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Steve Bowsher, In-Q-TelSteve Bowsher, president and CEO of In-Q-Tel. He made an early bet on Palantir, blowing the doors open for Silicon Valley techies to go after federal contracts. The son of a federal employee who grew up devouring spy novels, Bowsher has always been interested in the work of the government but actually cut his teeth in Silicon Valley. After graduating from Stanford, he worked for three startups and spent eight years at venture fund InterWest Partners. By combining Silicon Valley's swashbuckling ethos with a government agency's mission-driven mentality, Bowsher has helped shepherd some of the biggest defense tech success stories of the past two decades.

Persons: Steve Bowsher, Bowsher Organizations: Magazine, Stanford, InterWest Partners Locations: Menlo Park , California, Silicon Valley

☆ The Bitcoin network completes the fourth-ever ‘halving’ of rewards to miners
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-19 | by ( Tanaya Macheel | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

watch nowThe Bitcoin network on Friday evening completed its fourth "halving," reducing the rewards earned by miners to 3.125 bitcoins from 6.25. After the 2012, 2016 and 2020 halvings, the bitcoin price ran up about 93x, 30x and 8x, respectively, from its halving day price to its cycle top. Hash rates are a measure of the computational power used to process transactions on the bitcoin network. "The market so far has seen bitcoin mining stocks as mere BTC proxies, in absence of bitcoin ETFs," said Bernstein analyst Gautam Chhugani. "[The] Bitcoin halving is already partially priced in by the market and we do not expect prices to increase significantly following the halving event," the firm's Marion Laboure said in a note Thursday, adding that it "has been widely anticipated in advance due to the nature of the Bitcoin algorithm."

Persons: Reginald Smith, Bernstein, Gautam Chhugani, MARA, Nikolaos Panigirtzoglou, Marion Laboure Organizations: Metrics, JPMorgan, BTC, IRIS, Deutsche Bank Locations: Friday's

☆ These are the 11 startups most likely to IPO this year, according to analysts.
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-11 | by ( Riddhi Kanetkar | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

Rising interest rates and limited VC funding have slowed IPOs in the tech sector. With Instacart, Arm, and Klaviyo going public, the IPO market could be reviving this year. BI profiled 11 startups that are expected to IPO, according to PitchBook's Exit Predictor. Initial public offerings (IPOs) have slumped since the record-breaking 2021, when the the likes of likes of Roblox, UiPath, and Rivian listed. The market hasn't been helped by rising interest rates and a slump in venture capital funding, which has slowed down activity in late-stage startups.

Persons: —, It's Organizations: Service, Business

☆ Last year, an unknown person briefly took nominal control over OpenAI's $175 million startup fund. The company says the government filing was 'fabricated.'
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-29 | by ( Darius Rafieyan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

One document, filed in April of 2023, listed Jacob Thomas Vespers and Vespers Inc—a company formed the same day—as manager of the fund. A document filed a few weeks later registered the address of the company as unit 234, a small second-story apartment overlooking the courtyard at The Orchard. When OpenAI was informed about the Vespers document by the journalist in July 2023, the company did not report the allegedly fabricated filing to any authorities, Wood said. All of them are associated with Jacob Thomas Vespers, referred to in some documents as Jacob Thomas Redmond Messer or Jacob Thomas Redmond or Jacob Thomas Messer. There's a github post made under a profile name, Jacob Thomas Redmond, on May 19th, 2023 that bears some tell-tale signs of being AI generated.

