PIN

A newsletter for communities, investors, angels, and founders

Author

Power in Numbers
June 13, 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

Yale is quietly selling off around $3 billion in private equity stakes, one of the largest sales of its kind, as political pressure rises. The sale, dubbed “Project Gatsby,” shows how even the most elite institutions are rethinking long-term bets.

Stripe Inc. agreed to acquire crypto wallet provider Privy, building on the payment company’s recent acquisition of stablecoin infrastructure firm Bridge.

Meta is negotiating a multibillion-dollar investment in Scale AI, a key player in data labeling for machine learning. If finalized, the deal could surpass $10 billion, marking Meta’s biggest external AI bet yet.

Now operating four batches per year, Y Combinator just introduced its first-ever spring batch—and the upcoming Demo Day promises to deliver. Startups are working around the clock to prepare and attract investment from top-tier VCs.

OpenAI claims to have hit $10B in annual revenue

OpenAI says it has reached $10 billion in annual recurring revenue, nearly doubling last year’s total. The growth is driven by its consumer apps, API, and ChatGPT business tools, now used by over 500 million people weekly and 3 million business clients.

Felicis founder Aydin Senkut is celebrating his 20th year as an institutional early-stage investor by announcing the firm’s biggest fund yet: a $900 million Fund X. This follows the $825 million Fund IX raised in 2023 and the $600 million Fund XIII raised in 2021. Felicis, a seed and Series A firm, is known for backing a long string of successes, including Ayden, Bonobos, Ring, Shopify, and Twitch, among others.

💰 Funding announcement highlights

Arketa, a startup providing online booking software and marketing tools for wellness studios, helping studio owners manage classes, appointments, memberships, and branded websites, raised a $15 million Series A round. Inspired Capital was the main lead, with previous investors First Round, Y Combinator, Amity, and Velvet Sea also joining.

Anysphere, a San Francisco-based startup that makes the AI-powered coding assistant Cursor, raised a $900 million round. Thrive Capital was the main investor, with Andreessen Horowitz, Accel, and DST Global also contributing.

Pactum, a startup providing AI-powered tools to help large enterprises negotiate and manage supplier contracts, raised a $54 million Series C round. Insight Partners led the deal.

Infisical, a San Francisco startup helping companies securely store and manage sensitive credentials like API keys and passwords, raised a $16 million Series A. Elad Gil was the main investor, with Y Combinator, Gradient, and Dynamic Fund also showing up.

Turnkey, a New York startup providing software tools that let crypto companies embed secure wallets directly into their apps, raised a $30 million Series B round. Bain Capital Crypto was the main lead, with Sequoia Capital, Lightspeed Faction, Galaxy Ventures, Wintermute Ventures, and Variant also contributing.

📚 Interesting reads of the week

In his latest essay, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman says the era of superintelligence has already begun, and it's arriving faster than expected. He predicts that by the 2030s, intelligence and energy will become abundantly available, transforming how humanity works, creates, and progresses.

Jack (yes, Sam Altman’s brother), just released an interview with the legendary Marc Andreessen, co-founder of a16z. Check out what Marc’s thoughts are on where the VC industry is going.

Another interview dropped this week with another legendary investor - Bill Gurley, General Partner at Benchmark. He explains the state of the markets, shares advice for founders in the AI era, and breaks down the IPO stalemate.

Startups rarely spotlight them, but the first operator, often a finance-minded generalist, is the one who brings order to chaos. They are the ones in charge of building the first dashboards, shaping key metrics, and quietly steering how a company thinks, grows, and reports.

An anonymous X account known as Arfur Rock is stirring up the venture world by leaking insider startup news. With over 23,000 followers, the mystery operator shares funding round details and revenue scoops, all while keeping their identity and motives a secret.

According to a16z, AI startups are growing and raising faster than ever. Median enterprise apps now hit $2 million ARR in year one, while consumer AI apps are pulling ahead with $4.2 million. Speed and retention are the new benchmarks, and top performers are widening the gap from the rest.

Thirteen startups hit unicorn status in May, adding nearly $22 billion in total value. Europe saw its strongest month since 2023, with five new unicorns, including the year’s first from Germany and Portugal. Meanwhile, exits wiped out $13.4 billion from the board.

Hackers are now using AI to generate malware, launch zero-day attacks, and scale their exploits faster than ever. While tools like XBOW show what AI can do in skilled hands, security experts warn that the real threat lies in how quickly experienced hackers can weaponize these tools.

💪Tech mafia of the week

Highlights:

💰 Most money raised: Extend, Inc

🤑 Total money raised by the Docusign Mafia: $934 million

Weekly Tech Mafia Leaderboard

The Docusign alumni has built some amazing companies. This tech mafia group takes the 47th spot on our leaderboard, with 31 companies founded and $934 million raised.

PS: Are you a Docusign 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.

Macquarie Capital is looking for a VC Associate.

Temasek is looking for a VC Vice President. 

Hyundai CRADLE is looking for a VC Investor.

Hamilton Lane is looking for a VC Principal.

Lam Research is looking for an IR Director.

📌 Get paid to refer your friends to great jobs

PIN has launched a new Bounties product that helps founders crowdsource candidates they are hiring for. We make it possible for anyone to be a recruiter and get rewarded for it.

In a nutshell: Founders are looking for quality candidates - and willing to pay $2k-$10k for successful referrals. You have a network of peers that may be looking for their next opportunity. PIN makes it easy to find hiring bounties and monetize your network.

📠 Fun fact of the week

Before formal VC firms, wealthy families like the Rockefellers and Whitneys provided most of the risk capital for new ventures.

Want to learn more about investing in startups with your community through PIN’s platform? Simply reply to this email.