DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

☆ Galym Imanbayev went from Stanford School of Medicine to venture capital. Here's why he says his medical training has been so crucial to becoming an investor at Lightspeed.
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-30 | by ( Samantha Stokes | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

During his senior year of high school, Imanbayev discovered another interest, entirely by chance. After mistiming his MCAT, Imanbayev faced one gap year before he could start medical school. As he jumped into the grueling demands of medical school, Imanbayev said that for everything he studied, there were additional things he wanted to add on and learn. Helping Lightspeed push into healthtech investingSince 2020, Imanbayev has been a partner at Lightspeed focusing on the health sector. Imanbayev himself has spearheaded investments for Lightspeed in the healthcare-equity startup Soda Health and the virtual-care startup Wheel.

Persons: Galym Imanbayev, he'd, Mark Zuckerberg, Larry Ellison, Jack Dorsey, Imanbayev, Imanbayev's, Dean Lloyd Minor's Organizations: Stanford, VC, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Co, Oregon Health & Science University, Martis, Stanford School of Medicine, Stanford Graduate School of Business, Lightspeed, Ancora Biotech, Soda Health Locations: Kazakhstan, Soviet Union, Portland , Oregon

June 29 (Reuters) - Typeface, a generative AI platform for enterprise content creation, said on Thursday that it was valued at $1 billion after an oversubscribed Series B funding round led by Salesforce's (CRM.N) global investment arm, bringing the total capital raised to $165 million. The $100 million round also saw participation from Lightspeed Venture Partners, Madrona, GV (Google Ventures), Menlo Ventures, and M12, Microsoft's Venture Fund, the company said. In February, Lightspeed Venture Partners, GV, Menlo Ventures, and M12 invested $65 million when Typeface emerged from stealth and launched publicly. 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. Editing by Gerry DoyleOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Salesforce's, Gokul, Krystal Hu, Gerry Doyle Organizations: Lightspeed Venture Partners, GV, Google Ventures, Menlo Ventures, Microsoft's Venture Fund, Google, Thomson Locations: Bengaluru, Toronto

☆ Climate startup Supercritical nabbed $13 million to help carbon removal projects get funded. Check out the 11-slide pitch deck it used to secure the funds from Lightspeed.
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-21 | by ( Tasmin Lockwood | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

London-based startup Supercritical just raised $13 million to help projects get funded via companies. London-based startup Supercritical has just raised $13 million from Lightspeed Venture Partners to help the "groundswell" of businesses pledging to invest in carbon removal. That's where carbon removal — tree-planting, sucking CO2 from the air using technology, or enhanced rock weathering — comes in. Long term, it wants to be the "no brainer" option for carbon removal purchases. Check out the 11-slide redacted pitch deck Supercritical used to raise the funds.

Persons: we've, Michelle You, Aaron Randall, Carbo Organizations: Lightspeed Venture Partners, Paris, Frontier Fund, RTP Global, Greencode Ventures, MMC Ventures Locations: London

☆ France's Mistral AI raises 105 mln euros shortly after being set up
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-13 | by ( Sudip Kar-Gupta | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The fund-raising highlights the rapid growth of the artificial intelligence (AI) sector as well as Europe's desire to create rivals to Silicon Valley companies such as Microsoft-backed (MSFT.O) OpenAI and Google's (GOOGL.O) DeepMind. Paris-based Mistral AI was set up by former Meta (META.O) and Google artificial intelligence researchers Timothee Lacroix, Guillaume Lample and Arthur Mensch. Mistral AI's fund-raising was led by international venture capital fund Lightspeed Venture Partners. Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt is also a shareholder in Mistral AI. "Bravo to the start-up Mistral AI which has raised 105 million euros just a month after its creation: a record!"

