Edith's Weekly Update - 24 Startups Raised $657M in Funding Last Week, Databricks announced DBRX, The Tomorrowland of Hong Kong Startups

Hello from Hong Kong!

Applications for?Topline,?Race Capital's?8-week?enterprise accelerator?is now closed.? Missed the deadline? Ping us direct at?[email protected] if you really really want to apply. We are conducting our?final round of interviews now!

P.S. Starting next week, I am going to send out this newsletter via Substack instead of Mailchimp. You may get a different look and feel of this newsletter. Stay tuned!

Here are a few great things to read/watch this week:

• ???DBRX?- Databricks announced DBRX, a new generative AI model, claiming it outperforms open-source models on benchmarks and has spent $10 million training DBRX. However, running DBRX requires at least 4 Nvidia H100 GPUs (costing thousands each) or 320GB of GPU memory. Databricks touts its $10 million investment but critics argue DBRX lags behind GPT-4 while lacking true open-source credentials. Read?and watch the?official announcement. ?
• ???American VCs Caught in the Scrum Over TikTok -?General Atlantic, SIG, and Sequoia Capital, three firms that have invested?in TikTok owner ByteDance, are now under heightened scrutiny from regulators. Read more on the?NY Times

• ???The Dao of Alibaba?- My friend Brian Wong was the first American and?the 52nd employee to join Alibaba Group. He is also the author of The Tao of Alibaba - the very first business book which?articulates how Alibaba built its unique culture. Brian first met Jack Ma and Joe Tsai when they first went to Silicon Valley pitching for funding in 1999. They didn’t raise a single dollar after meeting 30 VCs, but somehow they got Brian?to move to Hangzhou instead. It's a fun read. Check it out??? ?
• ???The Tomorrowland of Hong Kong Startup Events?- FoundersHK?Spring Social and Founder Forum last week was a huge success! Awesome photos and recap of what went down. ??? ?
• ???Techcrunch Early Stage?- I am excited to speak at?Techcrunch Early Stage?on April 25 in Boston.?Join me there!

This?week a total?of?24?startups?raised?$657M?in funding,?0?M&As:

• $234M?goes to?10 Enterprise?startups
• $11M?goes to?1 Web3/Crypto?startup
• $28.1M?goes to?2 FinTech?startups
• $5M?goes to?1 Legal Tech?startup
• $43M?goes to?2 Healthcare?startups
• $50M?goes to?1 BioTech?startup
• $6.2M?goes to?1 Network Hardware?startup
• $235M?goes to?2 Hardware?startups
• $5.3M?goes to?1 Environment?startup
• $13.9M?goes to?2 Energy?startups
• $25.5M?goes to?1 Other?startup

If you love this newsletter, ask your best friends to?sign up. Edith See more details below:

Funding (300 miles radius from Silicon Valley) Enterprise

• Observe (SaaS observability platform) raised $115M Series B?led by Sutter Hill Ventures
• Fieldguide (advisory and audit services AI platform) raised $30M Series B?led by Bessemer Venture Partners
• Skyflow (data privacy vault) raised $30M Series B?led by Khosla Ventures?
• TurbineOne (government machine learning) raised $15M Series A?led by Bessemer Venture Partners
• Activeloop (database for AI) raised $11M Series A?from Streamlined Ventures, Y Combinator, Samsung Next, Alumni Ventures, and Dispersion Capital
• Bedrock Security (big data security platform) raised $10M Seed?led by Greylock?
• Abstract Security (data streaming platform for security) raised $8.5M Seed?led by Crosslink Capital, Liquid 2 Ventures, Rally Ventures
• Foundational (data management platform) raised $8M Seed?led by Asymmetric Capital Partners, Gradient Ventures, Viola Ventures
• Ensis (proposal software for government contracts) raised $4M Seed?led by NextGen Venture Partners, Tau Ventures
• SydeLabs (AI security and risk management) raised $2.5M Seed?led by RTP Global

Web3/Crypto

• MyShell (Web3 AI platform) raised $11M Seed?led by Dragonfly

FinTech

• NewRetirement (financial planning platform) raised $20M Series A?led by Allegis Capital
• ValidMind (financial services risk management platform) raised $8.1M Seed?led by Point72 Ventures

Legal Tech

• OneNotary (online notarization provider) raised $5M Series A?led by Jackson Square Ventures

Healthcare

• Brightside Health (telemental healthcare platform) raised $33M Series C?led by Section 32
• Float Health (on-demand platform for in-home nurse care) raised $10M Series A?led by Canvas Ventures

BioTech

• Aeovian Pharmaceuticals (therapy for?genetic and age-related diseases) raised $50M Series A?led by Hevolution

Networking

• AirVine Scientific (indoor wireless system) raised $6.2M Series A?led by Crosslink Capital

Hardware

• Celestial AI (optical interconnect technology platform) raised $175M Series C?led by US Innovative Technology Fund
• Eliyan (GenAI chip) raised $60M Series B?led by Samsung Catalyst Fund, Tiger Global Management

Environment

• Circular (sustainable recycled materials sourcing platform) raised $5.3M Seed?from Maniv, Oxygea, and Eclipse

Energy

• EvoIOH (low-carbon hydrogen manufacturing platform) raised $20M Series A?led by Engine Ventures?
• Ionobell (silicon battery technology) raised $3.9M Seed?led by Dynamo Ventures

Other

• PipeDreams (HVAC roll up) raised $25.5M Series A?led by Canvas Ventures

IPO & M&A (300 miles radius from Silicon Valley) ?

• N/A

?? Startup Jobs

• By Company: Databricks, GoodNotes, Zeet, Polysign, Opaque, Lightning Labs, OtterTune, and more
• By Role: Engineering, Data Science, Product, Design, Operations, Finance, Legal, and more
• By Location: SF Bay Area, New York, London, and Remote

Browse more open roles across our portfolio at Race Capital's Portfolio Job Board.