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☆ AI marketing startup Alembic just raised $14 million from Jeffrey Katzenberg's WndrCo and revealed Nvidia as a customer
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-15 | by ( Darius Rafieyan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Companies spend billions on marketing every year, but the question remains whether these campaigns translate into profits. San Francisco-based startup Alembic is employing big data techniques developed for contact tracing during the pandemic to answer those questions. The company today announced a $14 million Series A that included Jeffery Katzenberg, NFL-star-turned-VC Joe Montana, and Braze co-founder Mark Ghermezian. But recent advances in AI and big data technology, he says, have made it possible to track the impact of marketing spend on a granular level, in real time. Puig says the company currently has about a dozen customers, including trillion-dollar chipmaker Nvidia, which is using the technology to guide its marketing efforts.

Persons: Crypto.com, Dunkin, Ben Affleck, Jennifer Lopez, Jeffery Katzenberg, Joe Montana, Braze, Mark Ghermezian, Katzenberg, Tomas Puig, epidemiologists, Puig, Jensen Huang, it's Organizations: Mastercard, PGA, Business, Walt Disney Studios, DreamWorks, Nvidia Locations: Los Angeles, San Francisco, Covid

☆ Crypto venture funding climbs for first time in nearly 2 years after bitcoin's stellar run
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-15 | by ( Ryan Browne | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Now, venture investors are returning. Venture funding for crypto-related companies in the fourth quarter of 2023 totaled $1.9 billion, a 2.5% increase from the prior quarter, PitchBook said Thursday. It marks the first time that venture VC investments in crypto startups have risen since the March quarter of 2022. Problems for crypto ventures were compounded that year by major collapses of crypto companies like Do Kwon's controversial algorithmic stablecoin Terra and Sam Bankman-Fried's FTX. Le said that crypto venture funding has bottomed with a rise in crypto asset prices and public market valuations of crypto-related companies such as Coinbase , Marathon Digital , and MicroStrategy .

Persons: Crypto, PitchBook, It's, Sam Bankman, FTX, Andreessen Horowitz, Le, bitcoin Organizations: Venture, Sequoia Capital, Tiger Global, CNBC, Marathon Locations: FTX

☆ Ariel Alternatives' Les Brun on scaling minority-owned businesses
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-13 | 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 EmailAriel Alternatives' Les Brun on scaling minority-owned businessesLes Brun, Ariel Alternatives founder and CEO, joins 'The Exchange' to discuss data showing a disproportionate lack of venture funding for black-founded companies, Ariel Alternatives' $1.45 billion 'Project Black' fund aimed to boost minority-owned businesses, and more.

Persons: Les Brun, Ariel

☆ A Goldilocks economy could be coming, but a key piece of the puzzle remains elusive
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-06 | by ( Dan Defrancesco | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

In today's big story, we're looking at why investors are eyeing an even better outcome for the market than a soft landing . The big storyMarket's sweet spotPiotr PowietrzynskiForget about a soft landing, some market watchers want something just right. For months, investors hoped the Fed's tightening policy would culminate in a soft landing: lowering inflation while avoiding a full-blown recession. But why settle for a soft landing when you can get it all? Liu Jie/Xinhua via Getty ImagesA Goldilocks economy still hinges on the Fed cutting rates, which has proved fleeting for investors.

Persons: —, hasn't, Piotr Powietrzynski Forget, Matthew Fox, Solita, Marcelli, Jerome Powell, Liu Jie, we'll, Powell, Banks, Kenneth Rogoff, Jensen Huang, Rick Wilking, Goldman, Goldman Sachs, Savita Subramanian, Gen, Jenny Chang, Rodriguez, Fintechs, VCs, Sam Altman, Altman, didn't, Scott Winters, Alyssa Powell, Travis Kelce, Experian, It's, EVs, Dan DeFrancesco, Hallam Bullock, Jordan Parker Erb Organizations: Service, Apple, Business, Getty, Bank of America, Harvard, Nvidia, CES, Kansas City Chiefs, US Treasury, New York Times, UBS, FAA, Boeing, Max Locations: Americas, Washington ,, Xinhua, Jensen, Las Vegas , Nevada, U.S, China, New York, London

☆ Exclusive: Astarte Medical is shutting down. Here's why the infant tech startup decided to close its doors.
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-05 | by ( Rebecca Torrence | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Tracy Warren cofounded Astarte Medical in 2016 to improve care for premature babies. Astarte, which sells software to standardize nutrition for babies in intensive care units, had raised $14 million in venture funding to date and landed contracts with four hospitals. Last year, the startup wasn't able to land as many new contracts as it hoped, with hospitals struggling to manage their slim margins. But Astarte ultimately decided not to make the promise to build AI into its tech for clinical decision-making. The startup is hoping to find a buyer by the end of the first quarter of the year.