Persons: —, Jacob Thomas Vespers, Sam Altman, Madhav Dutt, Dutt, Kayla Wood, OpenAI, Wood, Paul Carroll, he's, Carroll, Jacob Thomas, Jacob Thomas Redmond Messer, Jacob Thomas Redmond, Jacob Thomas Messer, Redmond, Messer Organizations: Service, California, State, Business, SEC, Corporations, Integrity Locations: Santa Ana , California, The, Silicon, California

☆ HongShan split from Sequoia last year as US-China relations worsened. Now, it's eyeing up Europe.
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-19 | by ( Callum Burroughs | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Last June, storied investor Sequoia Capital announced it was to split itself into three separate entities. Sequoia Capital would look after the US and Europe; Peak XV Partners would manage its investments in India; and HongShan Capital would be based in China. The emergence of HongShan as an active investor in Europe would result in the firm "competing with former family," one source said. The expansion could be aimed at attracting businesses that target the Chinese market or companies set up by Chinese entrepreneurs away from home, the FT said, citing sources who had spoken with Shen. HongShan Capital's most recent fund includes LPs such as CalPERS, the University of Texas Investment Management Company, and the University of Washington endowment.

Persons: HongShan, Neil Shen, Shen Organizations: Sequoia Capital, YouTube, Sequoia, Partners, HongShan, Business, United, Strategic, University of Texas Investment Management Company, University of Washington Locations: China, Europe, India, London, Singapore, Asia

☆ Investing in sports teams is trendy now — but is it headed toward bubble territory? New research provides a playbook.
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-19 | by ( Tiara White | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

The simmering topic has been up for debate, in part because prices for NFL teams have risen so high that they threaten to restrict who can be a lead owner. This raises the question: Are investments in sports teams actually a good investment, especially for risk-averse investors like pensions and endowments? According to new research published in Investments & Wealth Publications in November, the answer is a resounding yes. For the article, he teamed up with his father, Arun Muralidhar, the chairman and founder of Mcube Investment Technologies, which develops decision-support products for institutional investment managers. "They themselves are investing globally to make sure that their brand is increasing, and they found great success with that."

Persons: —, Sid Muralidhar, Muralidhar, Risktyle, Arun Muralidhar, Sachin Muralidhar, Sachin, Arun, Sid Muralidhar Sid Muralidhar, homed, it's Organizations: Service, NFL, Dallas Cowboys, Forbes, Business, Investments, Wealth, NHL, Citigroup, Mcube Investment Technologies, The University of Virginia, National Hockey League, NBA, MLB, BI

☆ How Irish business is winning in the US: It’s not all butter and cheese
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-18 | by ( Nicole Goodkind | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

Irish companies have to think about being in an Irish domestic market which is frankly, really small, or just going global straightaway. The US is particularly strong for Irish companies; the US economy has held up well. I think Irish companies are very adept at pivoting into what other other countries need and being part of the story. It seems like Irish companies are increasingly becoming job creators in the US. Glanbia Foods, an Irish company that manufactures American-style cheese, now produces one in four slices of cheese consumed in the US.

Persons: Bell, Leo Clancy, Joe Biden, we’ve, it’s, that’s, That’s, We’re, It’s, We’ve, Tesla, Elon Musk’s Tesla, Wells, Colin Langan, ” Langan, Elisabeth Buchwald Organizations: CNN Business, Bell, New York CNN, European Union and International Monetary Fund, Enterprise Ireland, Patrick’s, Entrepreneurship, Federal Reserve, Companies, UBS, Tesla, NAR, National Association of Realtors Locations: New York, Ireland, United States, Jefferson , Wisconsin, America, Irish, Europe, Washington, We’re, automaking, Wells Fargo

☆ Dating Apps Like Hinge, Tinder and Bumble Are Getting Worse - The New York Times
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-16 | by ( Magdalene J. Taylor | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

“The golden age of dating apps is over,” a friend told me at a bar on Super Bowl Sunday. As we waited for our drinks, she and another friend swiped through Bumble and Hinge, hunting for new faces and likes. Across the bar were two young men: phones out, apps open, clearly doing the exact same thing. What’s lamentable here isn’t only that dating apps have become the de facto medium through which single people meet. Or maybe the apps have functionally, intentionally gotten worse, as have our romantic prospects.

