department of Justice, Alpha Partners, FTC, DOJ, New York Times, Google, Madrona Venture, Bloomberg Beta, Jefferies

☆ Microsoft's cloud is 'no-brainer' for some AI startups, helping Azure gain ground on AWS
▼ + stars: | 2024-08-02 | by ( Jordan Novet | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +10 min

However, after EzDubs went through the Y Combinator startup program last year, the company made a quick pivot, adding Microsoft's cloud into the mix. That's because EzDubs' founders learned of a partnership that enabled Y Combinator companies to receive $350,000 worth of credits on Microsoft Azure. The current offer includes $350,000 in AWS credits, plus $300,000 reserved for tapping the custom silicon, the spokesperson said. A spokesperson later said 58% of Y Combinator startups had taken up Microsoft's credit offer, a figure that doesn't reflect actual Azure usage. "Leading AI startups use OpenAI to power their AI solutions, therefore, making them Azure customers as well."

Persons: Amrutavarsh Kinagi, Kareem Nassar, Padmanabhan Krishnamurthy, EzDubs, Krishnamurthy, Y, Annie Pearl, it's, Satya Nadella, Sam Altman, Hayden, CNBC InKeep, OpenAI, Nick Gomez, InKeep's, InKeep, Gomez, CNBC's Andrew Ross Sorkin, Prady Modukuru, Modukuru, Anthropic, Daksh Gupta, Gupta, Nassar Organizations: Google, Microsoft, CNBC, Amazon, Services, Alchemist, AWS, Hayden Field, Sync Labs, Sync, OpenAI Locations: Palo Alto , California, OpenAI's, San Francisco

☆ Alexa Von Tobel Is the Super Connector of New York's Buzzy Tech Scene
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-31 | by ( Samantha Stokes | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +11 min

Inspired Capital co-founders Lucy Deland (left), Alexa von Tobel (center), and Mark Batsiyan (right) speak to portfolio companies at the firm's annual founder dinner in June 2024. Born and raised in Jacksonville, Florida, von Tobel attended Harvard University, where she graduated with a degree in psychology. AdvertisementInspired Capital co-founders Alexa von Tobel and Penny Pritzker. Inspired Capital founding partners Mark Batsiyan, Lucy Deland, Alexa von Tobel, and Penny Pritzker. Although von Tobel was on vacation outside the country, she stepped away from a fancy dinner to take McNulty Rojas's call and brainstorm solutions.

Persons: Alexa von Tobel, she's, Lucy Deland, Mark Batsiyan, It's, von Tobel, Capital's, who's, Zuckerburg, I've, Morgan Stanley, —, LearnVest, Batsiyan, Alexa, they'd, von Tobel's, Penny Pritzker, Obama, Brynne McNulty Rojas, — von Tobel, McNulty Rojas, Habi, Tobel, Von, Deland, it's, von, McNulty, hasn't, guac, She's, Benjamin Vandiver, Ivan Zhao, Lindsey Vonn Organizations: Flatiron, Business, New York VC, Harvard University, Facebook, Harvard Business School, Accel Partners, American Express Ventures, Northwest Mutual, LearnVest, Ventures, Northwest, Capital, Harvard, of Commerce, America Fund, Tiger Global Management, II, Alexa, Inc, Magazine, Winder, New York Locations: Jacksonville , Florida, New York, Deland, Miami, Latin America, York

☆ Family offices are giving top staff equity and profit shares in battle for talent
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-29 | by ( Robert Frank | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Family offices, the private investment arms of single families, are also shifting to profit shares as a way to better align the incentives of the staff with the family. "Family offices are competing for talent against each other, and against traditional private equity, hedge funds and venture capital." Family offices are increasingly offering lucrative shares of equity and deal profits to staff amid a growing battle for talent, according to a top family office attorney. They often pair co-investments with profit shares to create both upside and potential downside to staff. Because they serve a single family, family offices have more flexibility than many companies when it comes to designing pay plans.

