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Top NewsOpenAI has scrapped plans to spin out as an independent for-profit and will remain under the control of its nonprofit arm. The move comes as CEO Sam Altman says the company may need "trillions of dollars" to achieve its mission, raising questions about how it plans to raise that kind of capital as a nonprofit. TechCrunch has more here. Microsoft, which has invested $13.75 billion in OpenAI, has not commented yet on OpenAI's new plan and is actively negotiating with the startup about how best to protect its stake, according to Bloomberg, which has more here. |
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Sponsored By ...Harmonic: The startup discovery engine trusted by 1000s of investors, including GV, NEA, and USV. |
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Rork’s Founders Were Almost Broke When a Viral Tweet Led to $2.8M and a16z
By Julie Bort Rork founders Levan Kvirkvelia and Daniel Dhawan are living a life that sounds like a movie plot — but it actually happened. They went from broke, with depleted life savings and $15,000 in credit card debt — Dhawan was even sleeping on a mattress at a friend’s apartment — to generating $100,000 of revenue within five days. And that led to a $2.8 million seed round led by Andreessen Horowitz’s new Speedrun program, with other backers quickly piling in, like Hustle Fund’s Elizabeth Yin; ChapterOne; Founders Inc.; Austen Allred; Expo’s Charlie Cheever and Evan Bacon; Runway’s Siqi Chen; and more. All because one person tweeted about their mobile app vibe coder product, and the tweet went viral. Rork lets people with limited technical backgrounds build mobile apps with a simple text prompt. On February 12, after months of work and one pivot, Kvirkvelia and Dhawan launched Rork with a tweet. “We were complete underdogs. We were really running out of money really soon,” Dhawan told TechCrunch. They had received a small check from one angel investor, Matt Shumer, the co-founder and CEO of OthersideAI, which makes the AI writing tool HyperWrite. |
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Massive FundingsAnysphere, a three-year-old San Francisco startup that makes the AI-powered coding assistant Cursor, raised a $900 million round at a valuation of approximately $9 billion, according to a report in the Financial Times. The deal was led by Thrive Capital, with Andreessen Horowitz and Accel also opting in. TechCrunch has more here. Apex, a three-year-old Los Angeles startup that builds customizable satellite buses for space missions, raised a $200 million Series C round co-led by Point72 Ventures and 8VC, with Washington Harbour Partners, StepStone Group, XYZ Venture Capital, and Mirae Asset Capital also taking part. Reuters has more here. |
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Big-But-Not-Crazy-Big FundingsDawn Health, a nine-year-old Copenhagen startup that develops doctor-prescribed apps and software to help people manage medical conditions, raised a $13 million round from previous investors Chr. Augustinus Fabrikker, the Export and Investment Fund of Denmark, and Heartcore Capital. More here. MoneyFellows, a nine-year-old Cairo startup that offers a digital lending and savings platform based on the traditional concept of rotating savings and credit associations, raised a $13 million round. Al Mada Ventures and Nclude Fund were the co-leads. The company has raised a total of $60+ million. TechCrunch has more here. Rainmaker, a two-year-old startup based in El Segundo, CA, that uses drones to enhance rainfall by dispersing electrically charged water droplets into clouds, raised a $25 million Series A round led by Lowercarbon Capital, with Starship Ventures, 1517 Ventures, Long Journey Ventures, Breakthrough Energy Ventures, Garry Tan, and Naval Ravikant also pitching in. More here. |
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Smaller FundingsAce Aquatec, a twenty-four-year-old Scottish company that develops electric stunning devices and other humane aquaculture technologies for fish farms, raised a $10 million round led by Stolt Ventures, with Scottish Enterprise and Aqua-Spark also taking part. SeafoodSource has more here. Epicore Biosystems, an eight-year-old startup based in Cambridge, MA, that develops wearable microfluidic sensors to monitor hydration, sweat, and physical exertion in real-time for athletes, workers, and clinical use, raised a $6 million Series B extension round. Previous investors Alumni Ventures and Joyance Partners participated in the financing. MobiHealthNews has more here. Hostie, a seven-year-old San Francisco startup that uses AI to help restaurants improve service and boost revenue by automatically responding to customer inquiries and managing guest interactions, raised a $4 million seed round led by Gradient, with Burst Capital, Behind Genius Ventures, and Daring Ventures also stepping up. The San Francisco Standard has more here. Skillvue, a four-year-old Milan startup that uses AI to automate tasks like screening resumes and matching candidates to open jobs, raised a $6.3 million round led by 360 Capital, with Orbita Verticale as well as previous investors Italian Angels for Growth and 14 Peaks Capital also investing. Tech Funding News has more here. Solena Materials, a three-year-old London startup that develops synthetic proteins to create high-performance and sustainable materials, raised a $6.7 million seed round. David Harding led the investment, with SynBioVen and Insempra also stepping up. EU-Startups has more here. |