Persons: ”, swiped, What’s, Cory Doctorow Organizations: Super Locations: U.S

☆ Software engineers are getting closer to finding out if AI really can make them jobless
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-14 | by ( Hasan Chowdhury | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

A startup backed by Peter Thiel has released the "first AI software engineer." A little-known startup called Cognition Labs stunned software engineers this week when its team of coding whizzes unveiled what it calls "the first AI software engineer." AdvertisementHowever, Cognition's AI software engineer appears to have an aptitude that's a notch above. Of course, the startup has been pretty careful with how it presents its AI software engineer. These reactions are understandable at a time when software engineers are feeling the heat.

Persons: Peter Thiel, Devin, —, Peter Thiel's, Scott Wu, Kyle Shevlin, Athagist, Keynes, Oliver Twist, kAKj7ZeBob — Kyle Shevlin, Evan You, Aravind Srinivas marveled, Mark Zuckerberg Organizations: Service, Software, Cognition Labs, Cognition, Informatics Locations: Singapore

☆ How much Sam Altman stands to gain from a Reddit IPO
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-11 | by ( Madeline Berg | Hayley Cuccinello | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Here's how much Altman's Reddit stake could be worth — and why it's not as much as some say. Business Insider estimates that OpenAI CEO Altman owns a maximum of just about 1.66 million shares of Reddit. Using the company's estimated price per share of $31 to $34, Altman's stake in Reddit could be worth between $51.4 million and $56.4 million. Neither Reddit nor Altman would comment on the exact number of shares that Altman owns. For instance, Hydrazine Capital II owns nearly 9.9 million shares of Reddit.

Persons: Sam Altman, —, Altman, Reddit, OpenAI, Peter Thiel Organizations: Service, News, Business, Apollo, bioscience, Facebook, Google Locations: Reddit

Despite a challenging fundraising environment, women-led venture capital funds made gains in 2023. According to research by Venture Capital Journal, women-led funds' share of total fundraising increased to about 3% of the $107 billion raised last year by venture funds worldwide, up from less than 2% of the 2022 total. While it's a small fraction of the total pool, venture capital funding in the U.S. for companies founded by women has been trending up in recent years. The upswing has had some help from the creation of incubators for women founders, more new companies founded by women and more venture capital funds focused on underrepresented founders. Portfolia creates and manages about 16 venture funds designed for individual investors who want to invest in a portfolio of mostly women-led startups and want to learn more about venture investing.

Persons: Trish Costello, Portfolia, Costello, Elizabeth Clayborne, Steve Washington, Clayborne, wouldn't Organizations: Venture Capital Journal, YourChoice Therapeutics, CNBC Locations: U.S

☆ Big-name investors are betting AI gadgets could change the way we interact with tech
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-01 | by ( Dan Defrancesco | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

download the appSign up to get the inside scoop on today’s biggest stories in markets, tech, and business — delivered daily. What's on deck:This story is available exclusively to Business Insider subscribers. The big storyAI (literally) in your pocketTech workers are criticizing Humane's hotly anticipated Ai pin. AdvertisementIn fact, heavy hitters like legendary investor Vinod Khosla believe that AI devices will completely change how we interact with technology. Humane's Ai Pin, which can project text onto users' hands and translate voice messages, didn't get a warm welcome when it launched late last year .

Persons: —, Oompa, I've, Willy Wonka, Elon Musk, Sam Altman, Humane's, Vinod Khosla, Samantha Stokes, Vishal Persaud, Khosla, Ai, didn't, Tim Cook, Salesforce's Marc Benioff, OpenAI's Sam Altman, Franck Robichon, Paul Krugman, shouldn't, we're, Wells, Bank of America's Merrill, Bitcoin, Tyler Le, maven, Alexei Navalny's, Dan DeFrancesco, Hallam Bullock, Jordan Parker Erb, George Glover Organizations: Service, Business, Humane, Khosla Ventures, Rabbit, Bank of America's, Wall, The New York Times, WW, SEC Locations: Franck, Wells Fargo, New York, London

