Deals sour…AI is ‘dangerous,’ and billionaire boys battle
If you’re seeking entertainment, spend a few minutes mulling over the latest headlines while drinking your morning coffee. Here are a few that caught our eye:
First, the newsworthy. Q2 VC funding reports are out, and funding fell to its lowest level since 2017. FinTech took the hardest hit, and the deal count among all sectors dropped back to 2016 levels (CB Insights).
‘AI is dangerous;’ ‘AI is Under Investigation.’ We see these headlines over and over and over again.
“The US Federal Trade Commission is said to have opened an investigation into OpenAI, questioning whether its popular ChatGPT conversational AI bot puts consumers’ reputations and data at risk. The probe into the Microsoft-backed startup marks the first official inquiry into a technology that has the potential to, among other things, change almost every aspect of daily life, trigger the loss of millions of jobs and, according to a not-insignificant number of industry observers, pave the way to oblivion.” Source-Bloomberg, July 13th, 2023.
Twitter vs. Facebook, Musk vs. Zuckerberg; clickbait. If nothing else, we can all laugh at these articles.
Have a great week!
Some notable trends this week:
- This week had more deals but lower awards across the categories we follow.
- This week’s #5 (Sound) has funding from well-known angels while moving artists from ‘penny platforms’ into the NFT world (we like it).
- 50/50 split- U.S. and foreign deals are closely tied in funding awards; we’re 50% through 2023.
And now, here are this week’s Top 5 VC Deals…
1Collective
$50M, Capital| Equity| SF | Wealthtech | Gradient Ventures, Innovis Capital, The General Partnership, General Catalyst, QED, Expa, Better Tomorrow Ventures | https://www.collective.com/
LinkedIn Overview:
“Collective is on a mission to redefine the way Businesses-of-One work. Collective is the first online concierge financial platform designed to give self-employed people the technology and team they need so they can focus on their passion, not their paperwork…“
2InvGate
$35M, Capital| Equity | Argentina | WealthTech | Riverwood Capital, Endeavor Catalyst | https://invgate.com/
LinkedIn Overview:
“InvGate supports organizations in their IT and enterprise operations with modern and scalable service modern solutions.“
3Silo Technologies
$32M, Series C, Capital | Equity | SF | Fintech | Koch Disruptive Technologies, Andreessen Horowitz, Haystack Capital, Tribe Capital, Collate Capital, Moore Capital |https://usesilo.com/
LinkedIn Description:
“Silo is on a mission to revolutionize the wholesale produce supply chain through technology. Our vision is to bring efficiency and transparency to all stakeholders, and reduce waste in all forms and in all parts of the supply chain…“
4Jirav
$20M, Series B, Capital| Equity |Seattle | FinTech | Cota Capital, Born Capital, Alumni Ventures, Information Venture Partners, Bluefish Ventures | https://www.jirav.com/
LinkedIn Description:
“Jirav is an all-in-one financial planning and analysis (FP&A) solution that delivers smarter financials and faster insights, helping you understand where your business has been and more accurately predict where you’re going…“
5Sound
$20M, Series A, Capital |Equity |Web3 music firm | Blockchain | a16z crypto, Palm Tree Crew, A Capital, Sound Ventures, Collab + Currency, Scalar Capital, Snoop Dogg, Ryan Tedder, Tay Keith | https://www.sound.xyz/
Press provided by musically.com:
“At its simplest, Sound’s service helps artists to turn songs into NFTs (while retaining their rights) while getting data on the fans who buy them. Like a number of its peers, the company is positioning NFTs in opposition to streaming royalties…”
