☕ Nvidia’s $100M+ bets, Meta in talks to hire ex-GitHub CEO & Microsoft to axe ‘thousands’ of its sales staff.
MIT study shows AI chatbots greatly reduce brain activity & EU probes Musk’s X corporate structure.
Japan has dropped over 300 limited-edition KitKat flavours since 2000.
From wasabi to purple sweet potato, it's less candy, more edible flex. And they’re winning.
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📬 What’s in store:
Today’s Picks: 2700+ US VC contacts, vibe design for engineers, founder Q&A prep kit, AI in enterprise, startup financial model, network effects, LLM agents 101, AI disrupting firms, how to raise $1B, valuation framework, pitch deck guide.
Inside Nvidia’s $100M+ bets: The startups powering its AI dominance.
Microsoft to axe ‘thousands’ of its sales staff.
YouTube to integrate Veo 3 AI video generation into Shorts.
MIT study shows AI chatbots greatly reduce brain activity.
The ‘OpenAI Files’ push for oversight in the race to AGI.
Amazon to deliver 10,000 robotaxis annually with new factory.
Apple eyes using AI to design its chips, technology executive says.
EU probes Musk’s X corporate structure after $33B xAI deal.
Meta in talks to bring on ex-GitHub CEO Nat Friedman for AI push.
VC & Startup Jobs: VC & investors backed startup hiring for remote roles.
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🗞️ What else is brewing
2700+ US Angel Investors & VC Firms Contact Database (Email + LinkedIn Link).
An engineer's guide to vibe design (with prompts).
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Financial modelling template to build your startup financial model that every investors want to see.
Network effects: Well-connected VCs see lower failure rates and better returns.
LLM Agents are simply Graph — Tutorial For Dummies.
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A simple 5-step framework to determine your startup's valuation.
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STARTUPS RAISING MILLIONS
💰 Startup funding updates
Profound, a NYC-based provider of a platform relied on by marketers to understand and control how they show up in AI responses, raised $20M in Series A funding. The round was led by Kleiner Perkins with participation from NVentures (NVIDIA’s venture capital arm), Khosla Ventures, Saga VC, South Park Commons and SV Angel.
Sifflet, a NYC-based provider of a data observability platform, has raised $18M USD in funding. Backers included EQT Ventures and Mangrove Capital Partners, with Capmont Technology joining as a new investor.
Maven AGI, a Boston, MA-based enterprise AI company unifying the customer journey, raised $50M in Series B funding. The round was led by Dell Technologies Capital, with participation from Cisco Investments, SE Ventures and existing investors Lux Capital, M13, and E14.
RevelAi Health, a Durham, NC-based conversational artificial intelligence (AI) platform provider, raised $3.1M in Seed funding. The round was led by Ulu Ventures and Symphonic Capital, with participation from Orthopedic VC, Sand Hill Angels and others.
PreciseDx, the NYC-based provider of PreciseBreast, a breast cancer diagnostic that is empowered by OncoIntelligence, its proprietary AI-platform, raised $11M in additional fundin. The round was led by Eventide Asset Management, Merck Global Health Innovation Fund and Philips Ventures and included Labcorp, Quest Diagnostics, GenHenn Capital Venture, along with other existing investors.
Visby Medical, a San Jose, CA-based at-home polymerase chain reaction (PCR) diagnostics company, raised approximately $55M in funding. The round was led by Catalio Capital Management, with participation from existing investors including ND Capital, Cedars Sinai Medical Center, Blue Water Life Science Advisors, Pitango Ventures and John Doerr.
Tadaweb, a Luxembourg-based provider of a SaaS platform for small data operating system for publicly available information (PAI) and open-source intelligence (OSINT), raised $20M in funding. The round was led by Arsenal Growth and Forgepoint Capital International.
isima, a Miami, FL-based haircare brand, raised over $12M in funding. The round was led by Stelac Capital Partners LLC, Leonardo Maria Del Vecchio Capital, northstar.vc and WME.
Fleet, a San Francisco, CA-based provider of an open device management platform, raised $27M in Series B funding. The round was led by Ten Eleven Ventures. Additional investors included CRV, Open Core Ventures, Sid Sijbrandij, Moonfire Ventures, Guillermo Rauch, Christof Baumgärtner, Balaji Parimi, Ryan Noon, and Kevin Mahaffey.
Actio Biosciences, a San Diego, CA-based clinical-stage biotechnology company which specializes in genetics and precision medicine, raised $66M in Series B funding. The round was led by Regeneron Ventures and current investor Deerfield Management with participation from existing investors Canaan, Droia Ventures and Euclidean Capital.
Infinity Bio, a Baltimore, MD-based biotechnology company developing technologies to map immune responses, raised $8M in Series A funding. The round was led by Illumina Ventures, with participation from PTX Capital, Blackbird BioVentures, and Propel Baltimore Fund.
Grifin, a Tampa, FL-based app that links investment to daily spending, raised $11M in Series A funding. The round was led by Nava Ventures, with participation from TTV, Draper Associates, Gaingels, Nevcaut Ventures, Alloy Labs, etc. With this round, Freddie Martignetti, Partner at Nava Ventures, will join Grifin’s Board of Directors.
