WHAT’S INSIDE

• Tech Companies to Watch: Startup news and deals from the last week

• Big Movers: The Big tech movers, shakers and partnerships this week

• Making Waves: Companies making a buzz in the Tech world

• Open Deals: Startups raising capital this week

• In The Money: Significant raises last week and why they matter

• Exit Watching: Mergers & Acquisitions and IPOs

• The Funding Buzz: VC & PE Activity To Watch

BIG MOVERS

Big tech moves, movers and trends to watch this week

Alphabet — The Mountain View, CA tech giant exceeded Q1 earnings estimates with strong search advertising and AI updates. Announced a $70B share buyback and a 5% dividend increase, positioning itself for continued growth.

Netflix — The streaming giant reported nearly $3B in profit with a strong operating margin. Analysts rate it "outperform" due to stable retention and economic resilience. Projected Q2 revenue exceeds $11B, with plans to explore video podcasts.

OpenAI — Initially interested in acquiring Cursor, a leading AI coding tool, OpenAI is now pursuing Windsurf with a $3 billion offer. This move highlights OpenAI's strategy to counter growing competition in the AI coding sector.

Tesla — TSLA shares drop nearly 6% amid brand concerns over Musk's political activities and revenue decline from tariffs, Chinese competition and another delay to its low-cost EV model. Robotaxi plans are delayed over safety concerns.

Huawei — Set to begin mass shipments of its 910C AI chip in May to Chinese customers. The chip, combining two 910B processors, aims to rival Nvidia amid US export restrictions.

Uber Sued — The FTC has sued Uber for allegedly charging users for subscriptions without consent and complicating cancellations.

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MAKING WAVES

Startups, trends and signals to watch in the USA this week

Scale AI — The San Fran-based data annotation services company missed its 2024 revenue target of $1B, achieving $870M as it preps for a secondary share sale valuing it at $25B.

Slate Auto —The Bezos-backed EV startup introduced an affordable, customizable feature analog EV pickup truck priced under $20,000 targeting budget-conscious consumers.

Mechanize — Founded by renowned AI researcher Tamay Besiroglu, this startup aims to fully automate all work, aiming to foster economic growth and enhance human roles.

Xerion Advanced Battery Corp. — This Ohio-based startup plans to produce refined cobalt in the U.S. using a novel technique combining electricity and heat to counter US reliance on China, focusing on critical military applications.

Tempus AI — This Chicago-based AI cancer treatment discovery company partnered with AstraZeneca and Pathos to create a significant multimodal foundation model for oncology, $200M in funding for data licensing model dev.

Emerging Economies

Rebellions — South Korea's first AI chip unicorn has merged with SK Telecom's Sapeon to enhance its global competitiveness, plans to launch the Nvidia-rivalling Rebel chip.

Pony.ai — The Chinese robotaxi firm aims for global expansion, unveiling three new models at the SAS. It plans to leverage 70% lower production costs in China, with mass production set to begin in Q3 2025.

Shanghai Auto Show — Chinese automakers like BYD and Geely unveiled over 100 new models challenging Tesla's Model Y showing the growth of a highly competitive market.

[OPEN DEALS] RAISING DOLLARS:

Startups, firms or funds raising capital this week

xAI — Elon Musk's xAI is in talks to raise another $20 billion, potentially valuing the venture at over $120 billion. This funding could reduce X's debt and is one of the largest startup funding rounds in history.

Neuralink — Elon Musk's brain-interface company is raising $500M at $8.5B, up from $3.5B in 2023. The funding will advance brain-implant technology for controlling electronics via the brain for paralysis, neurodegenerative diseases.

OtoCo — Spinout by the Founder of Otonomos, for creating companies and DAOs onchain in multiple jurisdictions globally with 2,000+ paid users. OtoCo is raising $2.5M by way of SAFEs + Token Warrant — this is its first outside round!

IN THE MONEY

Companies that raised money this in the past week and why they matter

Massive Deals

Supabase — The open-source backend-as-a-service company, headquartered in San Francisco, raised $200M in a Series D round, reaching a $2B valuation. This funding highlights its rapid growth and potential to challenge established database providers.

Manychat — The AI-driven business messaging platform raised a $140M Series B to enhance its services for 1.5M global customers, including Nike and The New York Times. The funds will bolster R&D and expand sales and marketing efforts.

Flow — Adam Neumann's proptech startup based in the US raised over $100M, doubling its valuation to $2.5B. With backing from Andreessen Horowitz, Neumann eyes an eventual IPO, aiming to overcome past challenges with WeWork.

Large Deals

Manus — Chinese AI startup raised $75M led by Benchmark, reaching a $500M valuation. The funds will support expansion into the U.S., Japan, and the Middle East, building on a prior $10M round from Tencent and others.

Nourish — The virtual nutritional care startup connects patients with dietitians and raised a $70M Series B led by JP Morgan, at a $1B+ valuation. It plans to expand its AI capabilities and partnerships to meet rising demand.

Alpaca — The API brokerage platform developer raised $52M in a Series C round to expand into the Middle East, Europe, and Asia. Serving over 5M accounts, the funding will enhance trading capabilities and support new product development and regulatory licensing.

Nous Research — Decentralized AI startup in the US, scored a $50M investment from Paradigm at a $1B valuation. Focuses on training open-source models via blockchain, challenging established AI firms while integrating crypto to boost distributed computing and participation.

Smaller Deals

Cynomi — Specializes in AI-based virtual CISO services for SMB cybersecurity. Raised $37M to enhance its offerings amid rising cyber threats to SMEs in the $163B cybersecurity consulting market.

Adaptive Computer — The startup aims to revolutionize personal computing with a no-code AI platform for app creation. The alpha product simplifies complex tasks like databases and user authentication. It just raised a $7M seed round,

EXIT WATCHING

Mergers & Acquisitions and IPOs

DoorDash — Food delivery giant DoorDash has proposed a $3.6 billion acquisition of UK-based Deliveroo. This move aims to strengthen DoorDash's international footprint and enhance its competitiveness in the global food delivery market.

Datadog — Acquired Metaplane, an AI-powered observability startup, to enhance its observability capabilities. Metaplane will operate under "Metaplane by Datadog," unifying observability for data teams in a market projected to reach $2.14B by 2023.

a16z — Andreessen Horowitz acquires the Turpentine podcast and appoints its ex-Product Hunt employee founder Erik Torenberg as a general partner.

THE FUNDING BUZZ

VC & PE Activity To Watch

Venture Guides Fund II — Based in Boston, this VC firm has swiftly raised $262.5M for its second fund in just eight weeks. The firm focuses on team-based investing and active startup support, enhancing the Boston innovation ecosystem.

Civ.co — The Venice Beach, CA firm raised a $210M+ debut fund to support founders shaping the future of civilization and focused on critical infrastructure.

Fortson VC — Based in Seattle, Fortson VC has raised a $50M fund to invest in early-stage B2B software startups, mainly in the Pacific Northwest. Led by Cole Younger, it plans 25-30 investments, with initial checks of $500,000 to $1M.

TBD VC — The firm has launched a $35M fund to support early-stage Israeli deep tech startups. Focusing on enterprise AI and cybersecurity, the firm plans to invest in about 20 companies, prioritizing technical founders and pre-seed investments.

a16z — Andreessen Horowitz acquires the Turpentine podcast and appoints its ex-Product Hunt employee founder Erik Torenberg as a general partner.

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FOR INVESTORS
Open Deals
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