☕ Apple Vision Pro 2 could launch this year, AWS to launch AI agent marketplace & Google adds image-to-video generation to Veo 3.
Nvidia reportedly plans new AI chip tailored for China & More.
You can estimate the temperature by counting a cricket's chirps; the faster it chirps, the warmer it is. It’s Nature’s thermometer!
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📬 What’s in store:
Today’s Picks: YC’s 2025 RFS, AI lessons, moat building, Dorsey’s VC tips, Wiz’s 222x, LLM marketing, valuation & pitch guides, legal/startup templates, Investor databases (India + EU), Tomasz’s distro play.
AWS to launch AI agent marketplace with Anthropic partnership.
Nvidia reportedly plans new AI chip tailored for China.
Former Intel CEO launches benchmark to measure AI alignment.
Google adds image-to-video generation to Veo 3 via Gemini app.
Apple Vision Pro 2 could launch this year.
YouTube prepares crackdown on AI videos.
Turkey fines Google $8.9 million for non-compliance.
As X loses CEO, daily usage declines and Threads gains ground.
VC & Startup Jobs: VC & investors backed startup hiring for remote roles.
⏱️ Read Time: 3 minutes
CURATED RESOURCES FOR FOUNDERS
📑 What investors ask and how to answer with confidence.
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🗞️ What else is brewing
Excel Template: Early Stage Startup Financial Model For Fundraising.
Y-Combinator just dropped its Requests for Startups (RFS)—a list of ideas they’re eager to fund in 2025.
What is the vibe code for success? By CBInsights.
6000+ European VC Firms Contact Database (LinkedIn Links).
An explosive new distribution channel by Tomasz Tunguz.
Startup legal document pack – essential legal docs for founders.
A CEO of AI applications marks a new era of AI competition.
Working with LLMs: A Few Lessons.
Jack Dorsey’s advice to founders raising venture capital.
How to make craft your moat.
The only startup valuation guide you need as a founder.
350+ Indian Angel Investors & Venture Capital Firms Contact Database (Email + LinkedIn Link).
All-In-One Guide To Venture Capital Interview Questions (And How to Answer Them)
STARTUPS RAISING MILLIONS
💰 Startup funding updates
Bilt, a NYC-based payments and commerce network that transforms housing and neighborhood spend into rewards and benefits for everyone involved, raised $250M in funding at a $10.75 Billion valuation. The round was led by General Catalyst and GID with further investment from United Wholesale Mortgage.
Harmonic, a Palo Alto, CA-based artificial intelligence lab leading the development of Mathematical Superintelligence (MSI), raised $100m in Series B funding round at a nearly $900m post-money valuation. The round was led by Kleiner Perkins with participation from Paradigm, Ribbit Capital and existing backers including Sequoia Capital, Index Ventures, and Charlie Cheever.
LGND AI, Inc., a NYC-based company building new ways for people and AI to interact with Earth data, raised $9m in financing. The round was led by Javelin Venture Partners, with participation from AENU, Space Capital, Overture, Ridgeline, MCJ, Coalition Operators, Clocktower Ventures, and angel investors including John Hanke, founder of Keyhole (acquired by Google and the foundation for Google Maps and Niantic), Karim Atiyeh, cofounder and CTO of Ramp, and Suzanne DiBianca, EVP & Chief Impact Officer of Salesforce.
Klar, a Mexico City-based digital financial services platform, raised USD 190m in Series C funding. The round, which brought its valuation to over USD 800m, included: USD 170m in equity led by General Atlantic with participation from existing investors Prosus, IFC, Mouro Capital, and Quona Capital, and new backers Santander Group, Grupo Televisa, and Grupo Formula, and USD 20m in venture debt.
Aqtual, a Hayward, CA-based precision medicine company providing an active chromatin cell-free DNA (cfDNA) platform, raised $31M in Series B funding. Backers included Bold Capital, Bold Longevity Growth Fund, Genoa Ventures, Manta Ray Ventures, Yu Galaxy and others.