NEW VCs IN THE MARKET
🏦 Venture Capital updates
Par Equity and Praetura Ventures, two UK-based VC firms, have merged to form PXN Group, managing a combined £670 million in assets. The merger aims to close the regional funding gap by focusing on startups in Scotland, Northern Ireland, and the north of England, regions that currently receive only 20% of UK venture capital. PXN will continue running existing funds independently, writing cheques between £200k and £8M, with plans for a group-wide fund in the future.
KEY STORIES IN TECH
📜 Latest in tech
Inside Nvidia’s $100M+ bets: The startups powering its AI dominance:
Nvidia has massively ramped up its AI startup investments, backing over 49 funding rounds in 2024 alone, with many deals exceeding $100 million.
Its portfolio includes OpenAI, xAI, Mistral, Perplexity, CoreWeave, and other leaders across AI infrastructure, robotics, and LLM tooling.
The chipmaker’s investment strategy is aimed at building the broader AI ecosystem while securing long-term demand for its GPU platforms.
Microsoft to axe ‘thousands’ of its sales staff:
Microsoft will axe thousands more positions, mainly impacting the sales division; an official announcement is expected next month after its fiscal year end.
Bloomberg reports these job reductions are linked to Microsoft's heavy investments in artificial intelligence, including building AI-enabled data centres and deploying AI applications.
This planned staff reduction follows multiple recent workforce cuts, including 6,000 people last month, as Microsoft also aims to reduce its management layers.
YouTube to integrate Veo 3 AI video generation into Shorts:
YouTube will roll out its latest AI video model, Veo 3, into Shorts later this summer, per CEO Neal Mohan at Cannes Lions.
Veo 3 offers improved video quality and can incorporate audio, building on the Dream Screen tools powered by the previous Veo 2 model.
It's unclear if access to Veo 3 in Shorts will be free; currently, the tool requires a paid Google AI Pro or Ultra plan.
MIT study shows AI chatbots greatly reduce brain activity:
An MIT study found students using an LLM chatbot for essay writing showed significantly reduced brain activity, as measured by electroencephalogram (EEG) headsets.
Brain connectivity, gauged by dDTF, systematically scaled down with more external help, showing the weakest coupling and up to a 55 percent reduction in signal for the LLM cohort.
This research indicates that relying on LLMs substantially lessens task-related brain connectivity, signaling lower cognitive engagement from students during the essay writing.
The ‘OpenAI Files’ push for oversight in the race to AGI:
"The OpenAI Files" is an archival project by tech watchdogs that documents concerns about OpenAI's governance and leadership, pushing for oversight in AGI development.
These files highlight OpenAI's structural changes like removing investor profit caps, alongside rushed safety evaluations and potential leadership conflicts of interest demanding scrutiny.
This initiative seeks to shift the AGI conversation from inevitability to accountability, demanding increased transparency and robust oversight for powerful AI companies.
Amazon to deliver 10,000 robotaxis annually with new factory:
Amazon revealed its 220,000-square-foot robotaxi factory in Hayward, California, where it plans to manufacture up to 10,000 Zoox self-driving vehicles annually by 2027.
Zoox's Hayward facility now assembles one robotaxi per day, with plans to increase production to three vehicles each hour by next year on its 21-station assembly line.
Zoox transformed a former bus manufacturing plant into a high-tech Hayward facility to assemble its boxy, gondola-like robotaxis, distinctively designed without any steering wheel.
Apple eyes using AI to design its chips, technology executive says:
Apple’s hardware chief Johny Srouji revealed that the company is interested in using generative AI to boost productivity in chip development.
He highlighted the importance of advanced EDA tools from companies like Cadence and Synopsys, which are integrating AI into their design platforms.
Reflecting on Apple’s chip strategy, Srouji emphasized bold decisions like the all-in shift to Apple Silicon with no fallback, marking Apple’s high-stakes innovation approach.
EU probes Musk’s X corporate structure after $33B xAI deal:
The European Commission is investigating structural changes at Elon Musk’s X following its $33 billion acquisition by xAI.
The probe may relate to potential violations of the Digital Services Act (DSA), with fines of up to 6% of global revenue possible.
Earlier infractions include turning X’s blue checkmark into paid verification, which the EU claims misleads users — X disputes the charge.
LAST COFFEE SIP
☕Other news
Meta in talks to bring on ex-GitHub CEO Nat Friedman for AI push
Meta is reportedly in talks to hire Nat Friedman, former GitHub CEO, to boost its AI initiatives, according to The Information.
Discussions are also underway with Daniel Gross, Friedman’s partner at NFDG, and Meta may partially acquire their investment fund.
This follows Meta’s $14.8B investment in Scale AI and the appointment of Scale CEO Alexandr Wang to lead its new superintelligence unit.
HIRING ALERT: STARTUPS & VC ROLES
💼 Today’s VC & startup job opportunities
Venture Capital Junior Analyst - Stepstone Group | USA - Apply Here
VC Investor - Founders Factory | Itly - Apply Here
Investor Relations Intern - Qualgro Venture | Singapore - Apply Here
Program Manager - Generator | USA - Apply Here
Venture Capital General Partner - ELM Street Partner | USA - Apply Here
Corporate Development & Strategy - Figma Venture | USA - Apply Here
Investment Trainee - Hashkey Capital | USA - Apply Here
Associate - Omerse Venture | USA - 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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