Persons: Tracy Warren, Warren, Astarte, Tammi Jantzen, Katherine Gregory, Gregory, Warren didn't, Nenov, Jantzen, —, we've, we're, Medical's Organizations: Business, Brigham, Women's, Viking Global, Ben Franklin Technology Partners, Children's, Gillette Children's Hospital, Children's Hospital, Arkansas Children's Hospital Locations: Virginia, Minnesota, Arkansas

☆ 6 venture investors spotlight the fintechs that could soar in 2024 amid another tough year for startups
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-05 | by ( Bianca Chan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: 1 min

Fintech has shown few signs of recovering in 2024 as funding declines and layoffs continue. VCs said they want to pick up deals this year in AI and cost-management tools for software. Investors digging for deals in the fintech industry are zeroing in on a few pockets of resilience. Venture funding to financial-technology startups fell by 50% in 2023 from 2022, according to CB Insights. Only one month into 2024, fintech layoffs have been abound.

Persons: Fintech, VCs, Jack Dorsey's Block Organizations: PayPal, Business Locations: Brex

☆ VCs need to return cash to their investors. The secondary market is coming alive as a result.
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-02 | by ( Tasmin Lockwood | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Venture capitalists need to free up cash and return money to their own investors, known as limited partners (LPs). The secondary share sales market in the US is well established. Bad timingMost VC funds agree to return their profits to their LPs within 10 years. A record 31 secondary funds headquartered in Europe were established in 2021, amid the hype period, with $29 billion in assets under management per PitchBook. It all comes down to how buoyant the VC market is: "If the market is good again, then who's going to sell secondary?

Persons: There's, Michael Smith, Regeneration's Smith, Kelly Rodriques, Hussein Kanji, Kanji, Hussein, Tom Henrikkson, OpeanOcean, it's, Henrikkson Organizations: Venture, Business, Industry Ventures, Cherry Ventures, Ventures, Albion, Forge, Financial Times, VC, Hoxton Ventures, Sequoia Locations: Silicon Valley, Europe, San Francisco, Amsterdam, London

☆ Marcelo Claure and Paul Judge bought SoftBank's diversity fund. Now they're trying to raise $200 million for it.
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-01 | by ( Vishal Persaud | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Read previewFormer SoftBank executive Marcelo Claure and serial entrepreneur and investor Paul Judge are in the throes of raising a new $200 million fund. The past year has been transitional for the fund since Claure and Judge bought the $100 million fund from SoftBank. Since then, there haven't been any new investments, but the two are poised to capitalize on the success of the first fund and are raising the second Open Opportunity Fund. He said that limited partners' interest has been positive overall since the Open Opportunity Fund's first fund has had so much success. AdvertisementJudge said that he expects the first Open Opportunity Fund to continue to deliver "top quartile" returns to its investors over the next five to seven years.

Persons: —, Marcelo Claure, Paul Judge, It's, Claure, haven't, SoftBank —, I've, Judge, George Floyd's, Masayoshi, Shu Nyatta, Stacy Brown, what's Organizations: Service, Business, Opportunity Fund, Opportunity, Fund, Mastercard, Vista Equity Partners, Ventures, Sprint, Bicycle Capital, TechCrunch Locations: SoftBank, Atlanta, America

☆ Exclusive: AI healthcare software startup Cohere Health just raised $50 million
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-01 | by ( Rebecca Torrence | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Cohere Health just landed $50 million in Series B extension funding, Business Insider has learned exclusively. Deerfield Management led the Series B extension, with participation from Define Ventures, Flare Capital Partners, Longitude Capital, and Polaris Partners. The Cohere Health team. This year, as it works to get more health plans to use its software, Cohere plans to grow its workforce. In the second quarter of this year, Cohere plans to announce software that will apply AI to medical imaging.