☆ No, Sam Altman doesn't actually own half a billion dollars of Reddit stock
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-29 | by ( Madeline Berg | Hayley Cuccinello | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Reddit filed for an IPO, revealing nearly 10% of its shares are owned by entities related to Sam Altman. AdvertisementLast week, not long after Reddit made moves toward a public listing, headlines began to appear about an unexpected figure: Sam Altman. For example, Hydrazine Capital II is listed as owning nearly 9.9 million shares of Reddit. But Altman, at most, owns 5% of Hydrazine Capital II's holdings, or 492,720 of its Reddit shares. AdvertisementThe various entities point to a side of Altman — Altman the investor — that has receded from view since he has become known to the public as OpenAI's CEO.

Persons: Reddit, Sam Altman, Altman, —, tech's, Reddit's, that's, he's, Chris Harvey, Altman — Altman, ADVs, Peter Thiel, Cruise, Steve Huffman, Alexis Ohanian Organizations: Service, Business, Securities and Exchange Commission, Harvey, Apollo, Apollo Projects, SPV, SEC, Investors, University of Michigan, Helion Energy, Facebook, Google Locations: Altman

☆ The NFL is gearing up to change team ownership rules in what could be a massive win for Wall Street
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-29 | by ( Tiara White | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

Team owners will meet at the annual league meeting in March to discuss private equity. The investment ownership model is favored in the NBA, MLB and NHL— but not in the NFL. So, what will a rule change mean for institutional investors and their Wall Street brokers, as well as owners and sports fans? Experts also think NFL team owners' "wealth would increase drastically," said Rotthoff— due to the considerable profits they've already made from team valuations in the past decade. Wall Street investment banks could also benefit in their role as advisors to wealthy investors and sports teams, including helping to connect buyers with sellers.

Persons: —, Josh Harris, Mark Patricof, Carrie Potter, Mellody Hobson, Condoleezza Rice, Sir Lewis Hamilton, Kurt Rotthoff, Dwayne Wade, Venus Williams, Eric Thomas, Gil Fried, Rotthoff, Rob Gronkowski, Spencer Platt, Goldman Sachs, Thomson, Taylor Swift, Jamie Squire, Potter, Fried Organizations: NBA, MLB, NHL, NFL, Service, Silicon, Forbes, The, Patricof, Rice, Denver Broncos, Seton Hall, Wall, Kansas City Chiefs, West, Sport Finance, Sports, Group, Wall Street, Chiefs, Dolphins, Getty Locations: The Washington, Crestview, United States, Orlando , Florida, West Florida

☆ Investment momentum is rising in the region, Invest Qatar CEO says
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-28 | 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 EmailInvestment momentum is rising in the region, Invest Qatar CEO saysSheikh Ali Alwaleed Al Thani, CEO of the Investment Promotion Agency Qatar (Invest Qatar), discusses investment opportunities in the region and the Qatar Investment Authority's decision to invest $1 billion in international and regional venture capital funds.

Persons: Sheikh Ali Alwaleed Al Thani Organizations: Invest, Investment, Agency Qatar, Qatar Investment Locations: Invest Qatar, Qatar

Energy startup Axle is in talks to raise a round backed by VC fund Accel, BI understands. The year-old company could raise around $6 million in capital as part of the deal, sources say. The energy tech startup uses electric vehicles and home energy assets to help balance grids. Energy software startup Axle Energy is in talks to raise fresh funding in a round backed by venture capital fund Accel, Business Insider understands. The London-based company, founded in 2023, connects electric vehicles and batteries to energy grids to help solve the intermittency of renewables.

