☕ Jack Dorsey working on Bluetooth messaging app, Meta recruits Apple’s head of AI models & Apple challenges 'unprecedented' €500M EU fine.
Google DeepMind to soon begin human trials of AI-designed drugs & More.
The longest place name in the world is 85 letters long.
It’s in New Zealand: Taumatawhakatangihangakoauauotamateaturipukakapikimaungahoronukupokaiwhenuakitanatahu.
Locals just call it "Taumata”, because even Google Maps has limits.
Love or hate this intro? Hit reply and tell us why!
📬 What’s in store:
Today’s Picks: YC's seed fundraising guide, investor Q&A kit, 5-question pitch, lean startup is dead, AI goes social, valuation, term sheet, data room, MVP users, $200K/month roleplay app.
Meta reportedly recruits Apple’s head of AI models.
ChatGPT tests ‘study together’ feature to boost educational use.
Jack Dorsey working on Bluetooth messaging app, Bitchat.
Google DeepMind to soon begin human trials of AI-designed drugs.
Huawei denies copying Alibaba's AI model.
Apple challenges 'unprecedented' €500M EU fine.
Windows 11 becomes world's most popular desktop OS.
Trump Media launches global streaming platform Truth+ with Newsmax.
VC & Startup Jobs: VC & investors backed startup hiring for remote roles.
⏱️ Read Time: 3 minutes
FROM OUR PARTNER - AFFINITY
📢 Trusted by 3,000+ firms to simplify and scale dealmaking
For dealmakers who rely on relationships, Affinity enables firms to find, manage, and close more deals.
By automating relationship insights, Affinity saves time on manual data entry and helps teams act with full confidence, knowing every connection’s history.
Join over 3,000 organizations worldwide transforming their dealmaking.
Start closing more deals today with Affinity →
PARTNERSHIP WITH US
💪 Get your startup in front of over 95,000+ audience
Our newsletter is read by thousands of tech professionals, founders, investors (VCs / Angel Investors) and managers around the world. Get in touch today.
DAILY PICKS
🗞️ What else is brewing
Y Combinator's guide to seed fundraising...
What investors ask and how to answer : A practical Q&A prep kit for founders.
The 5-question method to build a winning startup elevator pitch.
The lean startup is dead.
The only startup valuation guide you need as a founder.
Why the future of AI is social by Every.
All-in-one term sheet guide for founders.
2029 private market horizons report.
Investor data room guide & templates for founders.
How to find the right customers for your MVP ?
Investor data room guide & templates for founders.
This AI-powered social game makes $200K/month letting you roleplay online fame.
STARTUPS RAISING MILLIONS
💰 Startup funding updates
Fantasy Life, a NYC-based fantasy sports and gaming company, raised $7M in Seed funding. The round was led by LeBron James’ and Maverick Carter’s LRMR Ventures and SC Holdings, led by Jason Stein.
Lab Thread, a Silverstone, UK-based provider of a software tool for biologists, raised £750K in funding. The round was led by Midlands Engine Investment Fund II, through fund manager Mercia Ventures.
PlanEat, a Milan, Italy-based provider of a foodtech platform, raised €2.7M in funding. Backers included StarTip, Mercurio Holding, HB4, and the founders, along with impact investing asset management company Sefea Impact.
Bumo, a Los Angeles, CA-based on-demand child care marketplace, raised $10m in seed funding. The round was led by Offline Ventures and True Ventures, with participation from Goodwater Capital, and Marketplace Capital, as well as angel investors Jennifer Carolan, influencer Rachel Barnes, actress Jamie Chung, Ellen Chen (Mendocino Farms), Karina Kruse (Kinderzimmer), and Vanessa Dew (Health-Ade).
Glartek, a Lisbon, Portugal-based provider of EHS Connected Worker solutions for the manufacturing and asset-intensive industries, raised €2M funding. Backers included Portugal Ventures and August One.
Synfini, Inc., a Menlo Park, CA-based company which specializes in AI-driven chemistry automation, raised $8.9M in expansion of its funding. The round was led by JSL Health, with participation from investors including SRI Ventures, WERU Investments, Ferocity Capital, High Water Venture Partners, Foothill Ventures, Trust Ventures, Gaingels, and Mana Ventures.
BridgePort, a Singapore-based provider of middleware to connect exchanges, custodians, and trading firms, raised $3.2M in Seed funding. The round was led by Further Ventures and is also backed by individuals in Virtu, XBTO, Blockchain Founders Fund, Fun Fair Ventures, and Humla Ventures.
Chloris Geospatial, a Boston, MA-based climate-tech company providing satellite-based measurement of forest carbon and ecosystem change, raised $8.5M in Series A funding. The round was led by Future Energy Ventures, with participation from existing investors AXA IM Alts, At One Ventures, Cisco Foundation, Counteract, and Orbia Ventures.
Restore Medical, a Or Yehuda, Israel-based clinical-stage MedTech company developing transcatheter therapies for heart failure, raised $23M in Series B funding. The round was led by Pitango HealthTech and a global strategic healthcare partner, alongside the European Innovation Council (EIC) Fund, and support from existing investors including Peregrine Ventures.
Pimloc, a London, UK-based AI video privacy company, raised $5M in funding. The round was led by Amadeus Capital Partners and Edge Ventures with Zetta Venture Partners, MD One, and Symvan Capital.