Persons: Schmidt, Xavier Niel, Rodolphe Saade, Timothee Lacroix, Guillaume Lample, Arthur Mensch, Mensch, Mistral, Eric Schmidt, Jean, Noel Barrot, Bravo, Sudip Kar, David Evans, Leslie Adler Organizations: Lightspeed Venture Partners, Microsoft, Meta, JCDecaux, Italy's Exor Ventures, Mistral, Paris, Twitter, Thomson Locations: PARIS, Silicon, DeepMind, Paris, France, Europe, New York , California, London

☆ Venture capital giant Andreessen Horowitz to open first office outside of the US in London as it bets on the UK to become leader in crypto regulation
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-12 | by ( Callum Burroughs | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Venture capital giant Andreessen Horowitz is set to open its first office outside of the US in London. The Silicon Valley giant is betting on the UK to become a leader in crypto regulation. Venture capital giant Andreessen Horowitz is set to open its first office outside of the US in London as it bets on the British government to become a leader in crypto regulation. Meanwhile, venture capital funding to crypto companies has collapsed over the past year. Andreessen general partner Chris Dixon said that crypto was still in its "early innings" and that technology takes "decades to develop," in a blog post announcing the London office.

Persons: Andreessen Horowitz, Chris Dixon, Sriram Krishnan, Binance, Rishi Sunak, Dixon, Sunak, there's Organizations: Venture, Twitter, Facebook, Securities and Exchange Commission, SEC, School from, Catalyst, Bessemer, Lightspeed Venture Partners Locations: London, Europe, School from London, Silicon, Sequoia

☆ The decision to split Sequoia Capital into 3 entities puts to bed any questions of a power struggle at the VC powerhouse
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-06 | by ( Melia Russell | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

VC powerhouse Sequoia Capital announced Tuesday that it is splitting into three entities. One of those entities, Sequoia China, known locally as HongShan, will operate as a distinct firm. The mighty Sequoia Capital is dropping branches. The decision puts to bed any question of a power struggle at one of Silicon Valley's most respected firms. And unlike some other global firms that had veto power over investments overseas, according to Bloomberg, Sequoia China had full autonomy to strike its own deals.

Persons: Roelof Botha, Neil Shen, Forbes, Alex Konrad, Doug Leone, Instagram, Bytedance, Botha, Shen, Julian Bek, Elon Musk's Organizations: Sequoia Capital, Sequoia, XV Partners, YouTube, Bloomberg, Shen, Sequoia China, Ventures, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Accel, Elon, Twitter, Fidelity Locations: Sequoia China, China, Europe, HongShan, India, Southeast Asia, Sequoia, Sequoia Capital China, Asia, Silicon Valley, London, FTX

Rubrik may raise more than $750 million in its IPO, three of the sources added, though that may change based on market conditions as the preparations are still at an early stage. Rubrik currently generates annual recurring revenue of about $600 million, one of the sources said. Three of the sources said Rubrik could choose to go public in 2024, if the IPO market becomes more welcoming. Founded in 2014 by venture capitalist Bipul Sinha, Rubrik makes cloud-based ransomware protection and data-backup software. SoftBank-backed Cohesity Inc, which competes with Rubrik, is also preparing to go public, having filed confidentially for an IPO in late 2021, Reuters reported.

Persons: Goldman Sachs, Rubrik, Bipul Sinha, Johnson, Echo Wang, Milana Vinn, Krystal Hu, Matthew Lewis Organizations: YORK, Microsoft Corp, Barclays Plc, Citigroup Inc, Barclays, Citi, Nvidia Corp, Depot Inc, Bain Capital Ventures, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Kenvue Inc, Johnson, SoftBank Group Corp, Inc, Reuters, Cohesity Inc, Thomson Locations: U.S, Palo Alto , California, ., New York

☆ Ex-Facebook and DeepMind employees in talks to raise sizable initial funding round to build OpenAI rival
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-05 | by ( Callum Burroughs | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

A French startup that wants to be Europe's answer to OpenAI is in talks to raise an initial funding round. The secretive new project, named Mistral, was founded by two AI research scientists. Mistral, a secretive new startup pitched as Europe's answer to OpenAI, is in discussions to raise a substantive funding round, sources say. London-based generative AI startup Synthesia is in talks to raise a major round while ElevenLabs raised at a $100 million valuation last month. It's also widened the race for AI supremacy with Google launching its own AI assistant, Bard, to compete with OpenAI.