Persons: McCurry, Patrick McCurry, McDermott Will, Emery, they're, Robert Frank, that's Organizations: UBS, Office Locations: Chicago

☆ How VC Stephen Hays scraped his life off rock bottom after addiction and a bipolar diagnosis to tackle mental health stigma
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-29 | by ( Rebecca Torrence | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +10 min

Some parents had voiced concerns about Hays' "background," he told Business Insider. In 2020, he started What If Ventures, a venture firm focused on investing in mental health startups. Hays's new public persona as a staunch mental health advocate also puts a certain pressure on him to perform his recovery — "and I hate that," he said. He wants to show people struggling with their own mental health that working to get well is good enough. Advertisement"I don't just want to destigmatize addiction and mental health issues — I want to destigmatize the journey of getting better," he said.

Persons: —, Stephen Hays, Hays, couldn't, didn't, They'd, it's, Christine, he'd, Amit Etkin, Etkin, he'll, that's, Stephen, Christopher Kim, Kim, Hays doesn't, It's Organizations: Service, Little League baseball, Business, Neuroscience, Ventures, West, Space Ventures, Atlantic City, Magazine, Deep Space Ventures, Alto Neuroscience, BI, Argosy Strategic Partners, Argosy Locations: Dallas, Texas, Atlantic, Las Vegas, Colorado, Wickenburg , Arizona

☆ What JD Vance's rise tells us about the influence of Peter Thiel — and Silicon Valley in the age of Donald Trump
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-26 | by ( Peter Kafka | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +12 min

Without Peter Thiel, Vance does not get anywhere near the US Senate. And in Silicon Valley, the conservative movement is much stronger, and more muscular than it was before. AdvertisementThere's this narrative, promoted by people like Thiel, that Silicon Valley is super-liberal. Because Silicon Valley has conservative roots in addition to roots in the counterculture. AdvertisementLike I said, the liberal nature of Silicon Valley has always been sort of overplayed.

Persons: —, I'm, Donald Trump, Vance, Peter Thiel —, Max Chafkin, who's, Thiel, Peter Thiel's, Trump, JD Vance, Narya, It's, supercharge, Bill Pugliano, David Sacks, Peter Thiel, revel, that's, he's, Elon Musk, Marc Andreessen, They're, Elon Musk's, Apu Gomes, Steve Jobs, Ben Horowitz Organizations: Service, Republican, Trump, Business, Bloomberg Businessweek, Republican National Convention, YouTube, Ohio Senate, The, Thiel, Twitter Locations: Silicon Valley, Mithril, Narya, Ohio, West Coast, —, America, Silicon, San Francisco

The artificial intelligence startup and Menlo Ventures are launching a $100 million fund on Wednesday to back early-stage startups, and get them using the AI company's technology. It initially started with $100 million in 2008, and doubled to $200 million two years later. Venture capitalists are now looking for ways to sweeten their offers to court AI startups, as investors swarm to the hottest deals. Funding for AI startups more than doubled in the second quarter from the first, topping $24 billion, according to data from Crunchbase. OpenAI has its own venture fund, the OpenAI Startup Fund, which its website says is "investing $175 million to help AI companies have a profound, positive impact on the world."

Persons: Anthropic, Kleiner Perkins, Matt Murphy, Murphy, Daniela Amodei, Dario, OpenAI, ChatGPT Organizations: Menlo Ventures, Menlo, Apple, CNBC, Venture, OpenAI, Fund Locations: Crunchbase

For Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, being almost the only game in town for AI chips isn't enough. AdvertisementThe company also runs Nvidia Inception, an incubator and venture network that counts more than 20,000 early-stage companies among its membership. "I think it's crazy," said another founder whose company received investment from NVentures, who spoke on condition of anonymity. Any company trying to do anything major in AI has spent the past two years buying them by the truckload. AdvertisementHe says he's received personal calls from Huang in which the Nvidia CEO weighs in on company decisions or expresses disapproval of his public statements.

Persons: Jensen Huang, Chris Brown, Brown, Huang, Vishal Bhagwati, Sid Siddeek, Jensen, Umesh, Padval, Uber, Nvidia's, Lisa Su, he's, there's Organizations: Service, Nvidia, Business, Corporate, Cohere's, Google, AMD Locations: Silicon Valley, New York, NVentures, OpenAI

☆ Space station startup Gravitics lands $125 million order from Axiom
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-09 | by ( Michael Sheetz | In Michaeljsheetz | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Washington-based startup Gravitics has signed a $125 million contract to expand Axiom Space's planned space station, the latest deal in the burgeoning private market for orbiting habitats. Axiom is one of several companies building private space stations as NASA plans for the International Space Station to end its time in orbit. Already, Axiom has modules of its space station being built by Italian aerospace contractor Thales Alenia. The space station modules Gravitics is designing range from 3 meters (9 feet) to 8 meters (26 feet) in diameter. Axiom was the first to win a NASA contract for building space station modules, and Gravitics would connect its spacecraft later this decade.

