From SpaceX engineer to VC

Quick Hits

3 > 2: Dresden debuts robot conductor.

Cable news: Google charts Italian fiber.

Cease and desist: NYT to Perplexity.

Extended clips: Adobe debuts AI video creation.

‘Interconnected AI’: Debate Swarms OpenAI.

New vision: Stem cells restore monkey sight.

Nuclear ambition: Google plans mini reactors.

Robot ruse: Tesla caught with dummies.

Satellite surge: Africa’s space race.

Second wind: $1B+ for early stage tech.

Space lasers: NASA breaks distance record.

Social profiling: IG launches profile card.

Stable state: Brazil regulates stablecoins.

Talent shift: Microsoft VP jumps to OpenAI.

Talking dinos: AI voices Brit museum dodos.

TCG theft: Pokémon target of data leak.

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AI heats up data cooling

The market for data centers and tech to keep them running will double by 2030 to support AI growth. “Whenever you have such an obvious problem in supply and demand, it’s natural you will see a lot of entrepreneurs eager to tackle the issue from different angles,” one investor says.

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Spain’s data center conquest

Financial giant Blackstone joins Microsoft and Amazon in investing billions to build eastern Spain data centers. So far 19 data projects have been submitted for approval.

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AI eats the cloud

Rising cloud investment comes with a caveat: GenAI startups receive 40% of all VC funds that go to cloud companies. “AI is sucking the air out of the room,” one analyst says.

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European founders incorporate

Founders of European tech companies, including Stripe, are joining forces with VCs to create “EU Inc” to promote innovation and de-fragment funding across the continent.

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From SpaceX engineer to VC

A former SpaceX engineer and exec are teaming up with a Sequoia veteran to launch a $500M deep tech fund.

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Weekly Pulse

Poll of the week

Startup We Love: MealMe

Why we love it: Makes it possible to embed commerce in any app.

Recently funded and growing fast, San Francisco-based MealMe allows any company to embed checkout on their site or app. Their platform-agnostic APIs and SDKs provide access to 100M+ products from 1M+ stores | Apply now

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Recently funded companies

U.S.

Colorado-based Fortius Metals Raises $2M for Metal 3D Printing

Strella Raises $4M for AI-Powered Job Interviews

California’s Early Technologies Raises $5M for GenAI Code Testing

Seattle’s Live Aware Labs Raises $4.8M for Gamer Feedback

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India

Tablesprint Raises $1M for No-Code App Development

Elixia Robotics Raises $1M for Logistics Automation

Perceptyne Raises $3M Seed for Robotics Automation

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Middle East

Saudi Arabia's UMX Raises $4.5M for Mobile Game Dev

Israel's Lidwave Raises $10M Seed for Lidar Technology

Israel's Monogoto Raises $27M for IoT Connectivity

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Europe

Germany's Beyond Presence Raises $3.1M for Hyper-Realistic Avatars

France's Gladia Raises $16M for Multilingual AI Transcriptions

Munich-based OroraTech Raises $27M for AI Wildfire Detection

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Africa

Kenya's Octavia Carbon Raises $4M for Direct Air Capture

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What we're reading

Why Lifetime Value is Relevant Again in Software (Tomasz Tunguz)

OpenAI says ChatGPT treats us all the same (most of the time) (MIT)

It Seemed Like an AI Crime-Fighting Super Tool. Then Defense Attorneys Started Asking Questions (Wired)

They’re called “Podcasts” (The Verge)

OpenAI Could Be a Force for Good if It Can Answer These Questions First (NYT)

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Post of the week

Podcast of the Week

Ramp CEO Eric Glyman - The Hidden Incentives Shaping Banking and Fintech (World of DaaS)

FlashBack: How to Ask the Big Questions with Mateo Jarmillo of Form Energy (For Starters with Alexa von Tobel)

AI Art, Young Founders and Disrupting Higher Education ("The Riff" with Bryne Hobart and Erik Torenberg)

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? Startups hiring now

Sigma Computing: SaaS, next-generation business intelligence and data exploration platform | 42 open roles

Upside: A two-sided marketplace for people & businesses | 28 open roles

Nayya: The Personalized Benefits Experience Your Employees Deserve | 7 open roles

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