?? Welcome to Startup Spotlight ?? - Vol. 35

Join me on a thrilling journey through the dynamic world of venture capital and startups with Startup Spotlight, your insider's guide to the latest developments, news, and insights shaping the entrepreneurial landscape. Let's explore the pulse of innovation as we uncover emerging trends, success stories, and disruptive startups revolutionizing industries and our lives.

?? What's New This Week ??

Generative AI startup Writer inks $1.9B valuation

San Francisco-based?Writer?locked up a $200 million Series C co-led by?Iconiq Growth,?Premji Invest?and?Radical Ventures?that values the enterprise-focused generative AI platform at $1.9 billion. The new valuation is a nice uptick from the $500 million the company was valued at last year.

Chaos Industries Locks Up $145M Series B As Defense Tech Continues To Heat Up

Defense and critical infrastructure tech startup?Chaos Industries?raised $145 million in a Series B led by?Accel. The company is just the latest VC-backed defense tech firm to see big money. Chaos’ Vanquish radar provides early warning and tracking capabilities against unmanned aerial systems, missiles and aircraft.

The most-active US startup investors in October

October turned out to be a pretty busy month for many of the big names in venture investing and was led again by?Andreessen Horowitz.

Oracle, Freshworks and more add to tech layoffs tally

Last week may have been?a slow one for funding news, but it wasn’t on the layoffs front, with companies from SaaS behemoth?Oracle?to help desk platform?Freshworks?trimming headcount.

Last week’s 5 biggest funding rounds

The spotlight of last week was the election — and likely because of that, very few companies announced funding rounds for fear of being overshadowed. However, we did compile a small top five list of deals that were announced.

?? Emerging Trends ??

AI, energy and data centers drive October funding surge

The bump in venture funding last month was driven by large funds leading supergiant rounds in capital-intensive businesses in areas such as artificial intelligence, data centers and energy.

Megadeals on the rise despite venture slowdown

Even as the venture market?continues to recalibrate, megadeals have made a significant comeback. Per?The Crunchbase Megadeals Board, nearly 240 rounds of $100 million or more have been announced by U.S.-based startups so far in 2024 — the number already topping the 210 rounds raised all of last year.

AI Startups Raise Total of $12 Billion in Third Quarter

Venture capitalists continue to pour billions into artificial intelligence startups, with AI firms raising a record $53 billion year-to-date despite market volatility. This trend is exemplified by VanEck's launch of a $30 million AI-focused venture fund and legal tech startup EvenUp's recent $135 million Series D round, highlighting the sustained investor confidence in AI's transformative potential across various sectors.

A look at AI funding by stage

The third quarter was the second-largest for AI funding ever — with a whopping $19.1 billion raised. However, the numbers also showed deal flow in Q3 dipped to under 1,000 rounds for the first time since?ChatGPT?launched — falling 33% from last year. Where did deal volume fall short?

??? Startup Strategy ???

How to speed up an M&A deal

If an M&A deal drags on beyond six months, it becomes more likely to fall apart with each passing day. But going too fast means you risk not doing due diligence. So how can buyers and sellers speed up an M&A deal so everything moves efficiently and all parties are left satisfied?

?? Reflections and Insights ??

Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky on the gospel of Steve Jobs and what founder mode really means

This article contains a transcript of an interview with Airbnb cofounder and CEO Brian Chesky, who made a lot of waves earlier this year when he started talking about something called 'founder mode'. Chesky spends a lot of time specifically obsessing over company structure and decision-making. In the interview, Chesky talks about founder mode and what he thinks it means. Founder mode isn't about micromanagement or pure swagger - good leaders need to get into the details while still delegating and trusting their teams to make decisions independently of them.

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