Persons: Siva Namasivayam, Cohere, Axios, Namasivayam, It's, Michael Greeley, Lynne Chou O'Keefe, Greeley, Cohere's Organizations: Cohere, Business, Deerfield Management, Define Ventures, Flare Capital, Longitude, Polaris Partners, Humana, Capital Partners, Cohere Health Locations: Deerfield, Cohere

☆ Meet the 6 startups reimagining the future of customer engagement with generative AI
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-01 | by ( Sponsor Post | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

2023 was a breakout year for generative AI that significantly advanced how companies build and deploy AI-powered products and experiences. Out of the many applications, Twilio selected six exceptional startups that leveraged practical generative AI applications across healthcare, hospitality, logistics, and more. The honorees demonstrated extraordinary advances toward the future of trusted communications and customer engagement and proved the real promise of generative AI. By layering AI technology on top of legacy systems, FleetWorks is able to automate the most time-consuming part of logistics management: live order issue handling. Learn how to transform your communication channels with Twilio and Generative AI by visiting Twilio's website or by tuning into this recent webinar.

Persons: Twilio, Khozema Shipchandler, Brandon Leen, Sinead Bovell, Arist, Arist Arist, Fleetworks, Milo, Smith.ai Smith.ai Organizations: Twilio Ventures, BMO, DoorDash, World Health Organization, OpenAI, Insider Studios

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

☆ Exclusive: Organic baby food startup Yumi has slashed its valuation after running low on cash
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-31 | by ( Ben Bergman | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Yumi, a startup backed by a long list of prominent Silicon Valley investors that makes high-end organic baby food, is raising a down round that values the company at around $40 million, Business Insider has learned. The funding represents a substantial discount from Yumi's Series B round in 2021, which valued the company at more than $300 million, according to Pitchbook data. It also means Yumi has burned through more than twice as much cash, nearly $90 million dollars, as it is currently worth. Startup fundraising tumbled to a five-year low in 2023 with funding for e-commerce and shopping startups down 60%, according to Crunchbase data. Convoy, the freight startup that was once called the "Uber for trucking" and raised more than $1 billion, shut down in November.

Persons: Yumi, Evelyn Rusli, Angela Sutherland, Gerber, Sutherland, Rusli, Anne Wojcicki, Gabrielle Union, Warby Parker, Goldman Sachs, Christina Minnis, Kelly Coffey, Masha Drokova, Lauren Dillard Organizations: Business, BI, Walmart, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, New Enterprise Associates, Uber, City National Bank, One Ventures, Nasdaq, Startup, Convoy, Olive Locations: millennials

☆ IBM shares rise after earnings top estimates in ‘uncertain, volatile’ economy
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-24 | by ( Jordan Novet | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Net income, at $3.29 billion, or $3.55 per share, increased from $2.71 billion, or $2.96 per share, in the year-ago quarter. The company confronted "a very challenging, uncertain, volatile macroeconomic environment," Chief Financial Officer James Kavanaugh said in an interview with CNBC. Free cash flow for the year totaled $11.2 billion, more than the $10.5 billion that management had called for. IBM said software revenue came to $7.51 billion, up 3% but less than the $7.67 billion consensus among analysts surveyed by StreetAccount. Consulting revenue, at $5.05 billion, grew about 6% and ended up less than the $5.12 StreetAccount consensus.

Persons: Arvind Krishna, James Kavanaugh, — CNBC's Kristina Partsinevelos Organizations: IBM, LSEG, CNBC, StreetAccount, Consulting, IBM's, Software AG Locations: New Delhi

☆ Founders of Wise and Skype raise $436 million to build tech giants in Europe
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-23 | by ( Ryan Browne | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

The founders of Wise, Skype and Songkick have raised 400 million euros ($436.4 million) for a new fund to back technology startups in Europe. Plural Fund II, the firm's second to date, arrives just 18 months after the firm raised its last fund, a 250 million-euro vehicle. Only 8% of VCs in Europe are former founders, he says, much lower than the 60% in the United States. So, if we look at the track record, and our ability to get the deals done, I think that all seems to say that this is really missing in Europe," Hinrikus added. Plural raised the funds from a mix of limited partners, including British and American university endowments, U.S. foundations and insurers, strategic family offices in Europe and the United States.

Persons: Wise, Taavet Hinrikus, fintech, Ian Hogarth, Sten Tamkivi, Khaled Helioui, Hinrikus, they're, we've, Carina Namih Organizations: Skype, Balderton, Bigpoint, CNBC Locations: Europe, VCs, United States, American

☆ Property startup wants to develop a haven for right-wingers in rural Kentucky, report says
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-21 | by ( Rebecca Rommen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

A venture fund and a real estate startup are joining forces to build a right-wing community in Kentucky. The Highland Rim Project seeks to establish an "aligned community." The project is known as the "Highland Rim Project" (HRP), with plans to establish a geographical and political enclave in rural Kentucky and Tennessee. New Founding's website says the real estate project hopes to develop rural towns and communities in Appalachia, in the Eastern Highland Rim area of Kentucky and Tennessee. AdvertisementWe have been OVERWHELMED with the interest in the Highland Rim Project from prospective residents and strategic partners.