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Sponsored By ...Seurat, a nine-year-old Boston area startup, is reshoring metal manufacturing with advanced American-born technology. Investors looking to capitalize on the shift to U.S.-led digital manufacturing can read more here. |
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New FundsRockawayX, a 6-year-old Prague VC firm that backs early-stage crypto startups, has raised $125 million for its second fund. The firm—an early Solana investor—plans to double down on that ecosystem, with two-thirds of the capital earmarked for seed deals and the rest going to income-generating positions, including an on-chain credit pool. AIN has more here. |
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ExitsAccording to Upstarts, Databricks, the San Francisco-based data and AI platform, is in advanced talks to acquire Neon, a three-year-old New York startup offering a serverless, open-source PostgreSQL alternative, for approximately $1 billion. The deal, which remains under negotiation, could exceed that amount when factoring in employee retention packages. Neon has raised over $130 million from investors including Microsoft's M12 fund. More here. What began as a promising venture helping startups claim R&D credits has found a new home in Jesse Tinsley's growing workforce management empire, as Employer.com scooped up tax-credit startup MainStreet.com for an undisclosed amount. Tinsley told TechCrunch the two were "merging forces to simplify business back office solutions." More here. |
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Going PublicIn what could be an important test of the post-tariff IPO market, EToro, an 18-year-old Israeli company that lets users buy and sell assets like stocks and crypto while also following and copying the trades of top investors, is looking to raise up to $500 million at a valuation of approximately $4 billion. Reuters has more here. |
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PeopleHasan Sukkar, the founder of AI startup 11x, is stepping down from his role as CEO after the company ran into controversy (and a possible lawsuit) for displaying customer logos on its website of companies that were not actually customers. The company has raised $70+ million from investors like Benchmark and Andreessen Horowitz. TechCrunch has more here. Elon Musk’s Austin-area neighbors are bracing for his return. The billionaire has turned his West Lake Hills mansion into a fortress, complete with a 16-foot chain-link fence, surveillance cameras, and round-the-clock Tesla-driving security, all of which have neighbors complaining to city officials and sparking a zoning fight. The New York Times has more here. |
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Data
According to a report from the Hoover Institution, the U.S. is losing its edge as a destination for top AI talent, with fewer experts choosing to come—or stay—as countries like China, the UK, UAE, and India ramp up domestic opportunities and U.S. policies on immigration and funding create headwinds. Semafor has more here. |
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Essential ReadsA growing number of people believe AI chatbots are sharing spiritual secrets with them—with some even convinced they’re divine. Rolling Stone has more here. Meta AI, Meta's answer to ChatGPT, is sucking up your chats—yes, even the awkward ones—and building a memory file that includes your personal interests, from fertility to tax evasion. The Washington Post has more here. |
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DetoursWinning looks from tonight's Met Gala. The New Yorker takes a look at Hacks and The Studio, two shows that are feasting on Hollywood’s miasma of strikes, streaming fatigue, and a TikTok-addled audience. Soccer aficionados are whispering that this 17-year-old FC Barcelona striker might be as good as Messi. The Rehearsal could be the most deranged program on television. The Daily Beast has more here. |
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Retail TherapyBMW is now making fragrances. |
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