Organizations: Energy, Accel, BI, Business Locations: London, Europe

☆ Sovereign wealth funds will be 'market makers,' UAE venture capital firm says
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-27 | 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 EmailSovereign wealth funds will be 'market makers,' UAE venture capital firm saysFadi Ghandour, executive chairman of Wamda Capital, discusses the Qatar Investment Authority's decision to invest $1 billion in international and regional venture capital funds.

Persons: Fadi Ghandour Organizations: Wamda, Qatar Investment Locations: UAE, Qatar

☆ VC Dick Costolo dishes on the new startup funding frenzy and valuations coming back to earth. 'The world now is much more sane.'
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-26 | by ( Melia Russell | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

He prefers getting to know founders long before they decide to raise money so he can pounce on the right opportunity. Investors, including hedge funds, hurtled term sheets at founders to beat the competition, skipping the usual diligence along the way. Flush with cash, the partners are seeing a flood of hyper-growth startups come to market for funding after a two-year dry spell. The funding blockage is also softening as valuations come back to earth, Costolo said. "Prices are a lot more sensible now," Costolo said, noting the exception of valuations in artificial intelligence.

Persons: Dick Costolo, Costolo, Costolo isn't, Adam Bain, Twitter's, Dario Amodei, Kimberly White, Getty Costolo, they're, Bain, David Fischer Organizations: Twitter, Business, Advisors, Software, Carta, TechCrunch, Google, Nvidia, Fund, Health Locations: Jackson Hole , Wyoming, Detroit

☆ EV boat maker Arc debuts a premium wake sport model for $258,000
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-21 | by ( Lora Kolodny | In Lorakolodny | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Arc Boat Company's fully electric Arc Sport model gets four to six hours of typical use on a single charge. Arc Boat Company began sales of its second electric boat model in just three years this week. The new $258,000 Arc Sport was designed for wake sports enthusiasts and follows the company's earlier Arc One, a limited-edition luxury cruiser. The 23-foot Arc Sport can carry up to 15 people at a time. Arc plans to begin deliveries of its new battery electric Arc Sport to customers this year.

Persons: Mitch Lee, Ryan Cook, Arc, Kevin Durant, Klay Thompson, Will Smith, Andreessen Horowitz, Lee, Rivian Organizations: Boat Company, GM, Sacramento –, SpaceX, EV, Eclipse Ventures, Menlo Ventures Locations: Malibu, Stockholm, Sacramento – San Joaquin, Stockton , California, Lyft, Brunswick, MarineMax

☆ Tailored dog food supplier Tails.com is planning to cut up to 55 roles, leaked documents show
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-20 | by ( Riddhi Kanetkar | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Tails.com, a dog-food supplier owned by Nestlé Purina PetCare, is planning to cut up to 55 roles, Business Insider has learned. In January, the company announced internally that it planned to commence a round of layoffs that could affect up to 55 staffers in the UK, per documents seen by BI. Per UK employment law, the company is required to offer a statutory redundancy package to those affected by the layoffs. While the company documents acknowledged that it had hired 22 new roles in the past six months, they also said hiring for any non-critical business roles had been paused since November 2023. Unlike previous rounds of layoffs, these ones are happening while many tech companies are producing good financial results .

Persons: Nestlé Purina, PetCare, Tails.com, ‘ we’re, Nestlé, “ Organizations: Octopus Ventures, Nestlé, Business, BI, Tech, Microsoft, Google Locations: London

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailEther trades above $2,800 for the first time since May 2022: CNBC Crypto WorldCNBC Crypto World features the latest news and daily trading updates from the digital currency markets and provides viewers with a look at what's ahead with high-profile interviews, explainers, and unique stories from the ever-changing crypto industry. On today's show, Robert Le, a crypto analyst with PitchBook, breaks down the findings of the data firm's Q4 crypto report, which revealed a slight uptick in venture capital funding, marking a modest recovery after six quarters of decline.