☆ I've been building popular tech products like Tome since I became my family's breadwinner at 15 years old. I've learned you never know how people are going to use your creation.
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-15 | by ( Lakshmi Varanasi | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Keith Peiris is the co-founder of Tome, a storytelling tool that uses generative AI models like GPT-4 and Dall-E-2. At the same time, I also learned that no one uses your tools the way you envisioned. The truth is that everyone uses tools differently, so you need to build them in a permissive way. When we started building Tome in the early days of the pandemic, my cofounder, Henri Liriani, and I thought we were building for someone we knew. Now, they're using Tome, which is a use case I had never even thought about.

☆ Exclusive: The University of California has invested billions in venture capital firms since 2000 and it has lost hundreds of millions so far. Here's why.
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-11 | by ( Ben Bergman | Darius Rafieyan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Insider obtained UC Investments' returns through a Public Records Act request. Unlike many other financial institutions, VC funds are not required to show their return on investment in startups. UC Investments, which has been managed by Jagdeep Singh Bachher since 2014, declined to comment. Though selling early produced an initial windfall, UC Investments could have ultimately missed out on substantial gains from these VC funds. By comparison, UC Investments earned a 8.3% return for its investment in public markets.

☆ Base10 Partners is offering its limited partners direct access to investing in unicorn startups in order to compete against VC firms with much bigger funds. Here's how.
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-31 | by ( April Joyner | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Limited partners, the investors that back VC firms, are seeking out more direct deals in startups. But often LPs don't get in until long after the VC firms have invested, so they get smaller returns. VC firm Base10 Partners has launched a program to give LPs earlier access and more upside. As the exuberance in venture capital has crashed to a halt, the institutions that back VC firms, known as limited partners, have had plenty to grouse about. The VC firm Base10 Partners seeks to offer its own limited partners a remedy to this dilemma.

☆ AI storytelling startup Tome records fast user growth, to launch paid tier soon
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-23 | by ( Krystal Hu | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

March 23 (Reuters) - Artificial intelligence storytelling startup Tome has seen its user numbers triple in a month to 3 million and is planning to launch a paid subscription in the coming weeks, Chief Executive Keith Peiris told Reuters, as AI products grow in popularity. Tome is also adding a document-to-presentation feature powered by GPT-4, the latest foundation model released by Microsoft-backed OpenAI. The feature enables users to turn a document of up to 25 pages into AI-generated slides with text and soon photos, competing head-to-head with Microsoft's (MSFT.O) AI "Copilot". "It's a push into work and enterprise use cases for us after all the demand we've seen," said Peiris, co-founder of Tome. Tome's product is currently free to use, while it will soon launch a paid tier that costs about $10 a month to guarantee unlimited access for users, Peiris said.

☆ Exclusive: $7 billion tech unicorn Carta bet big on managing employee equity for public companies. Now it's telling them to get off its platform.
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-23 | by ( Darius Rafieyan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

$7 billion unicorn Carta is officially retreating from its equity management software for public companies, according to multiple sources Insider has spoken to. Thousands of private companies use the platform to track company and employee ownership, process venture investments, and administer employee stock programs, among a slew of other services. Carta had seen the company through its 2017 public listing on the London Stock Exchange, helping its employees and shareholders navigate the complex world of public stock markets. Transfer agents are regulated entities that all public companies are required to use to track stock ownership. "I guess getting into the public markets is something that they sort of dipped their toe in and now want to withdraw," he said.