Knox, a NYC-based federal managed cloud provider, raised $6.5M in Seed funding. The round was led by Felicis, with participation from Ridgeline and FirsthandVC.
Woba, a São Paulo, Brazil-based provider of a subscription-based flexible office network, raised $13.5M in funding. The round was led by Bewater alongside Kaszek, Valor Capital, and other investors.
Vellum, a NYC-based enterprise development platform provider for building, raised $20M in Series A funding. The round was led by Leaders Fund, with participation from Socii Capital and returning investors Y Combinator, Rebel Fund, Pioneer Fund and Eastlink Capital.
Foundation EGI, a Los Altos, CA-based provider of an engineering general intelligence (EGI) platform, raised $23M in Series A funding. The round was led by Translink Capital with participation from RRE Ventures, McRock Capital, Escape Investment Management (Jim Scapa), Fifth Growth Fund, and returning backers including E14 Fund, UNION, GRIDS Capital, and Henry Ford III.
Datafy, a NYC-based autonomous storage optimization startup, raised $20M in Seed funding. The round was led by Bessemer Venture Partners, with participation from existing investor Insight Partners.
Renasant Bio, a Berkeley, CA-based developer of disease-modifying treatments for autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD), raised $54.5M in Seed funding. The round was led by 5AM Ventures, alongside other life sciences investors including Atlas Venture, OrbiMed and Qiming Ventures.
RoofMarketplace, a Madison, WI-based provider of a platform to enahnce the roofing claims experience, raised $7M Series A funding. The round was led by Wingra Capital.
Supply Wisdom, a NYC-based provider of a real-time risk intelligence SaaS platform, raised $14M in Series B funding. The round was led by Jurassic Capital.
Nuclidium, a Basel, Switzerland-based clinical-stage radiopharmaceutical company developing a proprietary copper-based theranostic platform, raised €84M in Series B funding The round was co-led by Angelini Ventures, Kurma Growth Opportunities Fund, Wellington Partners and Neva SGR (Intesa Sanpaolo Group), with participation from DeepTech and Climate Fonds, Bayern Kapital, Eurazeo, Vives Partners, NRW.BANK and HighLight Capital, as well as existing investors.
Ionic Mineral Technologies, a Provo, UT-based producer of advanced materials for the energy, defense, and technology sectors, raised $29M in Series B funding. The round, which exceeded its initial $25M target, saw participation from undisclosed investors.
AirMDR, a Menlo Park, CA-based company which specializes in AI-native Managed Detection and Response (MDR), raised $15.5M in Seed funding. The round was led by Race Capital with participation from Foundation Capital and Storm Ventures.
Chariot Claims, a NYC-based legal-tech startup, raised $3.6M in Seed funding. The round was led by Indicator Ventures, with participation from Lightbank, Neon Ventures, Alumni Ventures, FJ Labs, Graph Ventures, Rosecliff Ventures, Chapter F, and ZVC.
NEW VCs IN THE MARKET
🏦 Venture Capital updates
Rittenhouse Ventures, a Wayne, PA-based venture capital firm backing early-stage software founders, closed Fund III. The new fund will build on the firm’s track record of investing in capital-efficient, innovative B2B software, Healthcare IT, AI and tech-enabled services companies, with a particular focus on the Mid-Atlantic and other underserved regions across the United States.
KEY STORIES IN TECH
📜 Latest in tech
AWS to launch AI agent marketplace with Anthropic partnership:
AWS will unveil an AI agent marketplace on July 15 at its New York Summit, partnering with Anthropic to let startups offer AI agents directly to enterprise customers.
The marketplace aims to centralize agent discovery and deployment, giving developers a platform to monetize agents while AWS takes a minimal revenue cut.
Anthropic, backed by Amazon and reportedly earning $3B in annualized revenue, is expected to benefit significantly from increased visibility and API adoption.
Nvidia reportedly plans new AI chip tailored for China:
Nvidia plans to release a China-specific AI chip by September, based on its Blackwell RTX Pro 6000, modified to comply with U.S. export restrictions.
