So long, spring break, how we wish you were . . . longer. (Yes, we've been writing this from the beach all week. We regret nothing.) We're looking forward to seeing many of you back in SF on Thursday night, April 30th, for our first StrictlyVC Insider evening of the year — and if you'd rather meet us somewhere even sunnier, we'll be in Athens in late May. - CL |
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Top News |
A suspect has been charged for throwing a Molotov cocktail at Sam Altman’s home and making threats outside OpenAI’s San Francisco headquarters. Wired has more here. |
This past Tuesday, Scott Bessent and Jerome Powell summoned Wall Street CEOs to an urgent meeting over fears that Anthropic’s latest model could enable a new wave of cyberattacks. Bloomberg has more here. |
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Harmonic |
Market maps, competitive analysis, fundraising and ARR projections. |
All in one conversation. |
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PSA: If You Use the Meta AI App, Your Friends Will Find Out and It Will Be Embarrassing |
 | Image Credits: Aleksandar Nakic / Getty Images |
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By Amanda Silberling |
Meta released its new Muse Spark AI model on Wednesday as part of a major overhaul of its AI efforts. It’s do-or-die time for Meta — the company cannot afford investing billions of dollars again into something that doesn’t pan out, like the metaverse. Well, maybe they literally can afford it, but it’d be pretty damaging, not to mention embarrassing. |
Speaking of embarrassing: Imagine a bunch of your friends, family, and strangers you met once in college getting a notification that you use the Meta AI app. I have lived this humiliation, and I am here to warn you that it could happen to you, too. |
Meta’s Muse Spark model might be new, but the Meta AI app is not. It came out last April, and at the time, I wrote an article about the app’s launch. As one does when reporting on an app, I downloaded the app. I used it. |
At some point, Meta started sending people Instagram notifications about which of their friends were using the Meta AI app, presumably to encourage them to download it. It has been almost a year. I continue to get texts from my friends in which they alert me that Instagram told them I am on the Meta AI app. This is generally considered to be uncool behavior. |
 | Image Credits: TechCrunch |
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In its first month and a half in the App Store, only 6.5 million people had downloaded the app, market intelligence provider Appfigures told us at the time. That’s a lot of people, but not for a company that counts an estimated 42% of the entire world as daily users of at least one of its apps. |
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Massive Fundings |
Elorian, a one-year-old Palo Alto startup that builds AI models that understand and reason about images for applications in robotics, engineering, and design, raised a $55 million seed round at a $300 million valuation. Striker Ventures, Menlo Ventures, and Altimeter co-led the deal, with Nvidia and Jeff Dean also joining in. More here. |
ShengShu, a three-year-old Beijing startup that builds AI models that simulate and predict real-world environments from video and sensory data, raised a $293 million round led by Alibaba, with Baidu Ventures and TAL Education also pitching in. CNBC has more here. |
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Big-But-Not-Crazy-Big Fundings |
Juno, a three-year-old San Diego startup that extracts data from tax documents and prepares returns for accountants while flagging issues for review, raised a $12 million seed round led by Bonfire Ventures, with Impression Ventures and X Fund also taking part. Crunchbase News has more here. |
Luminai, a six-year-old San Francisco startup that automates administrative workflows for health systems including billing, claims processing, and insurance paperwork, raised a $38 million Series B round led by Peak XV Partners, with Define Ventures as well as previous investors General Catalyst and Y Combinator also contributing. The company has raised a total of $60 million. MobiHealthNews has more here. |
Packz, a New York startup founded this year that allows users to open virtual card packs and either receive the physical trading cards or sell them back for cash, raised a $10.7 million round. Investors included Makers Fund, The Raine Group, Courtside Ventures, Sharp Alpha Advisors, and RiverPark Ventures. Betting Startups News has more here. |
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Smaller Fundings |
Blocks, a one-year-old Berlin startup that uses AI to monitor and optimize cloud spending for startups, raised a $6 million pre-seed round led by Speedinvest, with Caesar Ventures also participating. The AI World has more here. |
Sigma Automate, a seven-year-old Atlanta startup that automates IT operations, security, and infrastructure management through a no-code workflow platform, raised a $2.8 million round. Glasswing Ventures was the deal lead. SiliconANGLE has more here. |
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Fidelity — Your Pitch Isn’t the Only Thing Investors Are Evaluating. |
Investors don’t just listen to what you say - they look at how your company operates. Is ownership clear? Do your numbers match your story? Can you answer follow-up questions without digging through spreadsheets? The Fundraise-Ready Startup Kit equips founders with the materials investors expect to see, before pressure is on. Because confidence in the room doesn’t come from slides. It comes from preparation. |
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Exits |
Cisco is reportedly considering paying $250 million to $350 million for Astrix Security, a five-year-old Tel Aviv startup that helps organizations detect and secure non-human identities like API keys, service accounts, and machine credentials. The Information has the scoop here. |
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Going Public |
SpaceX may allow insiders to sell shares immediately after its IPO, a move that could weaken key investor protections by making it harder for retail buyers to sue over misleading disclosures. The Financial Times has more here. |
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People |
OpenClaw creator Peter Steinberger said Anthropic briefly banned his access to Claude over “suspicious” activity before quickly restoring it in the latest flare-up between the company and third-party agent tools. TechCrunch has more here. |
Peter Hoeschele, Shamez Hemani, and Anuj Saharan — three of the senior executives who helped launch OpenAI's Stargate data center initiative — are all departing the company and apparently heading to the same yet-unnamed new venture. The Information has more here. |
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Post-Its |
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Essential Reads |
OpenAI is backing an Illinois bill that would shield AI companies from liability in cases where their models are used to cause mass deaths or major financial damage as long as they didn’t intentionally or recklessly enable that harm. Wired has more here. |
The CIA is embedding AI “co-workers” across its analytic platforms to help draft intelligence reports, test conclusions, and spot trends, as it leans on the technology to speed up and sharpen analysis of foreign threats. Politico has more here. |
Mubi saw growth stall and subscribers fall after a $100 million investment from Sequoia Capital sparked a backlash over the firm’s ties to Israel. The Wall Street Journal has more here. |
A growing body of research suggests that even short “digital detoxes” can significantly improve attention and mental health, with one study finding that two weeks of reduced phone use produced cognitive gains equivalent to reversing a decade of age-related decline. The Washington Post has more here. |
A startup founder sparked backlash after praising an employee for responding to a Slack message on their wedding day, reigniting debate over “always-on” work culture before later apologizing. Business Insider has more here. |
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Detours |
BuzzBallz — the fluorescent, billiard-ball-shaped cocktails that have become Gen Z's drink of choice — are raising eyebrows among parents. |
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