Today's Venture Capital Pulse
Clip raises $500M to expand fintech platform
Mexican fintech Clip secured a $500 million funding round, lifting its valuation above $2.5 billion. The capital will fund the rollout of a consumer‑focused wallet and broaden its suite of financial‑services tools.
Also developing:
By the numbers: OpenAI raises $122B in private financing
VC10X - Top Decile Fund in Emerging-Tech - Jatin Desai, Managing Partner, Inflexor Ventures
In this episode, Jatin Desai, Managing Partner at Inflexor Ventures, explains why profitable giants like Meta and Amazon are executing "quiet layoffs" despite record earnings, attributing the trend to the Great AI Re‑allocation, a permanent Year of Efficiency, and lingering pandemic‑era hiring excesses. He highlights how AI is reshaping talent demand, pushing specialized skill sets while creating a talent surplus that fuels the startup ecosystem. Desai’s perspective as a top‑decile emerging‑tech investor underscores the strategic shift toward leaner operations and the opportunities this creates for agile, AI‑focused ventures.
From SaaS to AI: Keynote Tour & Meetups
Just finished keynoting at Canvas by Miro . My talk was all about transforming your company from SaaS to AI, and what a great crowd both IRL and online. Thanks to Andrey for the invite My next few events (if...
Fivetran‑dbt Merger: A Natural Evolution of Data Stack
Why was the Fivetran-dbt merger all but inevitable? Fivetran & dbt Labs announced their merger yesterday. The all-stock deal combines two companies into an entity approaching $600 million in ARR. The beauty of the modern data stack was the explosion...
How Founders Should Think About Runway: A Guide From Sequoia Capital
Sequoia Capital published guidance urging founders to treat runway as a dynamic strategic metric, not just cash divided by burn, recommending use of net cash (cash minus drawn debt) and monthly cash burn (cash in minus cash out) to get...
Save up to $624 on Your TechCrunch Disrupt 2025 Pass Before Prices Rise in Less than 4 Days
TechCrunch is offering significant discounts on passes for its annual Disrupt conference, with potential savings of up to $624 available until October 17 at 11:59 p.m. PT. Scheduled for October 27-29 in San Francisco, the event will host over 10,000...
Is AI Slowing Down? Nathan Labenz Says We're Asking the Wrong Question
In this episode, Nathan Labenz and a16z host Erik Torenberg examine whether AI progress is truly slowing or simply becoming less sensational, questioning the hype around a potential GPT‑5. They explore the current state of AI reasoning, automation, and the...
Battery‑Free Human Cooling Tech Secures $4.35M Seed
Always inspiring to see a founder step out to tackle a new challenge: from lab to commercialization; to realize a personal vision that could have global impact for our warming planet. Very happy that Granite Asia is on this exciting...
Know Buyers' Past Valuations to Set Realistic Expectations
In terms of valuation, it's important to consider a buyer's historical track record. Understanding how buyers have valued businesses in the past will give you clues to whether they're a value buyer or premium buyer. Also, in the event that...
Columbia CS Professor: Why LLMs Can’t Discover New Science
In this episode, Columbia computer‑science professor Vishal Misra explains why large language models, despite their rapid progress, are unlikely to generate truly novel scientific breakthroughs because they lack causal understanding and grounding in real‑world experimentation. He delves into why chain‑of‑thought...
Uncovering Who's Profiting Most From the AI Boom
"Who exactly is making money in AI?" with @HarryStebbings @rodriscoll + me https://t.co/DzkGrW3qMu
FleetWorks Secures $15M Series A, Accelerates Trucking Matchmaking
Congrats to @fleetworksai on their $15M Series A! FleetWorks matches truckers with cargo faster, automating the manual coordination that bogs down small carriers. They've onboarded 10k+ carriers & dozens of brokers (incl. Uber Freight) in just 6 months. https://t.co/t2YmM7YPrM
From Idea To Impact: How Gamma Is Redefining Presentations | Grant Lee
In this episode, Grant Lee, co‑founder and CEO of Gamma, explains how his AI‑driven design platform replaces traditional PowerPoint with an "anti‑PowerPoint" approach that makes product presentations irresistible and drives user adoption. He discusses the importance of building enduring businesses...
Existing Investors Face 90% Dilution After OpenAI’s Shift
10% for all existing investors together for OpenAI feels like brutal dilution Even if the IRR and absolute gains are still epic
OURA Secures $900M Funding, Hits $11B Valuation
It's official for OURA: • $11B valuation • New $900M in funding led by Fidelity Hard-earned success for a team that's on track for $1B in revenue this year, 2x'ing for the 2nd year in a row. The vision and execution from @ouraring...
20VC: Atlassian CEO on Why Everything Is Overvalued & Are We in an AI Bubble | Do Margins Matter &...
In this episode, Atlassian co‑CEO Mike Cannon‑Brookes argues that tech valuations are broadly inflated and questions whether we are in an AI bubble, while also examining how AI impacts margins, defensibility, and pricing models such as per‑seat licensing. He highlights...