☆ Exclusive: Carta's fired CTO accuses CEO Henry Ward of deceiving regulators, abusing employees, and misappropriating funds
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-16 | by ( Darius Rafieyan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

In a new legal filing Carta's former CTO accuses the company's CEO of a litany of misdeeds. New details have emerged in the ongoing lawsuit between $7 billion startup Carta and its former CTO Jerry Talton. Four days after submitting that letter, Talton was placed on administrative leave. On December 23, 2022, two months after sending his letter, Talton was fired and stripped of $10 million of unexercised stock options, according to Wednesday's filing. The legal filing claims that the company "invaded Talton's privacy and inserted these salacious elements in the complaint simply to malign him."

☆ ‘I am personally sticking with SVB.’ Prominent tech figures pledge support for bank
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-16 | by ( Catherine Thorbecke | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

CNN —After a rollercoaster week for Silicon Valley Bank’s customers, some prominent voices in the tech world are now publicly saying they will keep their money with the embattled lender – and they’re urging others to do the same. It also comes after the regional bank’s saga sent shockwaves across global financial markets. The push to continue doing business with Silicon Valley also highlights the unique relationship between the tech lender and the startup community, and their mutual dependence on each other. The bank has worked with nearly half of all US venture-backed tech and health care companies. But not everyone shares the desire to stay loyal to the bank after its implosion.

Powering AI Dungeon's text-generation software was the GPT language technology offered by the Microsoft -backed AI research lab OpenAI. The high cost of training and "inference" — actually running — large language models is a structural cost that differs from previous computing booms. Many entrepreneurs see risks in relying on potentially subsidized AI models that they don't control and merely pay for on a per-use basis. Companies making the foundation models, semiconductor makers, and startups all see business opportunities in reducing the price of running AI software. "Latitude is going to continue to evaluate all AI models to be sure we have the best game out there."

☆ The tech industry avoided an ‘extinction-level event,’ but it’s not unscathed
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-13 | by ( Catherine Thorbecke | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

CNN —For much of the weekend, Silicon Valley scrambled to find a way through what one prominent tech investor described as an “extinction-level event for startups” after the collapse of a top lender in the industry. “You can feel the collective *sigh*,” Ryan Hoover, a tech founder and investor wrote on Twitter Sunday. SVB’s collapse also risks changing how the world, and prospective recruits, think of Silicon Valley. The bank worked with nearly half of all venture-backed tech and healthcare companies in the United States. President Joe Biden emphasized in remarks Monday that “no losses will be borne by the taxpayers” related to the government’s intervention for Silicon Valley Bank.

☆ More than 110 VC firms, led by General Catalyst, are banding together in support of Silicon Valley Bank
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-11 | by ( April Joyner | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

More than 110 venture capital firms have signed a statement in support of Silicon Valley Bank. "Silicon Valley Bank has been a trusted and long-time partner to the venture capital industry and our founders," a joint statement from more than 110 firms reads. Hemant Taneja, the CEO of the VC firm General Catalyst, which led the effort to organize support for SVB, tweeted the statement on Friday evening. Alongside General Catalyst, 12 other firms signed the initial statement, including Accel, Greylock, Kleiner Perkins, Lightspeed Venture Partners, and Upfront Ventures. Some VC firms, including Founders Fund, Y Combinator, and Union Square Ventures, advised their portfolio companies to pull the bulk of their funds out of the bank.

☆ In the midst of the AI boom, investors are doubling down on diligence. Here are the five questions VCs are asking every generative AI startup during pitches.
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-02 | by ( Stephanie Palazzolo | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Buzzy generative AI startups have so far avoided the troubles plaguing the rest of the tech world. Here are the five diligence questions investors are asking generative AI startups, according to VCs. But for generative AI startups, 2023 has been much of the same — and that hasn't been a bad thing. Insider spoke with eight of these VCs about the top five questions they're asking generative AI startups during diligence processes. One hallmark of generative AI startups are their eye-staggering round sizes.

