Know What's Happening in Venture Capital
Know What's Happening in Venture Capital
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EMAIL DIGESTS
Daily
Every morning
Weekly
Tuesday recap
Mistral secures $830M debt raise, the largest European generative‑AI financing
Mistral raised $830 million in debt financing to build its first AI data centre, marking the biggest single funding round for a European generative‑AI firm. The capital will fund the construction of a dedicated AI data centre to support its model‑training workloads.
Also developing:
By the numbers: St Barbara lands $333M strategic investment
January Ventures co‑founder Jennifer Neundorfer told TechCrunch’s Equity podcast that in the crowded AI‑driven market, investors are looking for founders who use AI to create entirely new experiences or workflows rather than incremental improvements. She emphasized the need for clear differentiation and the ability to articulate why a startup’s approach and team are unique amid growing founder fatigue. Neundorfer warned of an upcoming market correction that will weed out many over‑funded AI startups, leaving only those that can define new categories and anticipate future customer needs. She also highlighted her background at YouTube and 21st Century Fox and her mentorship role at Techstars, noting over 50 investments at January Ventures.
When is OpenAI going to IPO? And how much will it cost? PLACE YA BETS! In this brand new TWiST clip, me and Alex Wilhelm revisit their ongoing wager about OpenAI’s public offering, and check in on how things are...
Why the Mega Funds are Focused on Capital Velocity: "The North Star for @generalcatalyst @lightspeedvp is investment velocity. Talk to the principles and Jr Partners at these firms.... It does not matter what @ravi_lsvp @htaneja are saying; when you are writing $BN...
TRIP, a New York‑based drinks brand that markets calming beverages and supplements, secured $40 million in a funding round backed by celebrities Joe Jonas, Alessandra Ambrosio, Paul Wesley, Ashley Graham and consumer fund Coefficient Capital. The capital will be used to scale operations, broaden...
What exactly IS Product Market Fit? And how do you know when you have it? Alex Wilhelm favorite way to define PMF: “You don't have true product market fit until it feels like you're wearing a meat suit in a...
AI B2B companies do need sales teams. Almost all of them. The question is just … how large of a sales team? It’s a question no one fully questioned until recently. But now founders & CEOs are asking: - is...
In this SaaStr AI episode, Jason Lemkin highlights Carta’s data showing AI engineers’ equity grants soaring up to 40% while salary growth remains modest, driven by an "AI or Die" mindset, big‑tech poaching, and perceived massive upside. He warns founders...
Sometimes the most impactful synergies are not that obvious. We once kicked off a process selling a company to a major strategic buyer, with the initial thesis that the company's product represented a potential upsell opportunity. Further into the process,...
Today we are excited to announce that we are promoting Guy Wuollet (@guywuolletjr) to General Partner. We first met Guy in 2018 while he was studying computer science at Stanford, where he also rowed varsity crew. He initially joined the firm...
Sapphire Sport, the sports‑media‑entertainment venture fund of Sapphire Ventures, is spinning out and rebranding as independent firm 359 Capital. The new firm inherits the fund’s $300 million in assets under management, including a $181 million second fund that is halfway deployed, and will...
The Biggest Investing Lesson from Peter Thiel: "Peter creates incentive structures to test the conviction level of partners. For example, you can personally invest alongside the fund in a deal you are leading. If you do not, he will ask, do...
Today, legal software @goclio announces a round at $5B and presentation software @GammaApp at $2.5B valuations What do they have in common? Both were around well before the AI Era. Clio in 2008, Gamma in 2020. Being “AI Native” is critical to...
In this episode, Howard Lerman reflects on the challenges of launching a second venture after Yext’s success, describing how he founded Roam as an AI‑augmented "Office of the Future" that lets people work from anywhere. He discusses the solitude that...
I have invested $200M into the UK in the last five years. If @RachelReevesMP implements “Exit Tax” all that funding will go overnight. That is countless jobs, companies and people who will lose out. Rachel, you have managed to steal our...
Huge congrats to Root Ventures, such a great team of hacker founder engineer investors - the best kind
In this episode, Benchmark GP Ev Randle argues that traditional profit margins matter less for AI startups, emphasizing growth, data advantage, and network effects over short‑term profitability. He warns that mega‑funds will struggle to deliver strong returns because capital scarcity...
The best VCs remember: at 22 y.o., not knowing it's impossible *is* the superpower; those founders could be very right.
Latest investment revealed from Lux Majestic Labs with $100M💰––from the team that ran silicon at Meta + Google... ...🧠💻1,000x the MEMORY of typical enterprise server
Startups can attract top talent despite being unable to match big‑tech salaries by adopting generous, fair, and flexible equity‑centric compensation frameworks, as discussed by founders and investors at TechCrunch Disrupt 2025. Pulley’s CEO Yin Wu advocates offering equity in the...
Forge (https://t.co/M1ZPbDXxAm) turns dumb, human-programmed industrial welding robot arms into autonomous members of the workforce, enabling manufacturing companies to automate much more of the human tasks in the fabrication process. https://t.co/zUOu2hzYkg
Five minutes before the deadline, @itsCathyDi applied to YC with @dedaluslabs. Months later, she's now running a company that's just raised $11M. The deadline to apply for the winter batch is tonight at 8pm PT - there's still time to get...
EXCLUSIVE: Root Ventures Raises $190 Million Fourth Fund for Early Bets on Wonky Startups https://t.co/9yvP8hW7oF
PSA for Startups: Every new funding round raises the bar for your outcome. That’s why the news mostly excites investors. They just got a markup or won the deal. For everyone on the team, it’s a reminder that expectations just went...
The surest way to break into VC isn't asking your favorite VC for ☕. It is advising and referring founders who become 🦄 a few years later.
