☕ OpenAI launching TikTok competitor, YouTube settles Trump lawsuit for $24.5 million & Nothing launches AI tool for building mini apps.
Spotify founder Daniel Ek is stepping down as CEO & Former OpenAI and DeepMind researchers raise $300M.
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📬 What’s in store:
Today’s Picks: Essential startup resources: Sales frameworks, VC Q&A guide, product discovery methods, pitch decks from $350M+ raises, financial models.
Former OpenAI and DeepMind researchers raise $300M seed to automate science.
OpenAI is launching the Sora app, its own TikTok competitor, alongside the Sora 2 model.
Amazon unveils new Echo devices, powered by its AI, Alexa+.
Nothing launches AI tool for building mini apps using prompts.
Opera launches its AI-centric Neon browser.
Nvidia CEO says China is nanoseconds behind US.
Meta plans to buy chip startup Rivos to boost semiconductor efforts.
YouTube settles Trump lawsuit for $24.5 million.
Spotify founder Daniel Ek is stepping down as CEO.
VC & Startup Jobs: VC & investors backed startup hiring for remote roles.
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🗞️ What else is brewing
The three sales frameworks every early-stage founder needs. (Link)
VC questions and how to answer them — the ultimate founder guide. (Link)
Product discovery framework by a YC-backed startup founder. (Link)
Vercel CEO on networking. (Link)
This is what every founder should know about valuation. (Link)
Elad Gil literally shares the secret to identifying emerging markets. (Link)
How much funding should a startup raise? - Marc Andreessen’s framework. (Link)
Artisan’s $25M Series A deck, which they just released. (Link)
Chris Dixon’s 2009 essay, “Climbing the Wrong Hill,” remains highly relevant today. (Link)
40 real startup pitch decks that raised $350M+ (Including leading startups decks) (Link)
Amplitude’s product benchmark report: a must-read. (Link)
Sam Altman: What I wish someone had told me. (Link)
Elad Gil’s list of biotech companies he wishes existed is well worth a read. (Link)
What is the Price of Demand? (Link)
SaaS startup financial model: All-in-One Excel template. (Link)
The Math of Hypergrowth: Two Paths to the Same Goal. (Link)
STARTUPS RAISING MILLIONS
💰 Startup funding updates
Supernova, a Dover, DE-based provider of a platform uniting design, code and product to streamline digital teamwork, raised $9.2M in Series A funding The round was led by Taiwania Capital, with participation from J&T Ventures, Reflex Capital, Credo Ventures, EQT Ventures, Kaya, Wing VC, and Y Combinator.
RunBuggy, a Phoenix, AZ-based provider of a technology platform transforming automotive transportation and logistics, raised $37M in Series B funding. The round was led by Centana Growth Partners.
Zania, a San Francisco, CA-based agentic AI company for security governance, risk, and compliance (GRC), raised $18m in Series A funding round. The round was led by New Enterprise Associates with participation from Anthology Fund (backed by Menlo Ventures and Anthropic), Palm Drive Capital, and a syndicate of senior executives from Amazon, Airbnb, PayPal, ByteDance, Reddit, Roblox, and PwC.
Eve, a San Francisco, CA-based provider of an AI platform for plaintiff law firms, raised $103m in Series B funding at over a $1 billion valuation. The round was led by Spark Capital, with participation from existing investors Andreessen Horowitz, Lightspeed Venture Partners, and Menlo Ventures.
Vibe.co, a NYC-based ad platform bringing hyper-targeting to connected TV (CTV) for performance marketers, closed a $50m Series B financing round. The round was led by Hedosophia, with participation from previous backers Elaia and Singular, QuantumLight, Illusian.
Datawizz, a San Franciso, CA-based company providing specialized language models (SLMs) as an alternative to large general-purpose LLMs, raised $12.5M in Seed funding.- The round was led by Human Capital, with participation from BGV, 91VC, and others.
Tato, a Montreal, Canada-based provider of an AI-native project platform purpose-built for system integrators, raised $5M Seed funding. The round was led by Ridge Ventures, with participation from Myriad Venture Partners, Betaworks, RRE Ventures, and others.