☆ Israeli cyber security firm Wiz raises $300 mln, valued at $10 bln
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

JERUSALEM, Feb 27 (Reuters) - U.S.-Israeli cyber security startup Wiz said on Monday it raised $300 million in a private funding round that values the firm at $10 billion. The late stage round was led by Lightspeed Venture Partners and existing investors Greenoaks Capital Partners and Index Ventures. Since its founding three years ago, Wiz, which focuses on cloud security and has 650 employees globally, has raised $900 million from investors, including Sequoia Capital, Insight Partners, Blackstone and G Squared. It said it plans to open new offices in Austin, Dallas and Washington D.C. Reporting by Steven Scheer Editing by Ari RabinovitchOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ $7 billion startup Carta has been embroiled in multiple lawsuits with former employees. Allegations in legal documents depict a CEO who can be retaliatory and volatile.
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-21 | by ( Darius Rafieyan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +11 min

Carta, a Silicon Valley darling valued at more than $7 billion, has been embroiled in multiple lawsuits with former employees that named Henry Ward, its CEO and cofounder. Meanwhile, the company is separately suing Jerry Talton, the chief technology officer whom it fired and who was deposed as a witness in the Kramer case. Carta alleges he made secret recordings of company executives and shared them with former female employees who were in legal disputes with the company. And now that the Kramer case has been settled, the complaints from other employees included in the lawsuit may never see the light of day. Lawyers for Talton are expected to file an answer to the company's lawsuit by March 15.

☆ Business Technology Chiefs Question ChatGPT’s Readiness for the Enterprise
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-15 | by ( Angus Loten | Chris Bedi | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +7 min

Yet some business-technology professionals are uneasy about integrating it into the enterprise stack, citing concerns over its use of online data and security risks. But at the moment, ChatGPT “should be used with caution in an enterprise business setting,” she said. Newsletter Sign-up WSJ | CIO Journal The Morning Download delivers daily insights and news on business technology from the CIO Journal team. For now, Mr. Schmidt said, generative AI capabilities should be reserved for writing corporate boilerplate—product or service announcements, or other promotional materials. For enterprise information-technology, “ChatGPT use cases might be a smaller universe than people are imagining,” he said.

☆ Returns from top venture firms NEA, DCM, and Khosla have been dismal over the past 2 decades, according to filings from California's largest pension fund, CalPERS
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-15 | by ( Ben Bergman | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

CalPERS is the US's largest public pension plan, managing the retirement accounts of 1.5 million California employees and retirees. Unlike many other financial institutions, VC funds are not required to show their return on investment in startups. The CalPERS fund's $75 million bet in 2001 on a venture fund managed by the Carlyle Group lost money. A $25 million investment in DCM's 2000 fund had a 1.9% IRR. Its $260 million investment in two Khosla Ventures funds in 2009 yielded an IRR of 11.8% for the early-to-midstage fund and 6.9% for the seed-stage fund.

☆ Here's a look at 14 fintech startups that are tackling healthcare's money problems
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-13 | by ( Samantha Stokes | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

A new wave of startups are tackling financial issues within the healthcare space. Here are 14 fintech-healthtech startups that have raised money from VCs. "If you're thinking about building fintech that really helps the average consumer, a big piece of the wallet is healthcare spend," she told Insider in an interview. From the employee-benefits platform Budgie to the wellness credit card Ness, Insider has compiled a list of startups building at the intersection of fintech and healthtech. Check out Insider's list of 14 startups at the intersection of fintech and healthtech.

☆ Exclusive: Carta settles lawsuit with former female executive who claimed gender discrimination and illegal retaliation
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-07 | by ( Darius Rafieyan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Carta, facing allegations of discrimination and retaliation, had been scheduled to go to court in February. A lawsuit brought by former Vice President of Growth Emily Kramer alleging gender discrimination and illegal retaliation was settled on February 6 in California Superior Court, according to a court filing. While the Kramer case has now been settled, Carta is still involved in other legal disputes and facing complaints of gender discrimination. Carta's "No assholes policy"According to the lawsuit, Kramer was recruited by Carta CEO and co-founder Henry Ward in 2018 to serve as Carta's head of marketing. As part of her job, Kramer led the company's high-profile campaign to raise awareness about the gender equity gap in Silicon Valley.

Search resuls for: "Lightspeed"

25 mentions found