Excellent Products Resist Easy Variation and Change
Good Products Are Hard to Vary. https://t.co/5EGzOpQ9xr
Reducto AI Secures $75M Series B Funding
Congrats to @reductoai on their $75M Series B! Reducto is the leading AI document intelligence platform, and has now processed over a billion pages for leading startups and global enterprises. Startups can get started with 15k in free credits at https://t.co/88zX5ajAId. https://t.co/DE51kgRs6w
Monitoring the Situation #3: Who Is Nick Land?
In this episode, a16z partners Erik Torenberg, Katherine Boyle, and Erin Price‑Wright interview Zach Dell, founder and CEO of Base Power, about the challenges and opportunities in home power generation, misconceptions around data‑center energy use, and strategies to modernize the...
Ergo Adds AI Layer to Transform Messy CRMs
Ergo (@joinergo) is building the AI layer Salesforce forgot to ship. They turn messy CRMs into reliable revenue engines for companies like @rhobusiness, @getdelve, and @WhopIO - updating data, surfacing at-risk deals, and delivering the insights GTM teams actually need. https://t.co/6sgtv7jZ8d
Europe’s Top Founders Champion Browsers for AI Agents
Europe has some of the best young founders in the world. They are hungrier, they are more ambitious and they are more talented than ever. Charles is one of the best of the best. LFG Europe 🚀
20VC Newsletter - 12th October 2025
Here are the transcripts and top takeaways from 20VC episodes released this last week.
Seeking Early-Stage Investors to Meet 5+ Founders Weekly
New experiment: Looking for early-stage investors that meet with 5+ founders/week. Reply here if you want to try the beta and I’ll DM you. :)
AI Assistants Boost Leads and Jobs for Home Services
Bravi (@BraviApp) is building AI voice & chat assistants for home service companies. Their platform helps installers & manufacturers capture every lead, respond instantly, and close more jobs. https://t.co/wwixfsipaX https://t.co/uIbSlD0B4W
E628 | EUCVC Summit 2025: Tanja Lind Melskens, Head of Corporate Strategy; M&A, Terma & Andreas: Defense, Disruption & Dual-Use:...
The post recaps the EUCVC Summit 2025 session with Tanja Lind Melskens on Europe’s defense, disruption and dual‑use innovation, and also highlights three recent podcast episodes – Kristaps Ronis discussing structured secondaries, Alper Oner and Enis Hulli on Turkey’s booming mobile‑gaming sector, and...
Protect Your Core: Focus Beats Equal‑Weight Distribution
Every business has one thing that makes everything else possible. Find it, and protect it with your life. The mistake most founders make is trying to give everything equal weight. Focus feels unfair because it is. But nothing compounds until...
Legal Micro‑dramas Surge when Success Finally Arrives
The Problem Folks Don’t Talk About Enough: The Stressful Legal Micro-Dramas That Come Just as Thing Start Getting Good When you’re building your B2B startup, you’re laser-focused on product-market fit, customer acquisition, and scaling your team. But there’s a hidden...
E626 | EUCVC Summit 2025: Nadia Carlsten, DCAI & Bjarke Sejersen, Go Autonomous: AI Factories in Practice
The post recaps several recent EUVC podcast episodes, from Nadia Carlsten and Bjarke Sejersen discussing how AI factories move from hype to operational practice, to Kristaps Ronis explaining structured secondaries as a way to give LPs liquidity without selling shares, Alper Oner...
Strong M&A Offers in Frothy Markets Rarely Improve Later
There are many good reasons to say “No” to a strong M&A offer. Many of our top leaders in tech had multiple M&A offers on the way at a small fraction of their current value. Ross Perot famously offered to buy...
Atlassian's CEO Champions Bold AI, Design over Data
So @Atlassian is on a fricking tear. In the last few months they have spent $1.6BN on M&A. - DX Labs: $1BN - The Broswer Company: $610M - Cycle: Undisclosed I think @mcannonbrookes is one of the most exceptional leaders in technology. The man has...
20Sales: Scaling Snowflake From $0-$3BN in ARR | Snowflake vs Databricks: My Biggest Lessons | Why Customer Success Is BS...
In this episode, former Snowflake CRO Chris Degnan walks through how he built the company’s sales organization from the ground up, detailing hiring strategies for sales leaders and the rapid scaling of a global team to over 6,000 reps. He...
Understanding Science: Why It Matters Beyond Academia
Tons of words have been written about the Trump Administrations war on Science in Universities. But few people have asked what, exactly, is science? How does it work? Who are the scientists? What do they do? And more importantly, why...
Founders Seek Control, Not Risk, Through Environment Creation
The myth is that founders chase risk. In truth, they chase control. The kind that only comes from creating the environment where their instincts can prove themselves. The rest is just entropy management dressed up as leadership.