Persons: Colin Doughan, Gravitics, Glenn, Doughan Organizations: CNBC, NASA, International, Thales Alenia Locations: Washington, Seattle

☆ Hong Kong's IPO market is finally starting to turn around, consulting firm EY says
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-04 | by ( Evelyn Cheng | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing celebrates the 24th anniversary of its listing on June 21, 2024. "We are seeing more of these [U.S. dollar] funds, they are moving back to Hong Kong. "I would say if the interest rate can be further cut down, 1% maybe, that would have a significant effect on the IPO market," Chan said. Hong Kong IPO returns are improving. "These things added together are projecting an upward trend for the Hong Kong market [in the] next 5 years."

Persons: George Chan, Chan, EY, Hong Kong, Marcia Ellis, Morrison Foerster, Hong Kong IPOs, China IPOs, Bonnie Chan, EY's George Chan, EY's Chan Organizations: Hong Kong Exchanges, China News Service, Getty, CNBC, Information, HK, China Securities Regulatory, Hong Kong . Investors, U.S . Federal Reserve, Hong Kong Stock Exchange, Hong, Hong Kong Locations: BEIJING, Hong Kong, China, U.S, Shanghai, Hong, Greater China

☆ The VC that predicted a 'mass extinction event for startups' says it's time for a 'Great Reawakening'
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-03 | by ( Melia Russell | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Read previewLast year's dearth of capital for startups forced many founders to stretch their cash runways. Efficiency is a hallmark of any good business, but Tom Loverro, an investor at 44-year-old Bay Area venture capital firm IVP, thinks startup founders should step off the brake pedal. The venture capitalist who rightly predicted a "mass extinction event for startups" over a year ago now says the worst is behind us. "We're on the cusp of a Great Reawakening for startups," Loverro wrote in a LinkedIn post. Given that the cloud software market is stabilizing and venture funding is available again to the best-in-breed startups, Loverro is telling startups with sound unit economics to increase their cash burn to speed up progress.

Persons: —, Tom Loverro, Loverro, shutdowns, Darwin, Ball, That's, Uber Organizations: Service, IVP, Business, Autonomy, TechCrunch, LinkedIn Locations: Stockholm

☆ 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

☆ Biden digs his heels in while Trump secures another win
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-02 | by ( Dan Defrancesco | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

In today's big story, we're looking at President Joe Biden showing no signs of giving up his reelection campaign while former President Donald Trump secured a win from the Supreme Court . AdvertisementBiden's campaign has been in full-blown crisis mode after the president's disastrous debate against former President Donald Trump last week. AdvertisementMeanwhile, Trump secured a big win in his immunity case . The Supreme Court ruled that former presidents don't get absolute immunity from criminal charges related to actions under the scope of the presidency, but they do get some. 3 things in techStefani Reynolds/BloombergBig Tech gets a big win from the Supreme Court.

Persons: —, Joe Biden, Donald Trump, he's, Biden, Allison Joyce, Getty, Tyler Le, he'd, it'd, John L, Dorman, Biden's, Manuel Balce Ceneta, Jacquelyn Martin, Kamala Harris, Gavin Newsom, Gretchen Whitmer, Harris, isn't, Trump, don't, Justice Sonia Sotomayor, Alyssa Powell, David Kelly, Jonathan Xiong, Blackstone, Keith Lerner, Truist, Stefani Reynolds, OpenAI, It's, Gen Zers, Kevin Costner's, Kevin Costner, Dan DeFrancesco, Jordan Parker Erb, Hallam Bullock, Annie Smith, Amanda Yen Organizations: Service, Michelin, Business, The New York Times, Biden, Democrats, Trump, Justice, Getty, Citadel, Bloomberg Big Tech, ChatGPT, Atlantic Locations: Manhattan, Asia, Millennium, New York, London

☆ 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

Amazon will double the value of credits it offers some startups to use its cloud infrastructure, CNBC has learned, as the company faces heightened competition from Microsoft in artificial intelligence services. Seed-stage startups will still be eligible for $100,000 in credits, AWS said. But Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud are growing more quickly, and are benefiting from rapidly advancing AI models. During Selipsky's time at the helm, Microsoft and Google increased their share of the cloud infrastructure market. Participants will be able to access up to $1 million in cloud credits, according to the website.

