PIN'd

A newsletter for communities, investors, angels, and founders

Author

Power in Numbers
December 08, 2023

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

OpenAI launched ChatGPT a year and a week ago, and the company and product immediately became the biggest things in AI. Now, Google — the company that created much of the foundational technology behind the current AI boom, that has called itself an “AI-first” organization for nearly a decade, and that was clearly and embarrassingly caught off guard by how good ChatGPT was and how fast OpenAI’s tech has taken over the industry — is finally ready to fight back.

xAI, Musk’s artificial intelligence company, aims to raise $1 billion in funding

Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence company, xAI, aims to raise $1 billion in funding from equity investors. Bloomberg reported that Musk has already raised nearly $135 million, citing a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Musk created xAI this year to compete with other generative AI companies, such as OpenAI, where he was a co-founder.

OpenView Venture Partners, a Boston-based venture capital firm that has backed enterprise software firms such as Calendly and Expensify, laid off most of its staff and will no longer be making new investments. The sudden fall of the firm, which employed at least 74 people and had raised a total of $2.4 billion, could be a sign of rising pressure on VC firms to generate returns in an era of higher interest rates.

Venture capital firm Sequoia Capital recently added Luciana Lixandru, a partner based in London, to the board of $50 billion payments company Stripe, one of the most valuable holdings in Sequoia’s sprawling portfolio.

Data platform software company VAST Data is raising hundreds of millions of dollars at a valuation of over $9 billion. Fidelity Investments will lead the round, which is also set to include a secondary element, with the participation of venture capital firms NEA and Bond.


💰 Funding announcement highlights

Asato, a newly founded startup in Saratoga, CA, has secured a $7.5 million seed investment. The company, which aims to revolutionize corporate IT management with its innovative AI-powered 'co-pilot' system, garnered financial backing in a round co-led by Intel Capital and Lip-Bu Tan. Shah Capital Partners also contributed to the funding, marking a solid start for the ambitious venture.

Respell, a San Francisco-based startup that enables non-technical individuals to develop AI-driven workflows, has successfully raised $4.75 million in a seed funding round in its first year. Craft Ventures led the investment initiative.

Shadow, a Paris-based startup offering innovative 'shadow forks' for faster and cost-effective development of crypto products, has raised $9 million in seed funding. The round, led by Paradigm, saw participation from notable investors such as Coinbase Ventures, Electric Capital, the Ethereum Foundation, Uniswap, and Flashbots. 

Velt, a Y Combinator-backed startup, raised $2.7 million in funding. The company, which boasts a toolkit that promises to empower developers to integrate collaborative features into their apps in under 30 minutes, attracted investments from Y Combinator, Spider Capital, Amino Capital, and First Row Partners. This funding marks a significant milestone for Velt in its mission to streamline app development.

Rightbot, an innovative startup specializing in developing suction-based robots capable of unloading freight of various sizes from trucks, has successfully secured a $6.25 million funding round. Amazon’s Industrial Innovation Fund led this significant financial boost, with additional participation from SOSV and Entrepreneur First.

📚 Interesting reads of the week

In November 2023, the venture capital landscape presented a complex and evolving picture. Global venture funding reached $19.2 billion, a slight month-over-month decrease and a significant 16% drop from last year. This article delves into these trends, offering insights into the shifting dynamics of the venture capital world. 

What do Aristotle and Elon Musk have in common? More than you might think. This insightful article explores the intriguing connection between these two great minds through the lens of first principles thinking. 

This article offers a fresh and engaging exploration of Charlie Munger's unique life, business, and investing approach. Munger, an enigma in American financial history, is portrayed through compelling anecdotes and quotes that reveal his unconventional wisdom. Despite lacking formal education in economics or business, Munger's success story is a testament to his originality and deep understanding of human behavior.

This LinkedIn post is an invaluable guide for anyone aspiring to become a venture scout in the dynamic venture capital world.

A collection of articles that walks through a step-by-step approach to raising funding. From putting the work before your pre-seed, to building the perfect deck, and negotiating on a term sheet.

💪 Tech Mafia of the week

Highlights:

💰 Most money raised: Vendr

🤑 Total money raised by the HubSpot Mafia: $740 million

Weekly tech mafia leaderboard

HubSpot's alumni network has built some fantastic companies, so we took a look at the top companies.

The HubSpot Mafia takes the 36th spot, with 72 companies founded and $740 million raised.

PS: Are you a HubSpot 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.

Plug and Play is looking for a Ventures Analyst.

Toyota Ventures is looking for a Portfolio Engagement Director.

Andreessen Horowitz is looking for an Associate Director.

NFX is looking for an Investor. 

Techstars is looking for an Investor Relations Manager.

📠 Fun fact of the week

Kleiner Perkins was the first venture capital firm to open an office on Sand Hill Road in 1972.

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