StackGuardian, a Mechelen, Belgium-based cloud-native startup supporting how enterprises deliver secure and compliant self-service infrastructure, raised a total of $10M, inclusive of its initial Seed round. The Series A was led by TIN Capital, with participation from existing investors Volta Ventures and InvestLink.
Notable, a NYC-based company which specializes in pay-at-close financing for home sale prep, raised $6M in Series A funding. The round was led by W. R. Berkley Corporation, with participation from Second Century Ventures.
AdPipe, an Atlanta, GA-based provider of an AI-powered video platform, raised $12M in Series A funding. The round was led by LGVP, with participation from Emery Wells (Founder of Frame.io), Atlanta Ventures, Tom Noonan, Engage VC, and others.
Assort Health, a San Francisco, CA-based provider of a patient experience platform empowered by specialty-specific agentic AI, raised $76M in Series B funding. The round was led by Lightspeed Venture Partners, with participation from Felicis, First Round Capital, Chemistry, A*, Liquid2, and Quiet Capital.
Tie (fka Revenue Roll), a Miami, FL-based provider of an AI-powered identity platform helping e-commerce brands turn anonymous website visitors into high-value customers, raised $10M in Series A funding. The round was led by Innovating Capital, with participation from Stage 2 Capital, Hawke Ventures, and strategic angels including executives from Brex and Share Local Media.
SureCo, a Santa Ana, CA-based individual coverage health reimbursement arrangement (ICHRA) administrator, raised $23M in Series a funding. The round was led by Health Velocity Capital, with participation from Kaiser Permanente Ventures.
Anything, a San Francisco, CA-based AI platform that turns natural language prompts into production-ready mobile and web apps, has raised $11M in Series A funding, at a $100M valuation. The round was led by Footwork, with participation from M13. Prior investors include Bessemer Venture Partners and Uncork Capital.
Viamericas, a Coral Gables, FL-based provider of remittance and international money transfer services, raised $113.6m in funding. The round was led by Old National Bank, with participation from Bank of Oklahoma Financial, Axos Bank and U.S. Bank.
Umony, a London, UK-based provider of an AI-powered financial services communications compliance platform, raised $15M in Series A funding. The round was led by Notion Capital with participation from SeedCamp and Crane Venture Partners and angel investors including Dr. Thomas Wolf.
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NEW VCs IN THE MARKET
🏦 Venture Capital updates
Boost VC, a San Mateo, CA-based early stage venture capital firm, closed Fund 4, at $87M. The vehicle is focused on investing in pre-seed deep tech startups, from nuclear energy to genetics to space travel. Founded by Adam Draper and Brayton Williams, Boost VC currently has $300M AUM and 400 active portfolio companies.
KEY STORIES IN TECH
📜 Latest in tech
Former OpenAI and DeepMind researchers raise $300M seed to automate science
Periodic Labs, founded by ex-DeepMind researcher Ekin Dogus Cubuk (GNoME project) and ex-OpenAI VP Liam Fedus (led ChatGPT and trillion-parameter LLM), emerged from stealth with a massive $300M seed round.
Backers include a16z, DST, Nvidia, Accel, Elad Gil, Jeff Dean, Eric Schmidt, and Jeff Bezos, signaling heavyweight confidence.
The startup’s goal: build AI scientists + autonomous labs where robots run experiments, generate new data, and accelerate material discovery — starting with next-gen superconductors.
OpenAI is launching the Sora app, its own TikTok competitor, alongside the Sora 2 model:
OpenAI unveiled Sora 2, an upgraded video generator that better follows physics, and paired it with a new TikTok-style social app, Sora.
The app’s standout feature, “cameos,” lets users upload their likeness once, then insert themselves — or friends with permission — into AI-generated scenes.
Rolling out first in the U.S. and Canada on iOS, Sora is invite-only but free at launch; monetization will come from extra video generation during high demand.
Amazon unveils new Echo devices, powered by its AI, Alexa+
Amazon launched four new Echo devices — Echo Dot Max, Echo Studio, Echo Show 8, and Echo Show 11 — built with custom AZ3 and AZ3 Pro chips to run Alexa+.