Persons: explainers, Robert Le, PitchBook Organizations: CNBC Crypto, CNBC

☆ Why direct-to-consumer darlings such as Casper, Allbirds and Peloton are now struggling
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-10 | by ( Devan Burris | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

A once-bustling group of companies, backed by billions in venture capital funding, saw a record year for IPOs in 2021. Now, three years later, most of those direct-to-consumer, or DTC, companies still struggle with profitability. "One of the problems with a lot of direct-to-consumer companies is they're not profitable and a number of them don't really have a convincing pathway to profitability. With the cohort came a huge wave of venture capital funding, propped up by low interest rates. As the Covid-19 pandemic moved most shopping online, venture capital funds were all-in on digital native direct-to-consumer companies.

Persons: GlobalData Retail's, Neil Saunders, Warby Parker, Casper Organizations: IPOs, CNBC, Wonder Group Locations: ThredUp

☆ China’s VC playbook is undergoing a sea change as U.S. IPO exits get tougher
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-08 | by ( Evelyn Cheng | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

That's far less than in the previous years — the share of U.S. dollars in total VC funds raised was around 15% for the years 2018 to 2021, the data showed. China investments, China exitsWashington and Beijing in 2022 resolved a long-standing audit dispute that reduced the risk of Chinese companies having to delist from U.S. stock exchanges. "With U.S. IPOs no longer being a viable exit strategy for China assets, investors should target local exits in their respective capital markets—in other words, China exits for China assets, and U.S. exits for overseas assets," Liao said. The 20 largest VC deals for China-headquartered companies in 2013 were predominantly in e-commerce and software services, according to PitchBook data. ... the venture capital scene has become even more state-concentrated and focused on government priorities.

Persons: China’s renminbi, Athit Perawongmetha, Kyle Stanford, China —, Liao Ming, Stocks, Liao, Didi, Beijing's, Camille Boullenois Organizations: Reuters, Reuters BEIJING — Venture, Liao Ming, U.S, Sequoia, Prospect, Capital, New York Stock Exchange Locations: U.S, Bangkok, Thailand, Reuters BEIJING, China, Sequoia, Washington, India, Japan, Greater China, Beijing, New York, Hong Kong, U.S . Washington

☆ OpenAI's Startup fund just raised a $10 million SPV from two unnamed investors
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-06 | by ( Darius Rafieyan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

The OpenAI Startup Fund is a separate but related entity from OpenAI. The fund raised $175 million last year to invest in AI companies. It has since co-led investments in legal tech startup Harvey and Ambience Healthcare, among others. AdvertisementOpenAI's venture capital fund recently raised $10 million from two unnamed investors via a special purpose vehicle or SPV, according to an SEC filing. Since then, the fund has co-led a $80 million investment in legal tech startup Harvey and was part of a $70 million investment in Ambience Healthcare, among other deals.

Persons: — Organizations: Service, SEC, Fund, Business

Judge Kevin Newsom, a Trump appointee, pushed back against the Fearless Fund's argument that the grants are protected by the First Amendment because they are charitable donations. He asked the Fearless Fund's attorneys whether the same protection would apply to a contest open only to white applicants. “I think that's a pretty simple yes or no,” Newsom said, interrupting when the attorney for the Fearless Fund, Jason Schwartz, started to reply. They’re saying, no, we want all the pie,” Ben Crump, a civil rights attorney who is also representing the Fearless Fund Fund, said a news conference following the hearing. But since the lawsuit was filed, the Fearless Fund has had trouble securing new investment, said co-founder Arian Simone.

Persons: Donald Trump, Barack Obama —, Fearless, Kevin Newsom, Edward Blum, ” Newsom, Jason Schwartz, Schwartz, ” Schwartz, ” Ben Crump, ”, Morgan Chase, Arian Simone, “, ” Simone, Newsom, ______ Olson Organizations: MIAMI, American Alliance for Equal Rights, Trump, American Alliance, Black, Bank of America, Mastercard, “ Locations: U.S, Black, Miami, America, “, New York

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