Persons: Matt Garman, Garman, Garman's, OpenAI, Anthropic, Adam Selipsky, Grant, Amazon's, Rohit Prasad, David Luan Organizations: Amazon Web, CNBC, Microsoft, AWS, Google, Gemini Locations: Las Vegas, Silicon, Silicon Valley

☆ Britain looks to upstage France with play for world's third major AI hub after U.S., China
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-26 | by ( Ryan Browne | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +7 min

But key challenges face the country as it looks to become the world's third-biggest AI hub. At the London Tech Week conference in the Olympia events venue earlier this month, tech executives from around the world touted London and the U.K. as a place to invest. London vs. FranceLondon is facing heated rivalry from France for the title of European AI leader. Can the UK keep its European AI crown? Seeking regulatory clarityAnother key source of uncertainty for tech leaders is the future of AI regulation in the U.K.

Persons: Mike Kemp, Alex Kendall, — Kendall, Wayve's, Brent Hoberman, Wayve, it's, Salesforce, Janet Coyle, Coyle, Arthur Mensch, Hanno Renner, that's, Europe's, CNBC's, Philip Belamant, Zilch, Matthew Holman, Cripps, Holman Organizations: Global, London Tech, Sage, Google, London, Partners, Viva Tech, Accel, CNBC, Mistral France Paris, Alpha, Alpha Germany Heidelberg, Face France Paris, France Paris, United, United Kingdom London, Kingdom London, Tech, European Union Locations: London, United Kingdom, China, Olympia, SoftBank, San Francisco, Vancouver . U.S, France London, France, Brazil, Silicon, Europe, Paris, Berlin, Alpha Germany, Germany, Brexit, Britain

☆ College dropouts raise $120 million to take on Nvidia's AI chips
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-25 | by ( Kif Leswing | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

A 2-year-old startup founded by Harvard dropouts has just raised $120 million in venture funding to try and build a competitive chip and take on Nvidia in artificial intelligence. Co-founder and CEO Gavin Uberti said that as AI develops, most of the technology's power-hungry computing requirements will be filled by customized, hard-wired chips called ASICs. "We're making the biggest bet in AI," Uberti said in an interview. Other chip startups taking on Nvidia include Cerebras Systems, which is building a physically larger AI chip, and Tenstorrent, which is using a trendy technology called RISC-V to build AI chips. Venture capitalists invested $6 billion in AI semiconductor companies in 2023, up slightly from $5.7 billion in 2022, according to data from PitchBook.

Persons: Gavin Uberti, Uberti, we'll, Peter Thiel, Stanley Druckenmiller, Kyle Vogt, we've, Robert Wachen Organizations: Nvidia, Harvard, Apple, Venture Partners, Cerebras Systems, Semiconductors, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co, Venture Locations: Cupertino , California, PitchBook

☆ Artificial intelligence is coming for venture firms. VCs predict it could reduce headcount by more than 50%.
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-24 | by ( Ben Bergman | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

Firms like Correlation Ventures, 645 Ventures, and Fly Ventures have long used data and AI to help guide investment decisions. AdvertisementEarlier this year, Sri Chandrasekar, a partner at Point72 Ventures, noticed a startup in his portfolio was having a breakout week. Related stories"If you go to any venture firm's website, you'll find that half the names are not doing anything to do with investing," Chandrasekar said. Advertisement"If you look at the large firms, they got very, very large in the last few years," said Andy McLoughlin, managing partner at Uncork Capital. Venture firms will have to remake themselves into a combination of people and A.I."

