PIN

A newsletter for communities, investors, angels, and founders

Author

Power in Numbers
September 13, 2024

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!

If you’re receiving this, it’s because you’ve signed up for our waitlist and/or for newsletter updates.

Got a friend that wants to learn more or stay up to date on angel investing/VC? Help us spread the word and forward this email to them ;)

Subscribe here.

📰 This week’s best news

Sequoia Capital last week completed its $861 million purchase of Stripe shares from Sequoia limited partners. This is a stark example of just how thirsty LPs are for liquidity, as there was enough selling interest to fulfill the full allotment that Sequoia offered in July. It also could become a model for how VC firms deal with long-in-the-tooth portfolio companies.

Financial technology company Mercury announced on LinkedIn the acquisition of Teal. Led by Ian Crosby and Adam Saint, the Teal team is expected to bring their expertise in building for accountants, an important partner in the Mercury ecosystem.

Sergey Brin says he's working on AI at Google 'pretty much every day'

Google co-founder and ex-Alphabet president Sergey Brin doesn’t want to miss on AI. Though last year, many publications reported that Brin was back at Google HQ working on various AI projects, this is the first time he has publicly commented on his return.

Former Hyundai CMO named X’s global head of marketing

Angela Zepeda, who formerly served as the Chief of Marketing at Hyundai, is now joining X with the goal of expanding the brand's global presence and advancing innovation. The social platform has not had a marketing leader since 2022, when Elon Musk purchased it for $44 billion.

WeWork cofounder Adam Neumann's climate tech startup has been quietly refunding investors. Flowcarbon, which aimed to enable companies to purchase carbon credits with cryptocurrency, has reportedly been issuing refunds for its Goddess Nature Token after failing to launch for years.

💰 Funding announcement highlights

Cercli, a startup building a platform designed for companies in the Middle East and North Africa to manage their payroll, HR, and finance operations, raised a $4 million seed round. Afore Capital was the main investor, with COTU Ventures, Y Combinator, and Rebel Fund also joining.

DRiP, a platform that allows creators to release and distribute NFT content directly to fans for free on blockchain networks, raised an $8 million seed round. The deal was co-led by NFX, Coinbase Ventures, and Progression.

Ammalgam, a startup that allows users to lend out their digital assets to earn interest or participate in market-making by providing liquidity to decentralized exchanges, raised a $2.5 million seed round. Lightspeed Faction and Framework Ventures co-led the round. Robot Ventures, Bodhi Ventures, NGC Ventures, DeWhales, and Blockchain Founders Fund also joined.

Protégé, a newly founded startup that connects data holders with AI developers who need high-quality training data, raised $10 million. The seed round was led by CRV, with SV Angel, Liquid 2 Ventures, Bloomberg Beta, and Flex Capital also investing.

Pin AI, a startup building a decentralized, on-device AI platform designed to give users control over their personal data, raised a $10 million pre-seed round. Andreessen Horowitz, Hack VC, Anagram Ventures, Symbolic Capital Partners, DCbuilder, Foresight Ventures, Blockchain Builders Fund, and Alumni Ventures Group were part of the investors.

📚 Interesting reads of the week

Venture capital has evolved from being an "access class" where only top-tier managers had success, to a fully institutional asset class. The industry's growth, driven by factors like increased capital efficiency, diverse sectors like AI, and lower company creation costs, has made manager selection more complex. Today, VC success relies on both qualitative and quantitative factors, with a focus on emerging managers and deep due diligence.

Learn everything you need to know about inside rounds, why startups opt for them, and how investors view them. The article also explores how to weigh the pros and cons, strategic considerations for both startups and investors, and real-world examples on how inside rounds can be effectively executed.

Nilay Patel had Anthropic’s new chief product officer, Mike Krieger, as a guest on his podcast Decoder, where they discussed the future of chatbots like Claude and what’s next for generative AI.

The venture capital industry is going through a period of consolidation, which poses an important threat to emerging managers. According to the co-founder of QED Investors, if these firms want to survive, they must differentiate by specializing in either the "Solo VC" or "Non-Consensus Alpha" role and demonstrate their unique value to limited partners.

The latest le film nouveau starring Eloi Musque, Alexandra de Corse, Joseph Le Bidone, Don de Trompette, Samuel Alumont, and others.

💪Tech mafia of the week

Highlights:

💰 Most money raised: CaptivateIQ

🤑 Total money raised by the Gusto Mafia: $422 million

Weekly tech mafia leaderboard

The Gusto alumni network has built some amazing companies, so we took a look at the top companies.

The Gusto Mafia takes the 69th spot, with 34 companies founded and $422 million raised.

PS: Are you a Gusto employee/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.

University of Utah is looking for a Senior VC Director.

Michigan Founders Fund is looking for an Impact Manager.

Techstars is looking for a VC Associate.

Capital One is looking for a VC Manager.

Playground Global is looking for an Events Manager.

📠 Fun fact of the week

As of 2023, there were approximately 12,000 to 15,000 AI startups worldwide. This figure includes companies involved in machine learning, natural language processing, computer vision, and various other AI-driven technologies.

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

0