What Makes @peterfenton So Good? " Peter does an amazing job following his founder conviction. He doesn't think about stages. When he finds a @howietl @btaylor that's what guides him." @EverettRandle What have been your biggest lessons from working with Peter @howietl...
Big fan of AI plays like this. Vertical AI SaaS built for travel customer experience. > $345k TTM revenue > $265k TTM profit > 300% YoY growth High-margin + Lean ops Check out listing @acquiredotcom: https://t.co/W8PNmLJqTD https://t.co/xuUCVn0BpK
When it comes to AI, most firms are flying blind. But @getlaurel was built to show how people REALLY spend time, turning invisible work patterns into data that leaders can act on. Their latest report has the receipts ↓ https://t.co/0EQksPzRDU
At @FortuneMagazine Global Forum, I shared about my ~$1M “overpayment” to help start @weareangelcity in 2020. Now, @NWSL expansion fees are ~$150M. That's a 150x return in 5 years. Billion-dollar women’s teams are coming soon. I hope @ChelseaFCW is one of...
Scoop uses AI agents to speed up drug trials, starting with IND filings. They automate this entire process, transforming scientific data into continuously updated regulatory documents ready for submission— compressing what used to take months into days. https://t.co/DiztbjPdiq
We help 2–3 founders get acquire’d every day on @acquiredotcom. Life changing moments for everyone involved. Pretty awesome to see it happen daily.
Exonic (@exonicai) is crowdsourcing drug discovery. By bringing biological AI and wet lab access to users around the world, Exonic is the first internet-native drug discovery company. Congrats on the launch, @thebrimacombe! https://t.co/d5EANW135H https://t.co/lHOPjDzvZh
this is a great piece that captures the current love affair that western startups and even some bigger companies have with chinese ai the models are intelligent, accessible, and open weight turns out some of your fav sf startups are built on...
The deadline to apply for the winter batch is tomorrow, November 10th, at 8pm PT! All you need is an idea: https://t.co/9hUZ0buEiU https://t.co/CNdCJWqtU7
This week we’ll cross 2,000 (!) VC Pitch Decks reviewed for FREE on SaaStr AI Try it here -> https://t.co/hVolcGvbUt - Real time scoring - Real time valuation based on 5,000+ rounds - Exact odds of funding based on top VC rounds this...
A margin this high for a task and workflow SaaS is insane. Live on @acquiredotcom: > $423k TTM revenue > $384k TTM profit > 5,000+ paying customers 20+ years in the market. Near zero overhead. Full listing here: https://t.co/Bu8ma6ccSD https://t.co/Y2sadhLoRe
Kestrel (@kestrel__ai) is the agentic platform that unifies Kubernetes ops & security, replacing manual triage and on-call firefighting with autonomous investigations and one-click fixes. https://t.co/rcusxrmmmP Congrats on the launch, @ramanv_ & @Evanj80! https://t.co/i8lW9R9nAj
One market I cannot figure out in a world of AI is customer support. You have: Sierra Decagon GigaML Parloa Forethought Kore Cresta All of these have raised over $100M. and then oldies like Intercom Zendesk Help me out, how does this market shake out?
For those wondering the LP sentiment @MeghanKReynolds does a great job explaining… 👇
Norra combines real-time tracking and AI to give nursing facilities the operational intelligence they've never had. No more overpurchasing or scavenger hunts, just instant answers, streamlined operations, and lower rental spend. https://t.co/lVxWk71pgk https://t.co/yNQSy8ERfV
A VP mis-hire is always tough. A VP Sales mis-hire can set you back a year in sales. A VP Marketing mis-hire can lead you down massive time and money ratholes that don’t get you any more customers. But,...
If judged based on consumer adoption, AI chatbots are the most popular technology ever. If judged based on poll numbers, they are the least popular. How to explain this? A big part of it is the Doomer Industrial Complex —...
Founders, for the love of God; send investor updates. 1. Leverage them for help with customer intros, hires and fundraises. 2. Use them to create excitement and conversation about you in market. 3. Because these people have trusted you and...
Christopher Lier built LeadGen App as an internal tool. Turned it into a SaaS, grew it with SEO, and never raised a dollar. When he sold on @acquiredotcom, he knew what his startup was worth and waited for the right buyer...
.@sauravml was studying CS at UIUC just a few months ago, surrounded by cornfields and lecture halls. Now he's in San Francisco building Fleetline, a place where being ambitious and taking risks feels completely normal. Anyone can make that leap. https://t.co/gNl84ElBrq https://t.co/DQ43vW8HGW
Many startup founders claim they are building something nobody else sees yet, but their pitch deck comp landscape slide has 7 companies doing the exact same thing. Easy fix: remove this slide from your pitch deck.
I love when founders turn passion projects into profitable businesses. A Shopify brand built for vets and healthcare pros. > $142K TTM revenue > $130K TTM profit > 17% YoY growth > Low overhead Full listing on @acquiredotcom: https://t.co/ddxifCeDgi https://t.co/CsDd7W2XxK
Startup founders who aren't irrationally obsessed with their startup are just rationally employed people with worse health insurance and lower pay.
Congrats @roelofbotha on an incredible 23 years at Sequoia! You’ve helped shape a generation of founders and investors. None of the scoops or noise can take away from what you’ve achieved and the legacy you leave behind.
https://t.co/wJCDi1KWOl (@s2_streamstore) is the serverless API for unlimited, durable, real-time streams. Streams are now a dead-simple cloud storage primitive. Congrats on the launch, @shikhrr, @sgbalogh0, and @quettabitxyz! https://t.co/2JXcYtSXvb https://t.co/xQoRfmprtG
One @fiftyyears portfolio company IPOed on NASDAQ the same day another appeared on the cover of Time. Pinch me.