Persons: —, Matt Krna, Krna, Sri, Chandrasekar, Christina Melas, Andreeseen Horowitz, Andy McLoughlin, James Currier, Currier, McLoughlin Organizations: Service, Business, Ventures, Fly Ventures, Point72 Ventures, Bain Capital Ventures, Bain Capital, Catalyst, Lightspeed, Uncork, Venture, Deloitte, San Locations: San Francisco, Sri Chandrasekar

☆ The best-funded generative AI startups in Europe have something in common: Big Tech experience
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-20 | by ( Ryan Browne | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

That figure rose to more than a third (38%) for the top 40 European and Israeli generative AI companies in terms of venture funding raised, and 60% for the top 10 generative AI companies for funding levels. Google bought British AI lab DeepMind in 2014, and the firm's tech is now key to AI products including its Gemini generative AI tools. Many AI founders are professors, tooAccel noted universities play a major role in the creation of generative AI startups. British universities are the most popular study destination for generative AI founders, Accel's research found. France's Ecole Polytechnique is the second-highest academic founder factory in Europe, with 7% of generative AI founders having studied there.

Persons: Arthur Mensch, Porte de Versailles, Dealroom, Harry Nelis, Europe's, Nelis, Timothee Lacroix, Guillaume Lample, Laurent Sifre, Karl Tuyls, Charles Kantor, Mistral, Accel, —, Lourdes Agapito, Agapito, Matthias Niessner, Victor Riparbelli, Steffen Tjerrild Organizations: Viva Technology, Parc, Chesnot, Getty, Accel, Apple, Google, Microsoft, CNBC, Mistral France Paris, Alpha, Alpha Germany Heidelberg, Face France Paris, France Paris, United, United Kingdom London, Kingdom London, Facebook, Research, Meta, Amazon, Stanford University, British, University College London, UCL, University of Cambridge, France's Ecole Polytechnique Locations: Paris, France, Europe, Israel, Israeli, Alpha Germany, United Kingdom, British, London, France's

☆ Inside Europe's tech hubs: Does London have what it takes to remain No. 1?
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-19 | by ( Arjun Kharpal | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +32 min

But it will remain a big, big trend. How has if at all, Brexit, affected the U.K. tech scene? Arjun KharpalAre there other challenges at the moment, as you see them to the U.K. tech landscape? I'm gonna go with the amount of VC funding in U.K. tech startups for 2025. Sanjot MalhiI would say that is the amount of funding in U.K. AI startups.

Persons: Tom Chitty, Arjun, we'll, Arjun Kharpal, I've, Sanjot, He's, It's, Tom Chitty I've, we've, it's, Arjun Kharpal Sanjot, fintech, we're, you've, let's, Tom Chitty We're, Franklin Templeton, they're, Masa, Softbank, that's, Arjun Kharpal Sanjay, Emmanuel, Macron, hasn't, who's, Emmanuel Macron, I'm, Sanjot Malhi, Arjun Kharpal That's, Kharpal, Tom Chitty Sanjot Organizations: HSBC Innovation Banking, CNBC, Northzone, Hague Cricket Club, European Union, Competition, Markets Authority, London Stock Exchange, London, Masa, Viva Tech, Mistral, Nvidia Locations: Europe, Dealroom, France, China, London, beyondthevalley@cnbc.com, Netherlands, India, The Hague, Germany, Sweden, North America, Asia, San Francisco, Beijing, Tel Aviv, Bangalore, U.S, British, doesn't, Ukraine, IPOs

☆ Tensions mount at troubled mental health startup Cerebral as another investor files a lawsuit
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-17 | by ( Rebecca Torrence | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Read previewThe infighting at mental health startup Cerebral is in full swing after an investor filed a lawsuit alleging another of the company's backers cost Cerebral hundreds of millions of dollars in value. This story is available exclusively to Business Insider subscribers. Access Industries' representative on Cerebral's board, Nami Park, is also an individual defendant in the lawsuit. But after Access filed its lawsuit against WestCap and Cerebral in April, that self-tender never happened, the June suit claims. With that offer buried, SoftBank still occupies one of six seats on Cerebral's board of directors.

Persons: —, WestCap, Len Blavatnik, Nami, WestCap's countersuit, would've, could've, WestCap's, SoftBank Organizations: Service, Access Industries, Business, Industries, WestCap, US Department of Justice, hasn't, Rock Health, Federal Trade Commission, FTC Locations: Delaware

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