Sourcery (11/6-11/10)

So long LA! OpenAI, Flexport, Palmer Luckey ☀️ Enable, Black Ore, Arch, Govly, Greenlite, Era, Forum, Betterleave, Ritual, Replit, Summer, Snaptrude, AppMap, Deepinfra, Ozone, Flip AI, Lunar.dev

Sharing some bittersweet news

This may come as a surprise given my very vocal admiration & support of Los Angeles, but “in a wild turn of events” this past weekend I moved out of LA.

It’s been a wonderful 2+ years living in such a vibrant, culturally diverse, and fun city. From being close to the beach, having consistently beautiful weather (except for that silly rainstorm called a ‘hurricane’), going to many concerts, comedy shows, outdoor activities, hikes, delicious healthy organic gluten-free vegan raw macro keto food (though I ended up pulling a contrarian move & converting back to meat 1yr-in after being vegan for 8yrs.. 😂), and even some tech events here & there (ehem Upfront Summit, shoutout to Kerry!).. it’s certainly been a wonderful experience! 

The growing tech ecosystem has been quite incredible to be a part of. There are many talented founders and investors building big things, and much more to come. The HardTech community is the real deal, and the El Segundo ‘tour’ is one I’d recommend. Anyways, if I had to place a bet on an emerging tech city it’d still be #LongLA - and it’s just the beginning!

As for where I’ve gone.. it’s north, but south, and still west. The first to guess it correctly gets a Sourcery hat. 

More to come on that in the coming weeks..

Musings

AI

• OpenAI DevDay, Opening Keynote, Sam Altman

• OpenAI’s Improved ChatGPT and Open-Source Models Gaining Performance Relative To Private Competitors, Ark Invest

• Dev-first software: How does software change if end-users can code? Peter Zakin

• Top 10 Trends for Data in 2024, Tomasz Tunguz

• OpenAI Updates + Datadog Gives the All-Clear? Jamin Ball

HardTech

• Chip War (with Chris Miller), Newcomer

  • Author of Chip War, about the rise of Nvidia, Miller talks through its history and the geopolitical war raging over the production of chips.

  • While OpenAI gets the lion’s share of the public adulation for the sudden excitement about generative intelligence, Nvidia’s H100 chips are powering much of the generative AI frenzy. Nvidia’s stock has climbed over 200% over the past 12 months. The company has become a key investor in generative AI startups.

• Ryan Petersen: Why Velocity not Speed is Most Important in Company Building, 20VC

  • Founder & CEO @ Flexport, a leader in global supply chain technology. In 2022, Flexport moved more than $26 billion of merchandise. Over the last 10 years, Ryan has raised close to $2.5BN for the business with the latest valuation pegging the business at $8BN. 

• Palmer Luckey On Military Defense, War In Israel, & U.S. Manufacturing, Pirate Wires

. . .

Last Week (11/6-11/10):

Relevant deals include the 60+ deals across stages below. 

I've categorized the deals below into five categories, FinTech, Care, Enterprise & Consumer, HardTech, and Sustainability, and ordered from later-stage rounds to early-stage rounds. Highlighted deals include Enable, Black Ore, Arch, Govly, Greenlite, Era, Forum, Betterleave, Ritual, Tabnine, Replit, Summer, Snaptrude, AppMap, Deepinfra, Ozone,  Flip AI, Lunar.dev, Polimorphic, Ghost, EarnBetter, May Mobility, Photonic, Sift, Davinci Micro Fulfillment, Coperniq; Modern Aviation, New Relic, Wonder/Blue Apron

Final numbers on Interest Rate Increases at the bottom.

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Deals 

Fintech:

- Enable, a San Francisco-based rebate management platform, raised $120 million in Series D funding. Lightspeed Venture Partners led the round and was joined by Menlo Ventures, Norwest Venture Partners, Insight Partners, and Sierra Ventures.

