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A newsletter for communities, investors, angels, and founders
Power in Numbers
April 11, 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
Andreessen Horowitz is going big, really big, with plans to raise a $20 billion megafund focused on AI, its largest ever. The firm is tapping into global investor demand and political ties to double down on growth-stage bets in U.S. AI giants like xAI and Databricks.
SignalFire just raised over $1 billion to double down on AI-powered venture investing, bringing its total AUM to $3 billion. With its in-house Beacon AI system and a shift toward early-stage bets, the firm is going big on the next wave of AI-first startups.
Thinking Machines Lab, the new AI venture led by ex-OpenAI CTO Mira Murati, just added two heavyweights: Bob McGrew and Alec Radford, both pivotal figures in OpenAI’s rise. With this move, Murati’s still-stealthy startup is shaping up to be one of the most closely watched in AI.
New York’s A-list venture capital seed fund, Lerer Hippeau, announced on Wednesday that it closed a ninth $200 million fund. That’s a step up from its eighth fund, which closed at $140 million, it said. With the new fund, Lerer Hippeau has $1.4 billion of assets under management.
The venture capital industry has been facing a great deal of churn at the senior level, with reports of many top-level executives leaving legacy firms. In Silicon Valley, some high-profile departures include Matt Miller from Sequoia and Sriram Krishnan from Andreessen Horowitz. On the other side of the world, two senior executives Abheek Anand and Shailesh Lakhani announced their exits from Peak XV Partners — formerly Sequoia Capital India & SEA — in February. Turnover is common among juniors in the industry, but it has been rarer to see senior venture capital partners leave their posts, as these high-level positions are often more lucrative and hard to come by, according to industry insiders.
💰 Funding announcement highlights
SigIQ.ai, a Berkeley startup that develops AI-powered personalized tutoring platforms for standardized test preparation, raised a $9.5 million seed. The round was co-led by The House Fund and GSV Ventures. Duolingo, General Catalyst India, Peak XV Partners, and Calibrate Ventures also joined.
Plug, a two-year-old startup connecting dealerships and fleet operators to facilitate the buying and selling of used EVs, raised a $6.7 million seed round. Floodgate, Autotech Ventures, and A* were the co-leads, with Leap Forward Ventures, Renn Global, and Cleo Capital also showing up.
Vivere Partners, a startup founded this year that is developing tailored, technology-enabled insurance products for niche markets, raised a $7.5 million Series A round. General Catalyst, Pathlight Ventures, and Greenlight Re co-led the deal.
Pennylane, a French startup offering an all-in-one accounting platform for SMBs and their accountants, raised a $75 million round. Sequoia Capital was the main investor, with CapitalG, Meritech, and DST Global also showing up.
Aurascape, a one-year-old startup whose AI-native security platform is designed to help businesses monitor and protect their data and users across various AI applications, raised a $50 million round. The round was co-led by Mayfield and Menlo Ventures.
📚 Interesting reads of the week
In the town of Kawara, kids are ditching Pokémon for trading cards featuring real-life local ojisan, retired firefighters, soba masters, and volunteers. What started as a way to connect generations has turned into a full-blown community craze, boosting local event turnout and giving these unlikely heroes celebrity status.
Tomasz Tunguz shares key pieces of advice that founders and leaders should keep in mind when building effective sales organizations, from setting the right pricing and defining ideal customer profiles to assembling the perfect team and managing pipelines.
After an internal memo leaked, revealing that Shopify teams must prove AI can’t handle a task before requesting new hires, CEO Tobi Lütke decided to post it himself on Twitter. The policy reflects a growing shift in tech: AI isn't just a tool, it’s becoming the default solution.
Andreessen Horowitz is ramping up support for early-stage founders with a16z Speedrun, a 90-day program offering up to $1 million in funding and $5 million in partner perks. With hands-on mentorship and top-tier speakers, it’s a fast track for ambitious startups in tech, AI, and entertainment.
Anthropic is launching Claude for Education, a version of its AI platform designed for universities to integrate AI into learning, teaching, and admin tasks. With new features like Learning Mode and campus-wide access at Northeastern, LSE, and Champlain College, this is a big step in shaping how AI will be used responsibly in higher ed.
From Chinese e-commerce crackdowns to delayed IPOs and shaken private credit markets, PitchBook updates on how sweeping new U.S. tariffs are disrupting venture capital, private equity, IPOs, and cross-border deals.
💪Tech mafia of the week
Highlights:
💰 Most money raised: Weezy
🤑 Total money raised by the BlaBlaCar Mafia: $45 million
Weekly Tech Mafia Leaderboard
The BlaBlaCar alumni has built some amazing companies. This tech mafia group takes the 108th spot on our leaderboard, with 25 companies founded and $45 million raised.
PS: Are you a BlaBlaCar 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
Great entrepreneurs can come from anywhere.
But some universities have a truly exceptional track record of attracting and producing future founders.
PitchBook’s annual university rankings compare schools by tallying up the number of alumni entrepreneurs who have raised venture
— PIN (@getpinxyz)
1:02 PM • Apr 7, 2025
💼 Who’s hiring in VC?
Looking to get into VC? Below are this week’s curated VC job openings.
Female Founders Fund is looking for a Platform Manager.
Blumberg Capital is looking for a VC Associate.
M13 is looking for a VC Analyst.
Heartland Ventures is looking for a VC Vice President.
Voy Ventures is looking for a VC Investor.
📠 Fun fact of the week
In 1971, the first ever computer virus was developed. Named Creeper, it was made as an experiment just to see how it spread between computers. The virus simply displayed the message: “I’m the creeper, catch me if you can!”
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