Weekly #FIRGUN Newsletter
As every Friday, it's my pleasure to share a weekly summary of the movers and shakers in Israeli tech and venture. If you're not yet subscribed, click the button get the next edition straight into your inbox.
"Firgun" (Hebrew: ??????/ pronounced 'feer-goon')?is an informal modern Hebrew term and concept in Israeli culture (originally Yiddish), which describes genuine, unselfish delight or pride in the accomplishment of the other person. It's the opposite of schadenfreude. More about Firgun and why it matters on?VC Cafe:?https://lnkd.in/dg2a86p
Naturally, I had to ask ChatGPT to help me with the definition of "Firgun" and how it's used in practice. Here's the answer:
"Firgun" is a Hebrew term that is often translated as "altruistic pleasure" or "kindness" or "generosity." It refers to the act of feeling happy or satisfied when others succeed or are fortunate, and is often used to describe a person who takes pleasure in the success or happiness of others. In practice, Firgun can be expressed in many ways, such as by offering congratulations, expressing appreciation, or by taking actions that help others achieve their goals. It is an important value in many cultures, and is particularly prevalent in Israeli culture.
So much happened since the last #Firgun newsletter that it's hard to keep track. Israel is current under rocket fire, so first and foremost, I wish everyone a peaceful and safe weekend. On the professional front, I've included a bunch of updates on the generative AI section below.
My quote of the week is:
"I believe that at the end of the century the use of words and general educated opinion will have altered so much that one will be able to speak of machines thinking without expecting to be contradicted." - Alan Turing
NEW INVESTMENT ROUNDS
- Congratulations? Amir Hever ?and team? UVeye ?on your $100M series D for automated vehicle-inspection systems!
- Mabruk? Yaron Shapira ?and team? 8fig ?on your $40M series B (and another $100M secured in debt financing) to help ecommerce sellers with financing powered by AI!
- Kudos? Ron Daniel ?and team? LIQUiDITY Group ?on your $40M funding extension to offer companies debt facilities!
- Well done? Tomer Federman ?and team? Firmbase ?on your $12M seed round to help FP&A departments build dynamic, flexible budgets with the power of AI forecasting!
- Great job? Amir Taichman ?and team? UnitySCM ?on raising $8M series A to help enterprises gain visibility and avoid disruption of their supply chains!
- Good stuff? Avi Muchnick ?and team? AB3.ai (formerly BurnerPage) ?on your $2M seed round to use generative AI to optimise web page conversion and drive more revenue!
- Way to go? Daniel Madrid ?and team? Dots.eco ?on coming out of stealth with $800K raised to date for your eco-driven reward system for companies!
- Is it too early to congratulate? Yaniv Bertele and team? Vesttoo ?on an undisclosed round at a $1.5 billion valuation? I'll wait for the confirmation in the news :-)
NEW FUNDS
- Big congratulations? Roy Geva Glasberg , Lee Moser and team AnD Ventures on the news of the completion of your $70M seed fund!
EXITS
- Well done Hagai Zyss and team Autotalks on the acquisition by 高通 for a reported $350M-$400M
- Chapeau Amit Shaked and team Laminar (acquired by Rubrik) on the rumoured acquisition for $200M-$250M - hope that closes!
- Congrats Hila Goldman-Aslan and team DiA Imaging Analysis - acquired by Philips on the undisclosed acquisition by 飞利浦
LINKS FOR YOUR BROWSER:
1)?Latest from?VC Cafe:
2)? Dan Siroker , the founder of Limitless , decided to pitch his new AI startup in public. 932 investors expressed interest. On April 14, he shared a?link?to an online form and asked investors to state “the highest amount you’re comfortable” paying between $200 million and $1 billion.?He got 170 offers and a $350M valuation...
3) Stable Diffusion, the open-source image generation technology was developed by Bj?rn Ommer, who leads the lab at Ludwig-Maximilians-Universit?t München and not Stability AI as most people assume... Sifted has more here and LMU blog adds colour to the research
4)?Generative AI continued to advance this week. A few interesting nuggets
HOUSEKEEPING
?? For those of you who are interested in generative AI, I created?a new Whatsapp Community?for more frequent updates - join the 200+ members before space runs out!
?? Please subscribe to my new?Youtube Channel?and?TikTok channel?- I post videos daily on Generative AI, startups and venture capital regularly
For example, 'how to pitch VCs in 2023' by Sundar Pichai
CHARTS OF THE WEEK
I like this chart by CB Insights - a Y Combinator generative AI thesis map
AI sentiment infographic (the richer the country, the more negative the sentiment more or less)
"Most people overestimate what they can do in one year and underestimate what they can do in ten years." - Bill Gates
That's all for this week! Keep on creating!
We have a lot to celebrate in our "small" community!
Eze Vidra
Head of Primary Markets - Israel, London Stock Exchange Group Plc
1 年Love this Eze Vidra ! You are certainly one of the most active ‘Mefargen’ consistently ‘taking actions that help others achieve their goals’! #dogoodandgreatthingawillhappen
Healthcare Innovator | Board Member | Advisor | Non-Profit | Servant Leader
1 年Always informative!
Founder, CEO at Unity SCM
1 年Thanks for the #firgun!
Managing Partner and Founder at AnD Ventures
1 年Thank you for the shoutout!
Technology Delivery | Mitigation | Innovation | TPRM | Global IT Enterprise | Integration | Change | GRC | Cyber | RFP | M&A | Diligence | Strategy | Transformation | Modernization
1 年I'd love to have the source link for the AI pitch video. It was so California.