- Black Ore, an Austin, Texas-based AI platform for financial services, raised $60m co-led by Andreessen Horowitz and Oak HC/FT. https://axios.link/3sgAEoW

- Arch, a New York City-based management platform for private market investments, raised $20 million in Series A funding. Menlo Ventures led the round and was joined by Craft Ventures, Quiet Capital, Carta, Citi Ventures, GPS Investment Partners, and Focus Financial Partners. 

- Govly, a San Francisco-based platform designed to connect business owners with federal government contracts, raised $9.5 million in Series A funding. Insight Partners led the round and was joined by YCombinator, FundersClub, and NordicEye.

- Greenlite, an SF-based anti-money laundering startup, raised $4.8m in seed funding co-led by Greylock and YC, as first reported by Axios Pro. https://axios.link/3ucSJ7E

- Mogul, a Washington, D.C.-based real estate investment platform, raised $3.6m in seed funding led by AY Ventures, as first reported by Axios Pro. https://axios.link/49pxSyf

- Era, a San Francisco-based platform designed to make wealth management more accessible, raised $3.1 million in seed funding. Northzone led the round and was joined by Protagonist and Designer Fund. 

- Sock, an SF-based self-custodial investment app, raised $2.8m in seed funding. Haven Ventures led, and was joined by Designer Fund, Expansion, Spacecadet Ventures, Sunflower Fund and Olive Capital. www.sock.app

. . .

Care:

- Needed, a Los Angeles, Calif.-based company that develops nutrition products for prenatal care, raised $14 million in funding. The Craftory led the round and was joined by Seae Ventures and Crescent Ridge VC. 

- Forum, a New York City-based marketplace for peer support groups, raised $5.3 million in funding. NextView Ventures led the round and was joined by MBX Capital, Cue Ball Capital, Sahil Bloom of SRB Ventures, Romeen Sheth, Shaan Puri, and City Light Capital.

- Pathway, a Montreal, Canada-based platform where medical professionals can share knowledge, raised $5 million in seed funding. Yamaha Motor Ventures led the round and was joined by Verge HealthTech Fund and existing investors Amplify Capital, BoxOne Ventures, Formentera Capital, and others. 

- Heali, a Santa Monica, Calif.-based provider of personalized, therapeutic nutrition plans, raised $3 million in seed funding. Astanor Ventures led the round and was joined by others. 

- Betterleave, an Austin, Texas-based platform designed to improve access, experience, and outcomes of bereavement care, raised $2.4 million in funding. Chingona Ventures led the round and was joined by Bread and Butter Ventures, Vitalize VC, Wisdom Ventures Fund, Coyote Ventures, and AARP.

. . . 

Enterprise & Consumer: 

- Ritual, a global decentralized platform for AI, raised $25 million in funding. Archetype led the round and was joined by Accomplice and Robot Ventures. 

- Tabnine, a Tel Aviv, Israel-based company creating an AI-powered assistant for code developers, raised $25 million in Series B funding. Telstra Ventures led the round and was joined by Atlassian Ventures, Elaia, and others.

- Replit, an SF-based online integrated development environment, secured $20m from Craft Ventures via a tender offer for employee liquidity. www.replit.com

- Summer, a New York-based vacation home ownership platform, raised $18m co-led by QED Investors and Viola Group. It also secured a $50m loan from Setpoint Capital. https://axios.link/3u2EEKf

- Snaptrude, a New York City-based operating system designed to help architecture, engineering, and construction companies build efficient and sustainable buildings faster, raised $14 million in Series A funding. Foundamental and Accel led the round and were joined by Fortius Ventures.

- Dotwork, an Austin, Texas-based strategic alignment platform, raised $12 million in Series A funding from Jim Crane, Tim Arnoult, Hunter Nelson, and Steve Elliott.

- Ooodles, a London-based marketplace for companies to rent tech products, raised $12 million in funding. Smart Lenders Asset Management led the round and was joined by others.

- AppMap, a Boston, Mass.-based developer of code visualization and code review analysis technology, raised $10 million in funding from Work-Bench Ventures, Forgepoint Capital, Venture Guides, Unusual Ventures, and others. 

