PIN

A newsletter for communities, investors, angels, and founders

Author

Power in Numbers
October 24, 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

BoxGroup just raised $550 million across two new funds: one for early-stage bets and another for follow-ons. The firm has quietly built one of the strongest early-stage portfolios by staying collaborative and sector-agnostic. With over 120 new investments planned, David Tisch says the goal is simple: meet founders, wherever they are.

An AWS failure on Oct. 20 froze parts of the global financial system, disrupting trading apps like Robinhood and Coinbase. Experts say the outage could cost hundreds of billions in lost trades and productivity. Now regulators and banks are pushing hard for multi-cloud setups to avoid relying on a single provider.

Reid Hoffman defended Anthropic as a responsible AI player after Trump’s AI czar David Sacks accused the startup of regulatory fear-mongering. Hoffman, who also backs OpenAI, said it’s crucial to support companies building AI thoughtfully. The clash highlights growing political tensions around AI policy and safety.

This top VC has bet close to 20% of his fund on teenagers — here’s why

Kevin Hartz is backing teen founders in a big way, with nearly 20% of A* Capital’s fund now going to startups led by under-20s. He’s not alone: dropouts and high school hackers are turning into real players in the startup scene. Programs like Z Fellows are giving them early cash and a shot at building fast. It's a clear sign that the startup world is skewing younger (and skipping college).

Harvard pulled in over $600 million in donations this year, its highest ever. The money helped push the endowment to nearly $57 billion, with an 11.9% return. Still, it wasn’t enough to cover rising costs and legal fees. The university ended the year with a $113 million deficit.

💰 Funding announcement highlights

Magic, a startup founded this year building AI software that pulls reservation and purchase data into one system so restaurants can personalize service for returning guests, raised a $10 million seed. Lerer Hippeau led the deal, with Bling Capital, Floodgate, Major Food Group, and VCR Group also joining.

ChipAgents, a startup that automates chip design and verification with agent-based AI, raised a $21 million Series A round.  Bessemer Venture Partners was the main investor, with Micron Technology, MediaTek, Ericsson, ScOp Venture Capital, and Amino Capital also showing up.

Keycard, a startup building identity and access control tools for AI agents, has raised $38 million across its seed and Series A rounds. Andreessen Horowitz and boldstart ventures co-led the $8 million seed, while Acrew Capital led the $30 million Series A.

Sage Care, a startup helping healthcare providers manage patient navigation and scheduling through AI agents, raised a $20 million round. Yosemite led the deal, with General Catalyst, Metrodora, OVTR.VC, SV Angel, Liquid 2, Seven Stars, Refract Ventures, and AME Cloud Ventures also contributing.

Serval, a startup automating IT service management with agent-based AI tools, raised a $47 million Series A round.  Redpoint Ventures was the main investor, with First Round, General Catalyst, and Box Group also joining.

📚 Interesting reads of the week

Some VCs say early traction is everything, but Kyle Harrison argues that confusing speed for strength is dangerous. Chasing $2M ARR in 10 days sounds impressive, but it often masks shaky economics and fuels unsustainable growth. Momentum isn’t a moat. And if everyone builds the same way, the startup ecosystem loses its middle class.

Momentum kills more rounds than rejection. Over 60% of healthtech investors drop off between first call and signed term sheet, mostly due to silence and scattered follow-up. Founders who build structured investor pipelines and maintain consistent communication win. The best fundraisers don’t just pitch. They manage trust like clockwork.

Sam Altman has locked in over $650 billion in deals with giants like Nvidia, Oracle, AMD and Broadcom to secure OpenAI’s future computing power. The strategy has made OpenAI central to the AI gold rush and possibly too big to fail. Stocks are soaring on each new deal, even as OpenAI racks up costs it can’t yet cover.

VC funding in defense tech has already hit $7.7 billion in 2025, more than doubling last year’s total. Investors explain the surge reflects real structural demand, not speculation, as governments ramp up military budgets and contracts flow to startups. Still, drones dominate the hype and valuations are soaring, raising questions about market saturation.

Coatue just updated its updated Fantastic 40, a handpicked list of companies that are best positioned to lead in an AI-powered world. The index includes public and private tech, energy, and industrial names, selected for strong growth and low risk. Filters weed out firms with slowing revenue or multiple compression.

💪Tech mafia of the week

Highlights:

💰 Most money raised: Landbase

🤑 Total money raised by the Carta Mafia: $408 million

Weekly Tech Mafia Leaderboard

The Carta alumni has built some amazing companies. This tech mafia group takes the 107th spot on our leaderboard, with 27 companies founded and $408 million raised.

PS: Are you a Carta 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?

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📌 PIN tweet of the week

💼 Who’s hiring in VC?

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

Camino Partners is looking for a Senior VC Associate

Eniac Ventures is looking for a VC Investor

Core Innovation Capital is looking for a VC Associate

SWIB is looking for a VC Manager

KDT is looking for a VC Director

📌 PinPoint - Get paid to refer your friends to great jobs

Want to earn thousands of dollars for referring candidates to top companies? Sign up to PinPoint.

📠 Fun fact of the week

a16z was founded in July 2009 by Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz, relatively late compared to many storied VC firms, yet they have become one of the major players.