☕Meta poaches Sutskever’s AI startup CEO, Mysterious Bitcoin wallet wakes up after 14 years & TikTok building new US-specific app ahead of sale.
Y Combinator alum launched a new $34M fund & More.
The longest hiccup attack lasted 68 years.
Charles Osborne started in 1922 and didn’t stop until 1990.
Imagine hiccuping through the Great Depression, disco, and the Cold War.
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📬 What’s in store:
Today’s Picks: Freemium tips, investor Q&A, AI fixes, valuation, term sheet, MVP users, legal docs, data room, financial model, $200K dating app. Ask ChatGPT.
Y Combinator alum launched a new $34M fund.
Sutskever to lead Safe Superintelligence after Meta poaches CEO Gross in AI talent war.
Google hit with EU antitrust complaint over AI Overviews.
Bitcoin wallet wakes up after 14 years, moves 80,000 BTC.
TikTok building new US-specific app ahead of potential sale.
Google rolls out Veo 3 video model to Gemini users in 159 countries.
Researchers seek to influence peer review with hidden AI prompts.
Ready-to-use stem cell therapy for pets is coming.
VC & Startup Jobs: VC & investors backed startup hiring for remote roles.
⏱️ Read Time: 3 minutes
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Summaries of must-read startups and VC reports and case studies
A few “interesting finds” from around the web (tools, decks, threads)
Actionable ideas or frameworks founders and investors can apply
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STARTUPS RAISING MILLIONS
💰 Startup funding updates
Hived, a London, UK-based AI-powered parcel delivery network built for ecommerce, raised $42m in Series B funding. The round was led by NordicNinja, with participation from Planet A, Wex Venture Capital, Marunouchi Innovation Partners, Elemental Impact, Yamato Holdings, Future Back Ventures, and Rocketship VC.
SkyDrive, a Tokyo, Japan-based eVTOL aircraft manufacturer, raised ¥8.3 Billion in Pre-Series D funding. The round was led by MUFG Bank with investments from Suzuki Motor Corporation, East Japan Railway Company, Kyushu Railway Company, and seven other companies.
Impossible Cloud Network (ICN), a Zug, Switzerland-based data-sovereign Web3 cloud platform empowering over 1,000 enterprise customers, raised $34M in total venture funding, at $470M valuation. The financing included new capital with previously unreported investments including earlier backing from 1kx, Protocol Labs, No Limit Holdings and HV Capital. The latest strategic round was led by NGP Capital.
Qedma, a Tel Aviv, Israel-based developer of quantum noise resilience solutions, raised $26M in Series A funding. The round was led by Glilot Capital Partners through its early growth fund, Glilot+, with new participation from IBM, Korean Investment Partners, and others, alongside existing investors including TPY Capital.
Chai AI, a Palo Alto, CA-based provider of a platform for user-generated AI (UGAI), secured additional rounds of funding, bringing its total investment to date to over $55M. Backers included individual investors such as Ken Howery and Bill Elmore, along with AI companies CoreWeave and AMD.
Build Concierge, a Leeds, UK-based provider of a customer engagement platform, raised $5.1M in Seed funding, at £35M valuation. The round saw participation from a consortium of private investors.
AssetCool, a Leeds, UK-based deep tech company providing advanced robotics and coatings for power lines, raised £10M in Series A funding. The round was led by Energy Impact Partners (EIP), with participation from Extantia Capital, Taronga Group, Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund, managed by Mercia Ventures, Kero Development Partners and Northern Gritstone.
Castelion, a U.S. hypersonic weapons startup founded by ex-SpaceX execs, is raising a $350M Series B led by Lightspeed and Altimeter Capital. The funding follows a $100M Series A in January and values the company in the billions.
MediShout, a London, UK- based startup that connects hospitals with medical suppliers, raised $9m in Series A funding. The round was led by Heal Capital, with participation from Nickleby Capital and Meridian Health Ventures.
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NEW VCs IN THE MARKET
🏦 Venture Capital updates
Phosphor Capital, a venture firm founded by YC alum Kulveer Taggar, has raised $34M across two funds to back Y Combinator startups, with support from Garry Tan. Taggar, who previously founded Zeus Living, launched Phosphor after YC startup exits and years of close ties with the accelerator. The fund has already invested in over 200 YC companies, including Gumloop and Circleback, writing checks between $100K–$500K. Phosphor positions itself as a solo GP fund focused on AI and early-stage YC bets.