Alexa+ now supports natural conversations, complex queries, and will soon feature an Alexa+ Store with third-party services like Fandango, Lyft, and Taskrabbit.
New features include Omnisense ambient AI for real-time home awareness, better sound systems, and integrations with health partners like Oura for personalized wellness.
Nothing launches AI tool for building mini apps using prompts
Smartphone maker Nothing introduced Playground, an AI tool that lets users create mini apps (widgets) like flight trackers or meeting briefs using simple text prompts.
The apps, called Essential Apps, can be customized with code by advanced users, though full-screen apps aren’t supported yet.
CEO Carl Pei says the goal is to make operating systems more personal with AI, while focusing on security and community-driven development.
Opera launches its AI-centric Neon browser
Opera unveiled Neon, a $19.99/month AI-powered browser that lets users create apps via prompts and automate tasks through “Cards,” its repeatable prompt system.
Features include Neon Do for task execution (e.g., summarizing blogs and posting to Slack), a built-in chatbot, code generation for reports, and tab organization with “Tasks.”
Positioned for power users, Neon competes with Perplexity’s Comet and The Browser Company’s Dia, while challenging Google and Microsoft’s AI browser upgrades.
Nvidia CEO says China is nanoseconds behind US:
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang claims China is just nanoseconds behind the US in chipmaking and argues that America should continue selling its technology there to maintain its geopolitical influence.
Following export restrictions, the company is now shipping a compliant H20 AI GPU to Chinese customers, its second attempt to create a tailored processor after the A100 and H100 bans.
Meanwhile, Huawei is shipping systems with its Ascend 920B silicon and other firms are investing in custom designs to create a CUDA-free ecosystem, directly challenging Nvidia’s previous market dominance.
Meta plans to buy chip startup Rivos to boost semiconductor efforts
Meta is acquiring Santa Clara-based Rivos, a RISC-V chip startup backed by Intel’s Lip-Bu Tan, to strengthen its custom semiconductor work.
The deal will support Meta’s in-house Meta Training and Inference Accelerator (MTIA) chips, aimed at reducing reliance on Nvidia and cutting AI infrastructure costs.
Rivos, valued around $2B, has been one of Meta’s chip partners; the acquisition brings full-stack AI system expertise in-house.
YouTube settles Trump lawsuit for $24.5 million:
YouTube is paying $22 million to settle the lawsuit from Donald Trump over his account suspension, with the money funding construction of the White House State Ballroom through a nonprofit.
The settlement also includes payments of $2.5 million from the online video platform to a host of other Trump allies, including a specific payment to the American Conservative Union.
This follows similar legal settlements from other major tech companies, including a $25 million payment from Meta and another $10 million agreement reached with Elon Musk’s platform X.
LAST COFFEE SIP
☕ Other news
Spotify founder Daniel Ek is stepping down as CEO:
Spotify founder Daniel Ek is stepping down from the CEO role he has held since 2006, transitioning to become the music streaming company’s new executive chairman by year’s end.
The company is replacing him with two in-house co-CEOs: current co-presidents Gustav Söderström, the chief product and technology officer, and Alex Norström, the chief business officer.
Ek stated the new titles match how Spotify already operates, and his new focus will be on the company’s long-term direction while remaining deeply connected to the board..
HIRING ALERT: STARTUPS & VC ROLES
💼 Today’s VC & startup job opportunities
All-In-One VC Interview Preparation Guide: With a leading investors group, we have created an all-in-one VC interview preparation guide for aspiring VCs. Don’t miss this. (Access Here)
Partner 22 - a16z | USA - Apply Here
ESG Intern - ESG Enterprise | UK - Apply Here
Senior Associate, Vertical AI - Primary | USA - Apply Here
Investment Analyst - Capital Oven | India - Apply Here
Capital Formation Associate - B Capital Group | USA - Apply Here
Trade Operations Lead - Manhattan Venture Partner | USA - Apply Here
VP of Fundraising - Scale Asia Venture | Japan - Apply Here
Research Analyst - Positive Sum | USA - Apply Here
Fund Operations Associate - TNB Aura | Singapore - Apply Here
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