Persons: —, Q4aef6JlFp, Joshua Abbotoy 🇺🇸 ( Organizations: Highland, Service, Guardian, New Locations: Kentucky, American, Idaho , Montana and Wyoming, Oregon, Washington, Tennessee, Appalachia, Highland

☆ Exclusive: VCs are circling Midi to give more money to the menopause care startup, just 4 months after its last funding round
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-19 | by ( Rebecca Torrence | Melia Russell | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

At the White House, Jill Biden is leading a new initiative to boost federal government research into women's health. Most menopause care startups, including Midi, sell into enterprises to offer the service as a benefit to employees. US companies lose about $1.8 billion each year from workdays missed due to menopause symptoms, according to a Mayo Clinic estimate. While venture funding to women's health startups fell in 2023, according to CB Insights, startups tackling menopause symptoms surged ahead of the pack. Data shows these startups raised $230 million last year, making up a third of all funding to women's health startups.

Persons: hasn't, Semper, Joanna Strober, Sharon Meers, Goldman Sachs, It's, Drew Barrymore, Jennifer Aniston, tailwinds, Michelle Obama, Jill Biden, Biden, workdays Organizations: Business, Midi, GV, Google Ventures, Felicis, Houston, Hermann Health, CBS, McKinsey, White, Mayo Clinic Locations: Midi

☆ Here's why a top VC says healthcare investors should make growth-stage bets right now — and where he's looking for those deals
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-18 | by ( Rebecca Torrence | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

As a multi-stage VC fund, Lightspeed has an advantage in its exposure to both early-stage and later-stage healthcare markets, Imanbayev said. And many later-stage healthcare startups still have plenty of room to grow, he said. The first one to three years are often slow-moving for a healthcare startup, too, as it works to get its first partnerships with payers or providers, he said. But they also tend to be less risky, since later-stage startups should have revenue streams or partnerships that demonstrate their value. Lightspeed led value-based care startup Aledade's $260 million Series F in June 2023, an unusually large deal as other investors cut much smaller checks.

Persons: —, Galym, Imanbayev, I'm, There's, Farzad Mostashari, Aledade Tom Sandner, VCs, Abridge, he's, Chris Severn Organizations: Business, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Lightspeed, CVS, Health, Turquoise Health, Pharma, FDA, pharma

☆ Here's an exclusive look at the 16-slide pitch deck that got Bolt cofounder Ryan Breslow to bet on a male birth control startup
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-16 | by ( Rebecca Torrence | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

download the appSign up to get the inside scoop on today’s biggest stories in markets, tech, and business — delivered daily. Read previewThe market for male birth control is growing. AdvertisementThe reversal of Roe v. Wade in 2022 has prompted many people to reevaluate their birth control choices, NEXT CEO L.R. Fox pointed to the increasing rate of vasectomies among younger men and men without children as more evidence that they want to participate in the decision-making process around birth control. Scientists are also working on a hormonal male birth control pill and a topical hormonal gel.

Persons: —, Ryan Breslow's, Roe, Wade, L.R, Fox, I'm, Contraline, Vasalgel Organizations: Service, Business, Sciences, NEXT, Venture, Particular Ventures, Keno, Ventures, Fund, Fox, Sciences isn't, Parsemus Foundation, Food and Drug Administration Locations: Africa

☆ 16 VCs that are funding the future of entertainment by backing generative AI and other disruptive tech
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-12 | by ( Lucia Moses | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +17 min

AdvertisementAfter a period of "wild west" investing in AI, Blank believes activity will favor AI companies that respect artists' consent and compensation. It recently co-led a $1 million seed round in Conduiit, which centralizes entertainment companies' production finance operations. Endeavor Venture InvestmentsEndeavor Venture Investments is the venture arm of entertainment and sports behemoth Endeavor. SWaN & LegendThe Virginia-based VC firm has a broad consumer portfolio that includes a number of entertainment investments. With Hollywood in contraction, SWaN has largely hit pause on new entertainment investments to get its portfolio companies on a strong footing.

