☕ Google releases app to run AI models on phones, Anthropic triples revenue to $3 billion & Elad Gil’s next big bet.
Elon Musk is lobbying lawmakers on driverless vehicle rules & Builder.ai faked business with Indian firm VerSe to inflate sales.
There are more ways to shuffle a deck of cards than atoms on Earth.
That’s 8×10⁶⁷ combos vs. roughly 10⁵⁰ atoms.
So yeah, every time you shuffle, you’re creating a combo the universe has never seen before. No pressure.
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📬 What’s in store:
Today’s Picks: What real traction looks like, valuation guide, GEO vs SEO, financial model, investor thesis filter, VC challenges, legal docs, AI 2025 trends, $500K/mo AI app, climate tech 2024, a16z ICP framework.
Elad Gil’s next big bet, AI-powered rollups to reinvent traditional businesses.
Google quietly releases app to run AI models locally on phones.
NAACP is calling for an emergency shutdown of xAI’s Colossus facility.
Elon Musk is lobbying lawmakers on driverless vehicle rules.
Google DOJ clash over how AI will remake the web in antitrust closing arguments.
Amazon Fire Sticks enable "billions" in streaming piracy.
OpenAI says human interaction rivals ChatGPT super assistant.
Anthropic triples revenue to $3 billion within five months.
Builder.ai faked business with Indian firm VerSe to inflate sales.
Microsoft unit in Russia to file for bankruptcy.
VC & Startup Jobs: VC & investors backed startup hiring for remote roles.
⏱️ Read Time: 3 minutes
DAILY PICKS
🗞️ What else is brewing
What real traction looks like (before product-market fit happens).
All-in-one startup valuation guide for founders.
GEO is the new SEO: What Founders need to know.
Excel template: Early stage startup financial model for fundraising.
Understanding the investor thesis: the filter behind every ‘no’.
It’s never been harder to make it in Venture Capital.
Startup Legal Document Pack – Essential Legal Docs for Founders. Build with the help of startup lawyers and VCs.
AI Eats the World - 2025 Strategic Tech Trends by Benedict Evans.
This AI companion app hit $500,000/month, just 11 months after launch.
State of Climate Tech 2024 Report.
Need a pitch deck that gets investor meetings? We’ve opened just 3 slots to help founders craft winning decks—built by experts, reviewed by investors. Don’t leave funding to chance—[schedule a call today →]
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STARTUPS RAISING MILLIONS
💰 Startup funding updates
Vima Therapeutics, a Cambridge, MA-based clinical-stage biotechnology company, raised $60M in Series A funding. The round was led by Atlas Venture, with participation from Access Industries and Canaan.
Uplinq, Phoenix, AZ-based provider of AI-driven bookkeeping and tax solutions for small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs), raised $10M in Series A funding. The round was led by Next Coast Ventures, with participation from AZ-VC, Live Oak Ventures, and existing investors.
Unbound, a San Francisco, CA-based company providing generative AI tools for IT and security teams, raised $4M in funding. The round was led by Race Capital, with participation from Wayfinder Ventures, Y Combinator, Massive Tech Ventures, Alpha Square Group, Northside Ventures, Liquid2, Pioneer Fund, Scale Asia Ventures, SBXI and angels including Ram Shriram, Dr. Trishan Panch, Dr. John Brownstein, Taro Fukuyama, Eli Brown, Chris Siakos, Joe Vadakkan, Zain Rizavi, Finbarr Taylor.
RoxFit, a York, UK-based provider of a hybrid fitness platform, raised £800K in funding. The round was led by DSW Ventures with participation from York Angels, and additional angels from across Europe and the US.
Diakonos Oncology Corp., a Houston, TX-based clinical-stage biotechnology company developing a new generation of immunotherapies to treat challenging and aggressive cancers, closed a $20m private placement of Simple Agreements for Future Equity (SAFE).
Volteras, a London, UK-based data streaming platform for the energy ecosystem, raised $11.1M in Series A funding. The round was led by Union Square Ventures, with participation from fleet card providers Wex and Edenred, alongside existing investors, Exor ventures and Long Journey Ventures.
CurifyLabs, a Helsinki, Finland-based healthtech company providing a solution to automate the manufacturing of compounded medicine, raised €6.7M in funding. The round was led by Springvest with participation from Business Finland.
Rime, a San Francisco, CA-based speech tools company, raised $5.5M in Seed funding. The round was led by Unusual Ventures with participation from Founders You Should Know, Cadenza, and angel investors including Aaron King, Alex Levin, Rebecca Greene, Michael Akilian, Maran Nelson, Nick Arner, Molly Mielke, Arnaud Schenk, Coyne Lloyd, Sarah Veit Wallis, Mike Heller, Zhenya Loginov and Monica Black.
Outcomes4Me, a Boston, MA-based developer of a direct-to-patient, AI-driven platform, raised $21M in funding. The round was led by Salica Investments, with participation from existing investors Labcorp Venture Fund, Forecast Labs, Northpond Ventures, Sierra Ventures, Asset Management Ventures, IRA Capital, and Merstal LTD.
Tengr.ai, a Szeged, Hungary-based provider of AI-driven solutions for creators, educators, and businesses, raised $1.2M in equity funding. Backers included Founder Péter W. Szabó, Attila Balla, Dávid Zalaba and others.
David, a NYC-based brand that designs tools to increase muscle and decrease fat, raised $75M in Series A funding. The round was led by Greenoaks with the participation of Valor Equity Partners.
