PIN

A newsletter for communities, investors, angels, and founders

Author

Power in Numbers
February 21, 2025

Welcome to PIN’d - our weekly newsletter where we pin (lol, bear with us) the most important tech/startup news of the week for aspiring angels, vc’s, startup investors, founders, etc. Expect a new weekly roundup from us every Friday morning!

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📰 This week’s best news

Musk's X in talks to raise money at $44 billion valuation

Elon Musk’s X, formerly Twitter, is reportedly seeking new investors at a $44 billion valuation, the same price Musk paid for the platform in 2022. Despite early financial struggles and advertiser losses, recent reports suggest investor confidence is rising, partly due to Musk’s political ties and improving ad revenue. This would mark X’s first known funding round since going private.

Former OpenAI CTO Mira Murati has launched Thinking Machines Lab, a new AI startup focused on creating more transparent and customizable AI systems. Just out of stealth mode, the company brings together a team of former OpenAI and DeepMind researchers to develop multimodal AI models aimed at driving scientific and engineering breakthroughs. Murati is the latest in a growing wave of ex-OpenAI leaders striking out on their own to shape the future of AI.

Humane announced on Tuesday that most of its assets have been acquired by HP for $116 million. The hardware startup is immediately discontinuing sales of its $499 AI Pins. Humane alerted customers who have already purchased the Pin that their devices will stop functioning before the end of the month.

VC giant Insight Partners confirms January cyberattack

Insight Partners, a major venture capital firm managing over $90 billion in assets, confirmed a cyberattack on its systems in January. The company says hackers used a sophisticated social engineering attack to access its network but hasn’t disclosed whether any data was stolen. While Insight claims the incident won’t disrupt operations, it’s urging partners to tighten security protocols.

Reddit is testing paid subreddits, meaning some content will soon be locked behind a paywall. CEO Steve Huffman confirmed the plan after a tough earnings report, calling it a “work in progress.” The platform has already explored monetization through ads, premium memberships, and licensing deals with AI companies like Google and OpenAI.

Greenfield Partners, a venture firm spun out of TPG Growth, has closed a $400 million fund to invest in Series B and C startups. The firm, which manages $1 billion in assets, focuses on helping companies scale efficiently while maintaining strong technology. With deep ties to the Israeli tech ecosystem, Greenfield has already backed cybersecurity and enterprise software startups, with some portfolio companies eyeing IPOs.

Swizzle Ventures has closed its Fund I at $6.6 million, bypassing its initial $3 million target, Jessica Kamada, the firm’s founder. The thesis of Fund I will focus on women’s health and wealth, touching upon issues such as caregiving and finances.

San Francisco-based Mercor, an AI recruiting startup, has raised $100 million in a Series B round. The investment was led by Menlo Park-based Felicis alongside participation from existing investors Benchmark, General Catalyst, and DST Global. This round values Mercor at $2 billion, which is eight times its previous valuation of $250 million after it secured $30 million last year.

💰 Funding announcement highlights

Abridge, a Pittsburgh startup using AI to automate the creation of clinical notes and medical documentation for clinicians, raised a $250 million Series D. The round was co-led by Elad Gil and IVP, with Lightspeed Venture Partners, CVS Health Ventures, Redpoint Ventures, and NVentures also showing up.

Dream, a startup using AI to provide comprehensive cybersecurity protection for governments and national organizations, raised a $100 million Series B. Bain Capital Ventures was the main investor. Group 11, Tru Arrow, Tau Capital, and Aleph also contributed.

Hightouch, a platform that lets sales, marketing, and customer service teams synchronize data warehouses, along with AI agents that build experiences for them, has raised $80 million in Series C. The round was led by Sapphire Ventures with NVC, Amplify Ventures, ICONIQ Growth, Bain Capital Ventures, and Y Combinator also joining.

Capi Money, a London startup providing an international payments platform tailored for SMBs in emerging markets, raised an $18 million Series A round. Creandum led the deal with Janngo.africa, Y Combinator, and Firstminute Capital also contributing.

Lingo.dev, a one-year-old Barcelona and San Francisco startup providing an AI-powered localization engine that helps software companies make their products available in multiple languages instantly, raised a $4.2 million seed. Initialized Capital was the main investor, with participation from Y Combinator.

 📚 Interesting reads of the week

Many LPs are shifting focus from fund investing to direct deals, drawn by the sexiness of higher upside and no fees. But this logic overlooks key risks, check out the breakdown and red flags.

The venture capital landscape is changing, and VC 3.0 is finally here. With over 32,000 active VCs, competition is fiercer than ever, leading to higher valuations and more funding opportunities for startups. AI is also reshaping the industry, making deal sourcing more data-driven and increasing investor outreach. Founders should prepare for a future where VCs act more like private equity firms, offering support but also demanding efficiency and clear ROI.

Early-stage startups are hitting unicorn status at a record pace, with 39 companies reaching $1 billion valuations in 2024, a 70% jump from the previous year. AI remains the biggest driver, with nearly 45% of new unicorns tied to artificial intelligence, including xAI, Safe Superintelligence, and Poolside. While VC caution hasn’t fully disappeared, investors are showing renewed appetite for high valuations, especially in AI, robotics, and EVs.

Slow Ventures has launched a $60 million Creator Fund to back social media influencers who are building businesses beyond content. The firm plans to invest $1 million to $3 million per company, focusing on creators who develop products and technology for their audiences. With institutional and family office backing, Slow Ventures sees creators as the next wave of entrepreneurs shaping new industries.

Palmer Luckey on what he looks for when hiring people

Luckey shares the mindset that shapes Anduril’s hiring approach, and what kind of candidates he prioritizes.

Bessemer recently shared a brand new early stage guide of sales strategies and tactics to help entrepreneurs reach their first $1M ARR milestone. To explore how founders can navigate this journey, Tony Rodoni, operating partner at Bessemer Venture Partners, held a panel discussion with Paul Fifield, four-time founder and operating advisor at Bessemer, and Kate Jensen, head of revenue at Anthropic — both of whom have built or guided companies to their first $1 million in ARR and beyond.

💪Tech mafia of the week

Highlights:

💰 Most money raised: WonderFi.

🤑 Total money raised by the Hootsuite Mafia: $2.5 billion

Weekly Tech Mafia Leaderboard

The Hootsuite alumni has built some amazing companies. This tech mafia group takes the 41st spot on our leaderboard, with 58 companies founded and $2.5 billion raised.

PS: Are you a Hootsuite alum interested in getting your community together to invest in the community (and earn carry/other benefits along the way)? Or are you a member of another community that you think would make for an amazing startup investment community?

Learn more about us and sign up for the waitlist here.

📌 PIN tweet of the week

💼 Who’s hiring in VC?

Looking to get into VC? Below are this week’s curated VC job openings.

Fitch Ventures is looking for a VC Principal.

Theory is looking for a VC Investor.

Forge is looking for a VC Vice President.

TCV is looking for a VC Associate.

Luminar Ventures is looking for a VC Partner.

📠 Fun fact of the week

Today there are 8,030 family offices worldwide, managing an estimated $3.1tn in assets. This figure is expected to grow 73% to $5.4tn by 2030.

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