Persons: Michael Blank, Blank, Jon Miller, Miller, Slack, Garnet Heraman, BDMI, Urs Cete, Michael, TMRW, Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy, Elysian Park Ventures Jay Adya, Grant Lamos, Tom Brady, Gotham Chopra, Michael Strahan, Jay Adya, Morgan, Kushaan Ahuja, Drew Glover, Glover, Alex Harris, they've, Noah Doyle, Payback India, Jed Katz, Rich Greenfield, Rich, Ilya Pozin, Jamie Seltzer, LightShed, Steve Cohen's, it's, Sri Chandrasekar, Tripp Shriner, Ishan Sinha, That's, Wondery, Ian Doody, Raine, Gordon Rubenstein, Joe Ravitch, Jeff Sine, ‐, Fred Schaufeld, SWaN, that's, Oscar, Jose, Schaufeld, Sam Wick, Alex J, Investcorp, Paul Yoo, Edgar Bronfman Jr, Daniel Leff, Waverley, Leff Organizations: Service, Creative Artists, Connect Ventures, Business, Hollywood, Veteran, TPG, Integrated Media Co, Advancit, CAA, Bertelsmann, Waverley, Octopus Ventures, Accel, Facebook, Venture, Aperture Venture, Bertelsmann Digital Media Investments, Fremantle, Connect, CAA Connect Ventures, New Enterprises Associates, TMRW Sports, Disney, Universal, Elysian Park Ventures, Elysian, Sports, Endeavor Venture, Endeavor Venture Investments, behemoth Endeavor, Dapper Labs, Fiat Ventures, Fiat Ventures Fiat Ventures, Fiat, Payback, Rent, LightShed, Rich Greenfield Influential, LightShed Ventures, Pluto, Apple, Octopus Ventures Octopus Ventures, Investments, Corp, Etsy, Re, Point72 Ventures New York Mets, Range Media Partners, Point72 Ventures, Sri, Powerhouse, Athletic, The New York Times Co, Evolution Media, Creative Artists Agency, Astro, Rave Digital Media, Accel Entertainment, Jose Andrés Media, Berliner, UTA Talent, UTA, UTA Ventures, Ventures, VR, Amazon, PFL Locations: blockchain, —, Conduiit, fintech, London, Australia, Papercup, Los Angeles, Virginia, UTA.VC

☆ Heroes to zeroes in 12 months: How the two biggest crypto billionaire CEOs proved the critics right
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-30 | by ( Mackenzie Sigalos | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +12 min

Combination showing Former FTX CEO, Sam Bankman-Fried (L) and Zhao Changpeng (R), founder and chief executive officer of Binance. Meanwhile, Solana is nearly 10x higher in the last 12 months, and bitcoin miner Marathon Digital has also skyrocketed. That same year, Bankman-Fried earned street cred in crypto circles for his bitcoin arbitrage trading strategy, dubbed the Kimchi swap. The relationship between Zhao and Bankman-Fried began to sour a few months after they met. In Nov. 2022, a fight between Bankman-Fried and CZ on Twitter, now known as X, pulled the mask off the scheme.

Persons: Sam Bankman, Zhao Changpeng, Bitcoin, Solana, Binance's, Zhao, FTX's Sam Bankman, Fried, JPMorgan Chase, Jamie Dimon, bitcoin, Bill Gates, Warren Buffett, Elizabeth Warren, execs, Renato Mariotti, Michael Lewis, Sam, gunning, Lewis, SBF, Binance, FTX, Goldman Sachs, General Merrick Garland, Garland, Amr Alfiky Organizations: Marathon, JPMorgan, Microsoft, Capitol, Department of Justice, U.S . Justice Department's Securities, Commodities, CZ, Alameda Research, Formula, Democratic, Twitter, Emergency Economic, U.S ., Futures Trading Commission, Treasury Department, Securities, Exchange Commission, Justice Department, DOJ, Reuters Locations: Hong Kong, Singapore, Bankman, FTX, Miami, Washington, Alameda, U.S, New York City

☆ Climate tech in 2023: More grants, experienced founders, and new laws help sector to standout year
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-29 | by ( Tasmin Lockwood | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

While much of Europe's startup ecosystem has been hobbled by the rocky macroeconomic environment and soaring interest rates, climate tech has continued to lure funds from venture capitalists. Many climate tech companies work with hardware, meaning debt financing is also an attractive non-dilutive option for working capital between funding rounds. Global private market equity and grant funding for climate tech startups is actually down – it slid 40% to $65 billion in the 12 months ending September 30, according to PwC. Some smaller climate tech companies have made cuts, including vertical farming company InFarm, which retreated from Europe and was declared bankrupt in the Netherlands. Generally, however, layoffs have been a boon for climate as big tech talent has moved into or launched climate tech startups.