Recognize Partners, a NYC-based investor in and builder of new digital services companies, closed its second fund, Recognize II, with over $1.7 Billion in total commitments. The LP base includes leading global institutions such as endowments, foundations, pensions, insurers, family offices, outsourced CIOs and fund-of-funds across the U.S., Europe, Asia, and Latin America.
KEY STORIES IN TECH
📜 Latest in tech
Sutskever to lead Safe Superintelligence after Meta poaches CEO Gross in AI talent war:
Ilya Sutskever is now CEO of Safe Superintelligence after co-founder Daniel Gross departed; Daniel Levy becomes president.
Reports suggest Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg attempted to acquire the company and is in talks to hire Gross and Nat Friedman.
Sutskever reaffirmed the company’s mission to build safe superintelligence, saying it has the team, compute, and vision to continue independently.
Google hit with EU antitrust complaint over AI Overviews:
The Independent Publishers Alliance filed a complaint with the European Commission, accusing Google of misusing content in its AI Overviews and harming publisher traffic and revenue.
The group claims publishers cannot opt out of AI usage without disappearing from search results entirely.
Google responded by defending the feature, saying AI Overviews create new discovery opportunities and traffic changes depend on many factors.
Bitcoin wallet wakes up after 14 years, moves 80,000 BTC:
A whale moved 80,000 BTC worth $8.6 billion that had been sitting untouched for 14 years, transferring the entire amount to new crypto addresses on Friday.
Originating from 2011 "coinbase" transactions, this event is the largest daily movement of coins aged ten years or more in the history of the Bitcoin network.
The entity, believed to be an "OG miner," once held 200,000 BTC and ranks among the top five largest holders in the cryptocurrency's entire history.
TikTok building new US-specific app ahead of potential sale:
TikTok is developing a separate version of its app for U.S. users, targeting a September 5 launch ahead of a planned sale to American investors.
The move follows pressure from the U.S. government, with a divestment deadline extended to September 17 and talks with China ongoing.
Existing TikTok users may need to download the new app by March 2026 to maintain access, though timelines are subject to change.
Google rolls out Veo 3 video model to Gemini users in 159 countries:
Google has launched Veo 3, its latest video-generation model, for Gemini users across over 159 countries.
Only subscribers to the AI Pro plan can access the feature, limited to three videos per day.
Veo 3 allows text-to-video generation up to 8 seconds, with image-to-video capabilities in development.
Researchers seek to influence peer review with hidden AI prompts:
A Nikkei Asia report found 17 research papers on arXiv using hidden AI prompts—via white text or small fonts—to encourage positive peer reviews.
These prompts instructed AI reviewers to give only favorable feedback, praising the paper’s novelty and rigor, with authors from institutions like Columbia and KAIST.
One Waseda University professor claimed it was a response to “lazy reviewers” who already rely on AI, not an attempt to deceive.
LAST COFFEE SIP
☕Other news
Ready-to-use stem cell therapy for pets is coming:
San Diego startup Gallant raised $18 million for the first ready-to-use stem cell therapy for pets, which could receive FDA approval for treating animal companions.
The company's initial focus is a painful cat mouth condition called Feline Chronic Gingivostomatitis, with a regulatory decision for the product expected by early 2026.
This approach uses cells from donor animals, even across species, bypassing the current need to harvest them directly from the patient needing care.
HIRING ALERT: STARTUPS & VC ROLES
💼 Today’s VC & startup job opportunities
Corporate Development & Strategy - Figma Venture | USA - Apply Here
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Principal - Al Fund | USA - Apply Here
Chief of Staff to Founding Partner - One Way Venture | USA - Apply Here
Investor (AI) - Samsung Next | USA - Apply Here
Operations Associate - Techstars | USA - Apply Here
Investment Trainee (US) - Hashkey Capital | USA - Apply Here
Associate - Episode 1 Venture | UK - Apply Here
Fund Operations Manager - Teja Venture | Singapore - Apply Here
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