E624 | EUCVC Summit 2025: Bodil Sidén, Kost Capital & Marika King, PINC: Feeding the World
The EUVC blog post recaps several recent podcast episodes from the EUCVC Summit 2025, spotlighting diverse venture themes—from Bodil Sidén and Marika King discussing global food‑security solutions, to Kristaps Ronis explaining how structured secondaries can give VCs liquidity without diluting control,...
AI Analyzer Instantly Scores Your Pitch Deck's Funding Odds
Don't go into fundraising ... in the dark Try the NEW SaaStr AI Pitch Deck Analyzer Find out in seconds: - Where you stand - Odds of getting funded - Where to improve your deck ...
Build Revenue First, Then Aim for Acquisition, Not VC
The smart move for founders isn't to raise venture capital, it's to build to a few million in revenue, and get acquired for a life changing amount.
E623 | EUCVC Summit 2025: Samuli Siren, Redstone: Mapping Startup Opportunities
In this EUVC podcast episode, Samuli Siren, founder and managing partner of Redstone, explains how the firm systematically maps emerging startup opportunities across Europe by combining sector‑level data, macro‑trend analysis, and network effects. He illustrates the approach with fintech, climate‑tech...
Automation Slashes Compliance Time and Consulting Costs
ComplyDo (@ComplyD0) automates how enterprises comply with hundreds of global regulations. Already used by leading global players to replace months of manual work, reduce consulting hours, and accelerate market access. Without a fleet of consultants. https://t.co/VpcLqrcbeT Congrats on the launch, @SchuhmannLeo, Moritz, and...
Vercel and Supabase: Lucrative Pre‑AI Infrastructure Essentials
Sometimes, the most straightforward, on-trend deals are the most lucrative. Vercel and Supabase, pre-AI infrastructure components, have become essential for building next-gen apps, riding the wave of growth. https://t.co/6tI8ChhNfe
Is Token Consumption Growth Slowing Down?
Philip Schmid dropped an astounding figure1 yesterday about Google’s AI scale : 1,300 trillion tokens per month (1.3 quadrillion - first time I’ve ever used that unit!). Now that we have three data points on Google’s token processing, we can chart...
Unreasonable Men Propel Change Beyond Boundaries
" All progress depends on the unreasonable man because the unreasonable man is the one who doesn't believe in boundaries and makes changes. Sometimes for the better, sometimes for the worse. But reasonable men live within boundaries. You need unreasonable men to...
Investor Updates Overdue? Pick a Funny Excuse Today
It’s October 12 If you haven’t gotten your investor updates out yet, that’s pretty bad, so do it today and blame: - A Solar Flare - Exhaustion From 12 Months of Straight 996 - The Fractional CFO You Hired Off LinkedIn - Spam Filters - Being...
E622 | EUVC Live Powered by Woven Capital at The Drop | Andreas Munk Holm: The Real Power Lies in...
The EUVC blog post showcases three recent podcast episodes that explore distinct venture‑capital themes: Kristaps Ronis explains how structured secondaries deliver liquidity without selling stakes, emphasizing DPI and timing; Alper Oner and Enis Hulli discuss Agave Games’ pivot from publishing to studio mode, illustrating...
Founders Panic as Rivals Fundraise at Half ARR
Founders when they see competitors raising another round at half the ARR: https://t.co/bVyXFoWmI0
Pre‑IPO Investing Goes Public, Yet US Blocks It
This feels like the future of pre-IPO startup investing @joinrepublic. $HOOD is doing this in public markets, but not currently allowed in the US. https://t.co/qimPUZinyA
Replay: How Daymond John Built FUBU
In this archival Masters of Scale episode, Reid Hoffman and Shark Tank star Daymond John dissect how John grew FUBU from a modest start into a global streetwear brand by forging authentic, community‑driven partnerships and leveraging cultural relevance. John highlights...
20VC: OpenAI's Multi $BN Deal with AMD | Polymarket, Vercel and Supabase Raise Mega Rounds | Does King Making Really...
The episode opens with a deep dive into OpenAI’s multi‑billion‑dollar partnership with AMD, a critique of Microsoft’s handling of the OpenAI relationship, and the headline announcements from OpenAI’s Developer Day. Harry then broadens the conversation, arguing that venture capital remains...
Key Questions to Diagnose Slowing Growth
"5 Questions to Ask When Growth Slows" https://t.co/hUTsdByjy0 https://t.co/Az0LupLabj
YC S17 Alum BillionToOne Files US IPO
YC S17 alum @BillionToOneInc files for US IPO: https://t.co/CGZdNBl3lQ
From DM Chats to $5B Valuation: Supabase’s Rise
supabase cto knows from dms in 2020 to 5bn valuation https://t.co/JgWT9AJfsW
Selective Small Teams Outperform Large Corporations
Paul Graham on why startup teams can outperform big companies: "small groups can be select." https://t.co/MP5mOZMkUf