- DeepInfra, a Palo Alto, Calif.-based platform designed to help developers better integrate and execute AI models, raised $8 million in seed funding from A.Capital and Felicis.

- Risk Ledger, a London, U.K.-based cybersecurity provider for supply chains, raised £6.3 million ($7.8 million) in Series A funding. Mercia Ventures led the round and was joined by Seedcamp, Firstminute Capital, Episode 1, Village Global, and Finnish VC Lifeline Ventures.

- Ozone, an SF-based collaborative video editor, raised $7.1m in seed funding from YC, NEA, General Catalyst, LGVP, Bluewatch Ventures, Polymath Capital Partners, Pioneer Fund, SOMA Capital and Olive Tree Capital. https://axios.link/3QnehG4

- Flip AI, a San Francisco-based platform that uses a large language model to monitor the health of software systems, raised $6.5 million in seed funding. Factory led the round and was joined by Morgan Stanley Next Level Fund and GTM Capital.

- Lunar.dev, a Tel Aviv, Israel-based platform designed to provide organizations with complete oversight and control over their API usage, raised $6 million in seed funding. Uncork Capital led the round and was joined by existing investor Angular Ventures.

- Polimorphic, a New York City-based startup designed to digitize paperwork for local governments and their constituents through the use of AI, raised $5.6 million in funding. M13 led the round and was joined by Shine Capital and Pear VC.

- Ghost Autonomy, a Mountain View, Calif.-based developer of autonomous car technology, raised $5 million from the OpenAI Startup Fund. 

- Tidal Cyber, a Baltimore, Md.-based cybersecurity platform designed to protect companies from cyber attacks that are specifically relevant to their industries, raised $5 million in seed funding. Squadra Ventures led the round and was joined by existing investors. 

- EarnBetter, a Lafayette, Calif.-based AI-powered job search assistant that can rewrite resumes, draft cover letters, and find jobs, raised $4.5 million in seed funding from Andreessen Horowitz, Abstract Ventures, and others.

- Protecto, a San Francisco-based data privacy platform, raised $4 million in seed funding. Together Fund led the round and was joined by ​​Better Capital, FortyTwo VC, Arali Ventures, and Speciale Invest.

- Integration.app, a Boston, Mass.-based integration stack for SaaS products, raised $3.5 million in seed funding. Crew Capital and Cortical Ventures led the round and was joined by Seedcamp, Accel Starters, DataRobot, and others. 

- Pioneer, a San Francisco-based AI-powered service designed to help companies discover, access, and manage government incentives, raised $2.9 million in seed funding. Blue Bear Capital led the round and was joined by Collaborative Fund, Soma Capital, Cool Climate Collective, and Kayan Ventures. 

. . .

HardTech:

- May Mobility, an Ann Arbor, Mich.-based developer of technology for autonomous vehicles, raised $105 million in Series D funding. NTT Group led the round and was joined by Toyota Ventures, Aioi Nissay Dowa Insurance Company, and others. 

- Photonic, a Canadian quantum computing startup, raised US$140m from Microsoft, British Columbia Investment Management Corp, U.K. National Security Strategic Investment Fund, Inovia Capital, Yaletown Partners and Amadeus Capital Partners. https://axios.link/40vS6SO

- Niron Magnetics, a Minneapolis, Minn.-based manufacturer of permanent magnets for computers, appliances, automobiles, and other machines, raised $33 million in funding from GM Ventures, Stellantis Ventures, Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community, and others.

- Talus Renewables, an Austin, Texas-based renewable energy infrastructure company, raised $22 million in Series A funding. Material Impact and Xora Innovation led the round and was joined by Cavallo Ventures and Rice Investment Group.

- Sift, a Los Angeles, Calif.-based startup developing tools to help hardware companies get to market, stay under budget, and avoid preventable errors, raised $7.5 million in funding from Riot Ventures, Fika Ventures, and others. 

