We're powering down here for a couple of weeks to hang out with the interns, visit with extended family, and eat our way through a cheese wheel. (Someone has to do it.)

On our way out, we hope you'll enjoy our last StrictlyVC Download episode of 2024, this one recorded yesterday with Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev, who is staring into what looks like several years of accelerated growth if things go his way. Certainly, there isn't a lot that's off the table for the financial services outfit, particularly with the incoming Trump administration expected to loosen regulations around all manner of financial products. (Naturally, we asked Tenev about the company's $2 million donation to Trump's inauguration, along with a lot of other things, from prediction markets and sports betting to copy trading and exploding job offers.) 

Hope you enjoy it. We wish you very happy holidays in the interim; see you back here the second week of January.:)

The price of Bitcoin fell below $93,000 today as traders reacted to the Fed's signals that it may slow down its plans to cut interest rates. Bloomberg has more here. 

After surveying nearly 300 private capital dealmakers, Affinity uncovered three key trends shaping the industry in their 2025 private capital predictions report. Read the report to learn why firms are focusing more on outbound deal sourcing, how they’re streamlining workflows with AI, and what they’re doing to prove their funds’ value. Get the insights.

By Sean O'Kane

Four employees have sued Rivian in separate lawsuits this year over allegations they were harassed, in some cases by top executives, and that the company’s leadership did little to address their concerns, according to a TechCrunch review of court records.

Rivian has also reached settlements in three other harassment and discrimination cases, TechCrunch has learned.

Lawsuits aren’t uncommon in the automotive industry, particularly with large companies that operate factories and multiple facilities. But the allegations contained in these previously unreported lawsuits against Rivian, and the ones that it has settled, suggest the company is still sorting out its internal culture — a culture that was thrust into the spotlight three years ago when it went public.

Two of the lawsuits, filed in California’s Orange County Superior Court, center around Rivian chief designer Jeff Hammoud, who has been with the company since 2017.

One filed by former color, material, and finish team director Elizabeth Curran in February 2024 accuses Hammoud of being “prone to irrational outbursts of anger,” incidents she describes as being “often directed at the women in leadership.”

The other, filed by sculptor Nathan Facciolla in October 2024, alleges Hammoud created a hostile work environment and called Facciolla’s wife “a hooker” because she worked a night shift at a hospital.

More here

1KOMMA5, a four-year-old Hamburg startup that provides solar power systems, energy storage, electric vehicle charging stations, and heat pumps to homeowners seeking to transition from fossil fuels to cleaner energy sources, raised a $156.6 million round led by G2 Venture Partners, with additional participation from CalSTRS, 2150, Norrsken, Hamilton Lane, b2venture, Eurazeo, and eCAPITAL. Silicon Canals has more here.