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Power in Numbers
January 03, 2025

Happy New Year (pinheads, lol)! 🎉

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đź“° This week’s best news

Tacora Capital, a Texas firm that specializes in venture debt, has raised $268.7 million for its second fund, according to a new SEC filing. Tacora’s inaugural fund in 2022 raised about $350 million, including $250 million from Peter Thiel — the prominent Republican billionaire and investor — in what was considered an “unusually large investment” for Thiel.

Accel bags $650M for its new India fund

US-based venture capital firm Accel has raised $650M for its eighth India fund. Accel said in a Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filing that the capital is secured from 131 undisclosed investors.

A California-based HR tech company says it will acquire a Vancouver-based bookkeeping service that abruptly halted operations last week. Bench Accounting announced its sudden closure last Friday, putting hundreds of staff out of work and forcing clients to seek alternatives just days from the end of the year. Employer.com says in a statement it has been working with Bench customers behind the scenes to ensure a seamless transition.

Over 40% of unicorns have been in venture portfolios for at least nine years, pressuring a hallmark of VC: the 10-year fund structure. Companies with valuations of at least $1 billion now make up two-thirds of the US venture market. Their inability to exit is raising questions about the wisdom of the decade-long fund, according to a recent PitchBook analyst note.

The European startup ecosystem is rebounding in 2024, signaling brighter prospects after two years of subdued growth. By mid-year, the continent had minted eight new unicorns, surpassing the seven created in all of 2023, as per Dealroom. This fresh cohort spans diverse industries, from gen AI to autonomous vehicles, reflecting renewed investor confidence and a healthier funding environment.

Sam Altman reveals what Artificial Super Intelligence (ASI) will be like

Imagine a world where the boundaries of human knowledge and creativity are no longer defined by our own limitations. A world where scientific breakthroughs happen in days instead of decades, and the most complex problems—like curing diseases or combating climate change—are tackled with unprecedented precision. According to Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, this future may be closer than we think.

đź’° Funding announcement highlights

KoBold Metals, a startup using AI to discover critical mineral deposits, has raised $491 million of a $527 million target. Investors include Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos, Jack Ma, Andreessen Horowitz, and Breakthrough Energy Ventures. The funding supports the development of a massive copper deposit in Zambia and other exploration projects.

Carecode, a Brazilian startup leveraging AI to streamline healthcare processes, has emerged from stealth with $4.3 million in pre-seed funding led by a16z and QED. Other investors include Endeavor Catalyst, KDX Ventures, K50 Ventures, and Latitud Ventures, alongside notable figures like Nubank founder David VĂ©lez.

Ema, a Boston-based AI platform transforming women’s healthcare, has raised over $3 million in total funding. The latest round was led by Emmeline Ventures, with participation from Kubera Venture Capital and Victorum Capital.

 đź“š Interesting reads of the week

This article highlights predictions from 2024 by leading figures in the AI industry about the future of AI development over the coming decades. It also revisits earlier forecasts made about 2024. Elon Musk believes AI could surpass human intelligence by the end of this year, while Geoffrey Hinton and Yann LeCun suggest it may take up to two decades.

Like many highly valued startups, SpaceX sometimes allows its employees to cash out some of their shares by selling to company-authorized outside investors. TechCrunch has gotten a peek at an internal SpaceX document about such a tender offer from May 2022. Musk posted on X last month that SpaceX holds such sales for employees about every 6 months.

We love predictions; here’s 13 things that might happen in 2025.

With successful IPOs and exits ahead in the new year, shifting market dynamics, evolving priorities and continuous technological advancements — especially around artificial intelligence — new opportunities are opening for startup founders. For startups around the globe, corporate venture capital, or CVC, continues to offer not just capital but also the potential for impactful strategic collaborations, positive proof points, access to critical resources, and pathways to navigate the complexities of scaling.

While AI is lauded by some as the biggest technological breakthrough since the industrial revolution, enterprises — arguably the tech’s biggest potential customer base — have been slow to adopt AI. While some investors predicted that 2024 would be the year we’d start to see more AI adoption by enterprises, that didn’t play out as budgets remained constrained and AI tech often remained in the “experimental” category. Will that all start to change in 2025? Depends on who you ask.

đź’ŞTech mafia of the week

Highlights:

đź’° Most money raised: Anduril Industries

🤑 Total money raised by the Oculus Mafia: $2.5 billion

Weekly Tech Mafia Leaderboard


The Oculus alumni has built some amazing companies. This tech mafia group takes the 34th spot on our leaderboard, with 22 companies founded and $2.4 billion raised.

PS: Are you an Oculus 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.

đź“Ś PIN tweet of the week

đź’Ľ Who’s hiring in VC?

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

Village Capital is looking for a Fund Manager.

FEG is looking for a Portfolio Management Analyst.

Temasek is looking for an Associate.

Array Ventures is looking for a Portfolio Success Manager.

đź“  Fun fact of the week

The Harvard Business Review did a study which showed that approximately 70% of founders started out by incubating their business ideas while working at a traditional job. The data revealed that many entrepreneurs started their own business in order to get away from bad leadership, but most often took the time to thoroughly plan out and create a business plan to gain funding before quitting their day job.

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