The new chip will exclude high-bandwidth memory and NVLink, differentiating it from Nvidia’s more advanced offerings.
Despite removing China from its financial forecasts, Nvidia appears to be re-entering the market, citing demand from China’s large developer base.
Former Intel CEO launches benchmark to measure AI alignment:
Pat Gelsinger, former Intel CEO, has launched Flourishing AI (FAI), a new benchmark to assess how well AI models align with human values.
Built in partnership with “faith tech” company Gloo, FAI draws from Harvard and Baylor’s Global Flourishing Study and adds a focus on faith and spirituality.
The benchmark evaluates AI across seven categories, including happiness, purpose, relationships, health, and financial stability, reflecting Gelsinger’s lifelong interest in tech and faith.
Google adds image-to-video generation to Veo 3 via Gemini app:
Google has introduced image-to-video generation to its Veo 3 AI model through the Gemini app, following an earlier rollout in the Flow tool.
The feature allows users to upload an image, add a sound prompt, and generate a short video, limited to three creations per day for AI Ultra and Pro plan users.
Over 40 million videos have been created using Veo 3 since launch, with each output watermarked using both visible (“Veo”) and invisible SynthID markers for traceability.
Apple Vision Pro 2 could launch this year:
The new Apple Vision Pro will reportedly feature an M4 chip, a significant performance upgrade compared to the M2 chip found in the original headset.
A redesigned strap is expected to make the device more comfortable for long periods, addressing user complaints about neck strain without changing the headset's weight.
This hardware refresh is considered a stop-gap measure that will likely maintain the $3,499 price, with a cheaper and lighter model not expected until 2027.
YouTube prepares crackdown on AI videos:
On July 15, YouTube will modify its Partner Program to stop paying for "mass-produced" and "repetitious" videos, a change targeting AI-generated spam content.
Content with AI-generated voiceovers lacking personal commentary or slideshow compilations with reused clips may now become ineligible to earn money through the video platform's rules.
While restricting some low-effort formats, YouTube continues to develop its own AI tools that help users generate both video and audio for Shorts from scratch.
Turkey fines Google $8.9 million for non-compliance:
Turkey’s Competition Authority has fined Google approximately 355 million lira ($8.87 million) for failing to meet regulatory obligations tied to a prior investigation.
The fine was issued after Google allegedly implemented design changes that violated compliance terms during the regulatory process.
This marks another instance of global regulatory pressure on Google, which continues to face scrutiny over its competitive practices.
LAST COFFEE SIP
☕Other news
As X loses CEO, daily usage declines and Threads gains ground:
Following Linda Yaccarino’s exit, X faces renewed pressure as daily active users dropped 10% year-over-year, while Threads grew 127.8% on mobile to 115.1 million users.
Despite X's larger user base (132M DAUs) and stronger engagement (31 minutes/day vs. Threads’ 8), Meta’s Threads is rapidly growing via Instagram and Facebook integration.
X’s U.S. ad revenue is rebounding, with a 62% YoY increase in H1 2025, but Meta’s dominance in advertising and Threads’ momentum could challenge X’s lead long-term.
HIRING ALERT: STARTUPS & VC ROLES
💼 Today’s VC & startup job opportunities
Investment Trainee (US) - Hashkey Capital | USA - Apply Here
Associate - Episode 1 Venture | UK - Apply Here
Fund Operations Manager - Teja Venture | Singapore - Apply Here
Chief of Staff - 11x Capital | India - Apply Here
Associate - Entrepreneur First | USA - Apply Here
Investment Analyst - Camber Partners | USA - Apply Here
Associate (Software Infrastructure) - Omerse Venture | USA - Apply Here
Partner 36 - a16z | USA - Apply Here
Senior Associate - Serica VC | USA - Apply Here
Investment Intern - DTCP | UK - Apply Here
Investment Analyst - Blue Capital | India - Apply Here
All-In-One VC Interview Preparation Guide: With a leading investors group, we have created an all-in-one VC interview preparation guide for aspiring VCs. Don’t miss this. (Access Here)
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