PIN

A newsletter for communities, investors, angels, and founders

Author

Power in Numbers
May 31, 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!

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📰 This week’s best news

Relay, a business banking and money management service for small and medium-sized businesses, closed a $32.2 million Series B round led by Bain Capital Ventures, with participation from BTV, Garage, Industry Ventures, and Tapestry. Based in Toronto, the company plans to increase its workforce from 140 people to 200 by the end of the year.

Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence company, xAI, has recently raised $6 billion from major investors, including Andreessen Horowitz, Sequoia Capital, and a Saudi prince. The OpenAI competitor, which has developed its own chatbot, Grok, announced its Series B funding round this week pushing the company’s valuation to $24 billion.

Jan Leike, the AI researcher who recently left OpenAI and publicly criticized the company's approach to AI safety, has now joined its rival, Anthropic. In a post on X, Leike mentioned that his new team will concentrate on different aspects of AI safety and security, including “scalable oversight,” “weak-to-strong generalization,” and automated alignment research.

According to PitchBook, funding for crypto startups increased for the second consecutive quarter in the first three months of 2024, reaching $2.4 billion. This growth was driven by expectations of lower interest rates and the introduction of the first U.S. bitcoin spot ETF. The funding was distributed across 518 deals and rose by 40.3% from the previous quarter. 

China is setting up its third planned state-backed investment fund with a registered capital of $47.5 billion to enhance its semiconductor industry. This investment underscores President Xi Jinping's efforts to attain self-sufficiency in semiconductors for China.

💰 Funding announcement highlights

Faircado, a startup with a browser extension that aims to become the discovery layer for pre-owned goods, raised $3.2 million. Accel, General Catalyst, Lightspeed Venture Partners, NEA, Northzone, BackBone Ventures, Earlybird, and Minc all participated in the round.

Transcend, a startup helping businesses manage user data privacy and comply with regulations like GDPR and CCPA, raised a $40 million Series B. StepStone Group, HighlandX and previous investors Accel, Index Ventures, 01 Advisors, Script Capital, and South Park Commons all stepped in.

Rows, a company whose spreadsheet platform integrates various business applications and automates repetitive tasks, raised an $8.7 million round led by Indico Capital Partners. Previous investors Cherry Ventures, Accel, Lakestar, and Armilar Venture Partners also contributed.

Atropos Health, a company that organizes medical data to generate quick, actionable insights for clinicians and researchers, raised a $33 million Series B. Valtruis led the round, which also included Breyer Capital, Emerson Collective, and Presidio Ventures.

Authentic, a startup that enables SaaS platforms to create their own captive insurance programs for offering small business insurance, raised an $11 million Series A round. It was led by FirstMark Capital, and Slow Ventures, Altai Ventures, MGV, Upper90, and Commerce Ventures joined in as well.

📚 Interesting reads of the week

In November, Shein filed to go public in New York, raising expectations that it would be one of the biggest IPOs in years.  Its U.S.-based executive chairman, Donald Tang, shuttled across the country, meeting politicians and selling his vision of Shein as a model of compliance and transparency. The company is now awkwardly stuck amid U.S.-China tensions, and its hopes for a New York initial public offering have faded.

Garry Tan, president and CEO of Y Combinator, stated that “regulation is likely necessary” for artificial intelligence. While he is overall supportive of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) attempt to construct a GenAI risk mitigation framework, he is wary of other regulatory efforts and bills related to AI that are moving through the California and San Francisco legislatures, claiming they are “very concerning.”

Helen Toner, a former OpenAI board member, said in a podcast called The TED AI Show that the board didn’t know about the company’s 2022 launch of its chatbot ChatGPT until they found out about it on Twitter. Toner also gave her fullest account to date of the events that prompted her and other board members to fire Sam Altman in November of last year. 

SaaStr's Founder and CEO, Jason Lemkin, discusses the top go-to-market mistakes founders make today and provides strategies to avoid them. Some are recurring mistakes, while others are new challenges.

Navigating contracts, intellectual property, corporate structuring, and other complex legal questions is crucial for getting companies off the ground. However, many founders feel uncomfortable just hearing about these topics. In an exclusive interview, Irene Liu, advisor and leadership coach to several startups and founder of Hypergrowth GC, provides solid advice.

SignalFire data shows which cities are gaining and losing tech talent, how Gen Z's career paths are changing, and how AI is reshaping employment. The report also shares its predictions for the future and what founders should do to stay ahead of the curve.

In 2024, biotech and health companies have secured approximately $5.6 billion through 110 Series A rounds, according to Crunchbase data. This represents 53% of all funding at the Series A stage, which is an important indicator for the startup ecosystem.

💪 Tech mafia of the week

Highlights:

💰 Most money raised: Anduril

🤑 Total money raised by the Oculus Mafia: $2.4 billion

Weekly tech mafia leaderboard

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

The Oculus Mafia takes the 34th spot, with 22 companies founded and $2.4 billion raised.

PS: Are you an Oculus 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.

ADP Ventures is looking for a Senior Director.

Techstars is looking for a Managing VC Director.

Unshackled Ventures is looking for a VC Analyst.

Female Founders Fund is looking for a VC Principal.

Share Ventures is looking for a Chief of Staff.

📠 Fun fact of the week

Often referred to as the “Godfather of Silicon Valley,” Ron Conway has an impressive portfolio that includes Google, Facebook, and PayPal. His extensive network and early investments have made him a legend in the startup world.

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

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