- Ridepanda, an SF-based provider of e-bike/scooter subscriptions as employee benefits, raised $7.5m in equity and debt funding. Blackhorn Ventures and Yamaha Motor Ventures co-led, and were joined by Proeza Ventures, Porsche Ventures, Oyster Ventures, Somersault Ventures, General Catalyst and Urban Us Capital. www.ridepanda.com

- Davinci Micro Fulfillment, a New York City-based provider of e-commerce merchandising and one to two-day parcel delivery services, raised $3 million in seed funding from Las Olas Venture Capital, Venture 53 Fund and Accelerator, and Silicon Road Ventures.

. . .

Sustainability:

- Coperniq, a San Francisco-based workflow software designed for solar and energy contractors, raised $4 million in seed funding. Initialized Capital led the round and was joined by others.

- Rainbow Weather, a Lemesos, Cyprus-based app designed to provide precise weather forecasting through the use of AI, raised $1.5 million from Kolos Ventures, Verras Capital, and Melnichek Investments, and others. 

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Acquisitions & PE: 

- Apollo acquired a majority stake in Modern Aviation, a New York City-based chain of fixed base operator locations that provide aeronautical services at airports, from Tiger Infrastructure Partners. Financial terms were not disclosed. 

- Francisco Partners and TPG took New Relic, a San Francisco-based software observability platform, private for approximately $6.5 billion.

- Palo Alto Networks (Nasdaq: PANW) agreed to buy Talon Cyber Security, an Israeli secure enterprise browser provider, for a reported $625m. Talon had raised over $140m from firms like Evolution Equity Partners, Ballistic Ventures, CrowdStrike, Merlin Ventures, SYN Ventures, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Sorenson Ventures and Team8. https://axios.link/40pjLoC

- Wonder, a cloud kitchen and food delivery company that recently agreed to buy Blue Apron, raised $100m in strategic funding from Nestlé. https://axios.link/470jSJv

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Funds:

- Craft Ventures, a San Francisco-based venture capital firm, raised $712 million for its fourth fund focused on early-stage B2B software companies and $608 million for its second growth fund focused on B2B software companies. 

- 01 Ventures, a London, U.K.-based venture capital firm, raised $395 million for its third fund focused on Series B-stage companies.

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Serious interest

‍Although likely not enough to offset the rising cost of living, you may have noticed a few extra dollars in your savings account each month, as interest rate rises begin to trickle through to higher savings.

‍Warren Buffett certainly has noticed: his sprawling conglomerate, Berkshire Hathway, is sitting on a cool $157 billion of cash and cash equivalents, the highest figure ever recorded by the company. In the days of near-zero interest rates, that didn’t mean much — but, in the most recent quarter, that cash pile bolstered income by $1.7 billion, with most of this being lent to the US government via short-term treasuries.

‍Saving up for something good‍

‍Berkshire is America’s seventh-largest company; an expansive industrial giant with businesses in insurance, railways, energy, manufacturing, retailing… and an enormous portfolio of investments in companies including Apple, American Express, Coca-Cola, Bank of America, and more.

Still led by the dynamic duo of Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger, who are 93 and 99 years old, respectively, modern Berkshire remains an outlier in corporate America — an empire built through prudent dealmaking and investing over more than 60 years. At the moment, Buffett and Munger seem content to do something that’s often hard for prolific dealmakers: sit tight, keep their financial powder dry, and wait for an opportunity.

The material presented on Molly O’Shea’s website are my opinions only and are provided for informational purposes and should not be construed as investment advice. It is not a recommendation of, or an offer to sell or solicitation of an offer to buy, any particular security, strategy, or investment product. Any analysis or discussion of investments, sectors or the market generally are based on current information, including from public sources, that I consider reliable, but I do not represent that any research or the information provided is accurate or complete, and it should not be relied on as such. My views and opinions expressed in any website content are current at the time of publication and are subject to change. Past performance is not indicative of future results.