Persons: —, Siobhan Brewster, Atomico, Brewster, Piotr Bukanski, Mike Schroepfer, Greg Sandoval, retrofits, Barcelona's, Balderton Capital's Magda Lukaszewicz, Stuart Ferguson, Schroepfer, Warner, Aenu's Brewster Organizations: Service, Business, Venture, Energy, Beringea, Gigascale, Sustainable Ventures, Silicon Valley Bank, Global, Ada Ventures Locations: London, Europe's, Ukraine, United States, Europe, Silicon, Netherlands

John Kerry, President Joe Biden's climate envoy, is expected to announce at COP28 a global strategy in nuclear fusion. If it is produced using renewables like wind or solar power, as opposed to fossil fuel generated power, it is called green hydrogen. Governments and companies think green hydrogen could be a way to clean up hard-to-decarbonize industries like steel and cement-making and other industrial manufacturing. PwC said technologies like green hydrogen and reducing food waste have relatively high emissions reduction potential, but are receiving a small share of start-up investment. In 2023, green hydrogen got 3.9% of global climate-tech venture funding, while food waste got 0.7%, it said.

Persons: PwC, John Kerry, Joe Biden's, David Schatsky, Schatsky, Timothy Gardner, Richard Valdmanis, Diane Craft Organizations: International Energy Agency, Fusion Industry Association, FIA, Companies, Deloitte, Entrepreneurship, Reuters, Thomson Locations: Olfus, Iceland, Dubai, United States, Texas, Louisiana, Australia, China, Germany, Japan, U.S, ASIA, AFRICA, France, India, Asia, Africa

☆ Explainer-Can Technology Solve the Global Climate Crisis?
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-01 | by ( Dec. | At P.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +6 min

Persons: Timothy Gardner, PwC, John Kerry, Joe Biden's, David Schatsky, Schatsky, Richard Valdmanis, Diane Craft Organizations: Reuters, International Energy Agency, Fusion Industry Association, FIA, Companies, Deloitte, Entrepreneurship Locations: Dubai, United States, Texas, Louisiana, Australia, China, Germany, Japan, U.S, ASIA, AFRICA, France, India, Asia, Africa

☆ Inside the chaotic Thanksgiving-weekend collapse of homebuilder startup Veev that left employees shocked and worried about their jobs
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-30 | by ( Alex Nicoll | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +10 min

But for workers of Lennar-backed homebuilder Veev, they were spent scrambling to determine if they would still have jobs come Monday. Speaking to the "Veev Family," he wrote: "Family will stay in touch and together forever, even if it is going to be only within our hearts." The company has about 250 employees, according to news site Calcalist. "We call it the Veev family," Haller said. On a very personal note, for me Amit Haller, Veev was my personal journey in the past 15 years, half of my professional career and about ⅓ of my entire life.

Persons: Amit Haller, Veev, Haller, doesn't, we're, homebuilder, Kleiner Perkins, Bond, Lennar, Linda Keala, Ami, Amit Organizations: Business, Dragonfly, Wall, Center, Real Estate, Technology Innovation, Employees, Dafna Locations: California, Tel Aviv, Hayward , California, Haller, Reali, @nicollsanddimes, .

☆ Two Amazon and Netflix alums have raised $1 million for their fintech startup that aims to disrupt entertainment and production financing
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-30 | by ( Lucia Moses | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Conduiit, a fintech startup that promises to save entertainment companies time and money by centralizing their production finance operations, has raised $1 million in pre-seed funding. He saw how production companies were using a hodgepodge of services to manage day-to-day transactions, as well as managing individual productions in silos, resulting in lost time and wasted expense. ConduiitCharging on a SaaS model, Conduiit lets production companies access all their compliance, management, accounting, and payment tools from a single platform. "There are two Black founders in a world that doesn't have a lot of them," said Glover of Hamilton and Thurman. Only about 1% of venture funding in 2022 went to Black startup founders, according to Crunchbase data analyzed by TechCrunch .

Persons: Hiro Mizushima, Shawn Hamilton, Hamilton, Hamilton's, Jason Thurman, who's, HBO Max, Max, John Oliver, Drew Glover, Glover, Thurman, we're Organizations: Fiat Ventures, Aperture Venture, Business, Amazon, Netflix, Disney, HBO, Jigsaw, Laylow Productions, Productions, Silicon Valley Bank, Fiat, TechCrunch Locations: Silicon, Hollywood

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