PetroApp, a Ryadh, Saudi Arabia-based fuel management platform provider, raised USD50M in funding. The round was led by Jadwa Investment with participation from Bunat Ventures.
CarOnSale, a Berlin, Germany-based digital B2B marketplace for used car trading, raised €70M in Series C funding. The round was led by Northzone and HV Capital, with participation from Insight Partners, Stripes, and Creandum.
CURATED RESOURCES FOR FOUNDERS
🤝 40 real decks that raised $350M+ (and what you can learn from them)
These aren’t templates, they’re the actual pitch decks founders used to close pre-seed to Series A rounds with top VCs.
Inside, you’ll get decks from funded startups like Jimini ($8M), Tulipshare ($10.8M), and Vori ($45M) across AI, SaaS, marketplaces, fintech, and more.
Founders use this to:
See how great “team” and “traction” slides are framed
Study real investor-ready storytelling
Save hours of second-guessing their own deck
Download the full deck packs now →
NEW VCs IN THE MARKET
🏦 Venture Capital updates
Zenyth Partners, a NYC-based private equity firm building healthcare services platforms, closed its second flagship fund, Zenyth Partners II, at $375M in aggregate capital commitments, with additional capital commitments raised via a sidecar co-investment vehicle. Commitments for Fund II came from existing investors and select new limited partners, resulting in a diverse investor base comprised of leading financial institutions, insurance companies, university endowments, funds of funds, and family offices .
KEY STORIES IN TECH
📜 Latest in tech
Meta reportedly recruits Apple’s head of AI models:
Apple’s Ruoming Pang, who led development of its in-house AI foundation models, is leaving to join Meta’s new AI superintelligence unit.
Pang’s move follows reports of underwhelming AI performance at Apple and growing reliance on third-party models for upcoming features like Siri.
His exit adds to a growing trend of top AI talent shifting to Meta, as CEO Mark Zuckerberg aggressively builds out his superintelligence team.
ChatGPT tests ‘study together’ feature to boost educational use:
Some ChatGPT users have spotted a new tool called “Study Together,” which shifts the AI into a more interactive learning mode by prompting users to answer questions instead of providing direct answers.
The feature appears to be aimed at transforming ChatGPT into a more constructive educational tool, potentially encouraging critical thinking and group study scenarios.
OpenAI hasn’t officially confirmed when the feature will launch or whether it will be exclusive to ChatGPT Plus subscribers.
Jack Dorsey working on Bluetooth messaging app, Bitchat:
Jack Dorsey has developed a Bluetooth mesh messaging app called Bitchat, enabling offline communication with a range of up to 300 meters via peer-to-peer relays.
The app resembles tools like Bridgefy, popular in protest scenarios for its offline capabilities, and supports end-to-end encryption.
Bitchat’s TestFlight beta has already maxed out at 10,000 users, and the app is currently under review before public release.
Google DeepMind to soon begin human trials of AI-designed drugs:
Google DeepMind's drug discovery company, Isomorphic Labs, is "getting very close" to starting the first human trials for its AI-designed medicines.
Its work relies on the AlphaFold AI, a system that predicts protein structures and models their interactions with molecules to speed up drug discovery.
Alongside partnerships with Novartis and Eli Lilly, the lab is developing its own drug candidates in oncology and immunology for future licensing opportunities.
Huawei denies copying Alibaba's AI model:
Research group HonestAGI published a report claiming Huawei’s new Pangu Pro MoE model is merely an "upcycled" version of rival Alibaba's existing Qwen 2.5.
The researchers used a "fingerprinting" method on attention parameter matrices, finding a 0.927 correlation and a Qwen license file inside Pangu's official code.
Huawei’s Noah Ark Lab denied the charge, stating its Pangu AI was developed independently from the ground up on the company's own Ascend chips.
Apple challenges 'unprecedented' €500M EU fine:
Apple has filed an appeal against the European Commission’s €500M fine for restricting app developers from directing users to alternative payment methods.
The fine stems from Apple’s alleged non-compliance with the Digital Markets Act, which enforces more open payment options within app ecosystems.
Apple argues the decision overreaches legal boundaries and defends its updated, multi-tiered fee structure as a fair response to regulatory demands.
LAST COFFEE SIP
☕Other news
Windows 11 becomes world's most popular desktop OS:
According to Stat Counter data, Windows 11 is now the most used desktop OS with 52 percent market share, overtaking the 44.59 percent of Windows 10.
Slower adoption was caused by the system's strict hardware requirements, which prevented millions of older machines from getting the free upgrade offered to many users.
The OS reached this milestone nearly four years after its release and just months before support for Windows 10 officially ends on October 14th.
Trump Media launches global streaming platform Truth+ with Newsmax:
Trump Media has launched its global TV streaming platform, Truth+, which features conservative channel Newsmax and supports multiple platforms like iOS, Android, Roku, and Apple TV.
The rollout follows beta testing in late June and aims to expand the reach of both Trump Media and Newsmax beyond the U.S.
While Trump Media’s stock rose slightly post-launch, Newsmax shares dipped by 2.6% in morning trading.
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)
WHEN YOU’RE READY, HERE’S HOW I CAN HELP:
💁 You might need our help!
Reach 95,000+ Founders & Investors: Partner with our newsletter to reach a highly engaged audience.
Build Your Pitch Deck: We write, design and model your pitch deck into a storyteller book within 4-5 days.
Do you have any news to share about your Startup or VC fund? Please email us.
We’ll be back in your inbox on Tomorrow.