Empathy, a NYC-based lost support and legacy planning technology company, raised $72M in Series C funding. The round was led by Adams Street Partners with participation from General Catalyst, Index Ventures, Entrée Capital, Brewer Lane Ventures, SemperVirens, Latitude, and LionTree, Aflac Ventures, Allianz Life Ventures, Citi Impact Fund, Munich Re, MetLife, New York Life, Securian, and TIAA Ventures.
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NEW VCs IN THE MARKET
🏦 Venture Capital updates
Elad Gil’s next big bet: AI-powered rollups to reinvent traditional businesses:
Early AI investor Elad Gil is now backing startups that acquire traditional service firms (like law firms) and scale them using generative AI, improving margins and enabling aggressive roll-up strategies.
Gil has already backed Enam Co. and believes AI can transform repetitive tasks into software, enabling cost structure overhauls and giving acquirers an edge in competitive markets.
He sees clear winners emerging in verticals like legal, healthcare, and customer success, citing portfolio companies like Harvey, Abridge, and Sierra AI as standout leaders.
Zeal Capital Partners, a Washington, D.C.–based venture firm, has closed Fund II with $82 million to back early-stage companies in fintech, healthcare, and the future of work. Investors include Citi Impact Fund, M&T Bank, Wells Fargo, and Spelman College. Zeal plans to invest in at least 25 companies with check sizes between $1M–$2.3M, and has already backed startups like Seven Starling and Debbie.
KEY STORIES IN TECH
📜 Latest in tech
Google quietly releases app to run AI models locally on phones:
Google has launched the AI Edge Gallery app, letting users download and run Hugging Face AI models locally on Android devices, with iOS support coming soon.
The app enables offline use of models for tasks like AI chat, image generation, text rewriting, and more, offering privacy and accessibility without internet reliance.
Available as an experimental alpha release on GitHub, the app includes a Prompt Lab, task templates, and performance that varies by device power and model size.
NAACP is calling for an emergency shutdown of xAI’s Colossus facility:
The NAACP is calling for an emergency shutdown of xAI’s Colossus facility in South Memphis, citing unpermitted use of gas turbines and violations of clean air laws.
The letter highlights health risks from hazardous pollutants like formaldehyde and nitrogen oxide, especially in the historically Black Boxtown neighborhood.
Officials previously claimed xAI did not need permits during the turbines' first year, but the NAACP argues the operation exacerbates existing health disparities in the area.
Elon Musk is lobbying lawmakers on driverless vehicle rules:
Tesla CEO Elon Musk is actively lobbying U.S. lawmakers by directly contacting Congress members to establish a clear regulatory framework for autonomous vehicles.
He is involved in discussions about revising a May 15 bill, which creates a basic framework for autonomous vehicles, aiming for action before July 4.
This push for federal rules is important as Tesla prepares its Robotaxi service launch and seeks approval for Cybercabs without steering wheels or pedals.
Google DOJ clash over how AI will remake the web in antitrust closing arguments:
In closing arguments, Google and DOJ lawyers dueled over its search deals and how the rise of AI could change the Internet as we know it.
The DOJ is asking the judge to limit Google's business dealings and force a divestment of the Chrome browser to address its search monopoly.
Testimony revealed fears that Mozilla could be destroyed if its Google default search provider placement deal ends, a key point in closing arguments.
Amazon Fire Sticks enable "billions" in streaming piracy:
An Enders Analysis report claims Amazon Fire Sticks enable streaming piracy worth "billions of dollars," specifically identifying this hardware as a significant "piracy enabler."
This research details how Amazon Fire Sticks help fuel extensive illegal viewing of live programs like sporting events, attracting tens of thousands of pirate viewers.
While the study highlights Amazon Fire Sticks, it also notes technologies from Google, Microsoft, and Facebook contribute to an "industrial scale of theft" in streaming.
OpenAI says human interaction rivals ChatGPT super assistant:
OpenAI plans for ChatGPT to become a super assistant, a personalized gateway handling diverse tasks and acting on behalf of users across many digital channels.
In its competitive "broader game," the company views not just other AIs but also "interactions with real people" as rivals for this future assistant.
This competitive view means the AI is designed to compete with "interactions with real people" for daily tasks, challenging existing search engines and browsers.
Anthropic triples revenue to $3 billion within five months:
Anthropic’s annualized revenue has surged to $3 billion, up from $1 billion just five months ago, driven by corporate interest in generative AI.
The company's Claude 4 models, optimized for code generation, are fueling much of the growth by helping businesses automate programming tasks.
Unlike OpenAI or Google, Anthropic focuses primarily on business clients, signaling broader enterprise adoption of AI tools.
Builder.ai faked business with Indian firm VerSe to inflate sales:
Builder.ai allegedly engaged in "round-tripping" with VerSe Innovation from 2021 to 2024, billing each other for services that were never provided to inflate revenue.
Documents show both companies issued nearly equal invoices to each other, totaling around $60 million, as Builder.ai tried to mislead investors ahead of its bankruptcy.
VerSe co-founder Umang Bedi denied any wrongdoing, while Builder.ai declined to comment. US prosecutors have subpoenaed Builder.ai’s financial records.
LAST COFFEE SIP
☕Other news
Microsoft unit in Russia to file for bankruptcy:
Microsoft Rus LLC plans to declare bankruptcy, according to a filing on Russia's official Fedresurs registry, as tensions rise over Western tech firms operating in the country.
The move follows President Putin’s push to replace foreign software providers like Microsoft and Zoom with domestic alternatives.
Microsoft scaled back operations in Russia after the 2022 Ukraine invasion and already removed Russian state media apps and ads; it’s unclear how its other Russian units will be impacted.
HIRING ALERT: STARTUPS & VC ROLES
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