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Top NewsAnthropic released two new models today, but one of them — Claude Opus 4 — tries to blackmail engineers over 80% of the time when they tell it they are going to replace it with another model. TechCrunch has more here. Speaking of Anthropic, a safety institute advised the company not to release an early version of its Claude Opus 4 model because of its tendency to "scheme" and deceive. TechCrunch has more here. If these tidbits have you nervous, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei says not to fear: at least AI models hallucinate less than humans. In TechCrunch. |
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Klarna CEO and Sutter Hill Take Victory Lap after Jony Ive’s OpenAI Deal
By Julie Bort Hours after Sam Altman and Jony Ive announced on Wednesday that OpenAI was buying Ive’s company, io, in an all-stock transaction valued at $6.5 billion, Klarna CEO Sebastian Siemiatkowski posted a surprising message on X. His family investment office, Flat Capital, had bought shares in io six months earlier, he said. Since this is an all-stock deal, those io shares will be converted into shares in the for-profit arm of OpenAI. “Excited that @FlatCapital was an investor in io and that we will now receive even more shares in OpenAI at a hefty return for an investment we did some 6 months ago,” Siemiatkowski tweeted. The post generated so much interest that his investment firm issued a public statement confirming that io was the mystery, unnamed company it backed when it announced its four investments in a “mini-portfolio” of US AI companies. Flat Capital disclosed that it spent 34 million SEK on io, which converts to about $3.6 million. Then came another surprising tweet from former Googler and designer Luke Wroblewski, who now works as a managing director at the secretive Silicon Valley VC powerhouse firm Sutter Hill Ventures. |
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Massive FundingsStrava, a 19-year-old San Francisco company whose fitness app has 150+ million users, raised an undisclosed amount at a $2.2 billion valuation including debt, a $700 million increase over its last round in 2020. The deal was led by Sequoia Capital, with previous investors including TCV, Jackson Square Ventures, and Go4it Capital also opting in. The Wall Street Journal has more here. |
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Big-But-Not-Crazy-Big FundingsAlt Carbon, a two-year-old Bengaluru startup that uses chemical processes to capture carbon dioxide from the air and permanently store it underground or in materials like concrete, raised a $12 million seed round. Lachy Groom was the deal lead. TechCrunch has more here. Kota, a three-year-old Dublin startup that helps employers manage and customize benefits for their workers across multiple countries and legal systems, raised a $14.5 million Series A round led by Eurazeo, with 9Yards and Plug and Play as well as previous investors EQT Ventures, Northzone, and Frontline Ventures also pitching in. Silicon Republic has more here. OpenFx, a one-year-old New York startup that provides infrastructure for real-time foreign exchange settlement to support cross-border payments, raised a $23 million round. Accel was the lead investor, with NFX, Lightspeed Faction, Castle Island Ventures, Flybridge, and Hash3 also investing. PYMNTS has more here. Pixee, a three-year-old Baltimore startup that helps software teams automatically detect and fix security flaws in their code using AI-driven analysis, raised a $15 million seed round co-led by Decibel and Wing VC, with TEDCO and PrimeSet also chipping in. More here. Slash, a five-year-old San Francisco startup that offers banking tools designed for young online earners such as creators, freelancers, and students, raised a $41 million Series B round at a $370 million valuation. The deal lead was Goodwater Capital, with Y Combinator, NEA, Stanford University, and Menlo Ventures also taking part. Fortune has more here. Tarjama, a 16-year-old Abu Dhabi company that develops AI-driven Arabic language tools for enterprises across the MENA region, raised a $15 million Series A round led by Global Ventures, with Wamda Capital, TA Ventures, Phaze Ventures, Golden Gate Ventures, and Endeavor Catalyst also participating. Forbes has more here. |
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Smaller FundingsAstrolight, a six-year-old Vilnius startup that develops laser-based communication systems to transmit data between satellites and ground stations at high speed and reliability, raised a $3.1 million seed round led by Balnord, with EIFO, Coinvest Capital, and 3NGLS also stepping up. EU-Startups has more here. Optura, a one-year-old Nashville startup that provides an AI operating system designed to help healthcare organizations manage administrative tasks, optimize clinical workflows, and scale their AI use safely and efficiently, raised a $6.5 million seed round co-led by Susa Ventures and Matrix Partners. More here. Rhizome, a two-year-old startup based in Washington, DC, that provides data tools and planning software to help electric utilities and governments prepare power grids for climate-related risks, raised a $6.5 million seed round led by Base10 Partners. More here. Sublime Systems, a five-year-old startup based in Somerville, MA, that develops technology to produce low-emission cement as a replacement for traditional carbon-intensive materials, raised a $3 million round led by Suffolk Technologies. More here. |
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New Funds
Raising a first-time VC fund is harder than ever, with emerging managers pulling in just a fraction of what they did only a few years ago. Bloomberg has more here. |
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ExitsPresumably fueled by fresh funding (see "Massive Fundings" above), Strava has purchased The Breakaway, a four-year-old cycling app that enables users to use AI to create personalized workouts, for an undisclosed sum. It's Strava's second acquisition in a month. TechCrunch has more here. |
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Going PublicBusiness Insider breaks down just who's getting rich from Hinge Health's IPO today. (Hint: one firm that did well had an insight into Hinge's future success.) More here. |
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PeopleTinder CEO Faye Iosotaluno is stepping down after less than a year, citing "evolving ambitions" as parent company Match Group grapples with layoffs and slowing growth. TechCrunch has more here. |
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Essential ReadsKraken is launching tokenized versions of Apple, Tesla, and other U.S. stocks for non-U.S. users to trade 24/7 on the blockchain—dodging Wall Street hours and U.S. regulators while daring to do what Binance couldn’t. The Wall Street Journal has more here. Apple is fast-tracking AI-powered smart glasses for late 2026 while scrapping plans for a camera-equipped watch, as OpenAI's new pact with Jony Ive underscores the primacy of AI devices. Bloomberg has more here. With over 7,000 Starlink satellites in operation, the Financial Times poses the question, "Has Starlink already won the new space race?" More here. AI hasn’t cracked Hollywood just yet, but upstart studio Toonstar is showing what’s possible — cranking out hit cartoons 90% cheaper and 80% faster by leaning hard into AI for everything from lip-syncing to dubbing while keeping artists (mostly) in the loop. The New York Times has more here. |
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DetoursDisillusioned by taxes and turbulence at home, wealthy Americans — especially Baby Boomers — are snapping up $50,000-a-month rentals in Monaco, trading second homes in the U.S. for a glossier, low-tax life on the Riviera. Fearful of tariffs, Hamptonites are stocking up on French and Italian rosé. "It’s the toilet paper of March 2025," one Hamptonite quipped. Fans of the video game Doom have ported it to all sorts of different screens, including a ... pregnancy test? The watchmaker Omega might just have unwittingly confirmed the identity of the next James Bond. |
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Retail Therapy
The makers of this $160,000 Ammortal Chamber may not have any clinical data to back up their claims that it reduces pain, but it sure looks cool. (P.S. Athletes like it, too.) |
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