A few quick notes as we head into the weekend. If you're interested in the evolution of Neo, a Y Combinator rival that says it's finding talent earlier than anyone out there (and is starting to make a compelling case toward that end), we think you'll enjoy our chat with firm founder Ali Partovi here, in the newest StrictlyVC Download episode. 

If you're interested in joining us in person on SandHill Road on Wednesday evening, June 18th, at The Quad for our next Bay Area-based StrictlyVC evening -- Robinhood co-founder Baiju Bhatt will be there, among others --  nab a seat here; we'll have more news about this one in the coming weeks. 🎉

More immediately (!), we'll be in Athens this coming Thursday, sitting down with Prime Minster Kyriakos Mitsotakis at the beautiful Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center. Thanks to our partner for the event, the global entrepreneurship org Endeavor, along with the many founders and VCs who are participating in this one; can't wait to see you there. 

Right after Athens, it's off to London to talk with Monzo, Paladin Capital, and Accel for another fun night with our local friends and readers - that happens on Tuesday, May 13.

More soon -- have a terrific weekend . . .

Top News

According to Bloomberg, Apple is quietly trialing an in-house "vibe coding" assistant powered by Anthropic’s AI, aimed at speeding up development inside Xcode, the tool Apple engineers use to build apps across all its platforms. TechCrunch has more here.

Speaking of Anthropic, the four-year-old AI startup is launching its first employee share buyback, offering current and former staff the chance to sell up to 20% of their equity—or up to $2 million worth of shares—at the $61.5 billion valuation set during its most recent funding round. The Information has the scoop here.

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Dating App Raw Exposed Users’ Location Data and Personal Information

By Zack Whittaker

A security lapse at dating app Raw publicly exposed the personal data and private location data of its users, TechCrunch has found.

The exposed data included users’ display names, dates of birth, dating and sexual preferences associated with the Raw app, as well as users’ location. Some of the location data included coordinates that were specific enough to locate Raw app users with street-level accuracy.

Raw, which launched in 2023, is a dating app that claims to offer more genuine interactions with others in part by asking users to upload daily selfie photos. The company does not disclose how many users it has, but its app listing on the Google Play Store notes more than 500,000 Android downloads to date.

News of the security lapse comes in the same week that the startup announced a hardware extension of its dating app, the Raw Ring, an unreleased wearable device that it claims will allow app users to track their partner’s heart rate and other sensor data to receive AI-generated insights, ostensibly to detect infidelity.

Notwithstanding the moral and ethical issues of tracking romantic partners and the risks of emotional surveillance, Raw claims on its website and in its privacy policy that its app, and its unreleased device, both use end-to-end encryption, a security feature that prevents anyone other than the user — including the company — from accessing the data.

When we tried the app this week, which included an analysis of the app’s networktraffic, TechCrunch found no evidence that the app uses end-to-end encryption. Instead, we found that the app was publicly spilling data about its users to anyone with a web browser.

More here. 

Massive Fundings

Astronomer, a seven-year-old New York startup that helps companies manage and automate complex data workflows using Apache Airflow, raised a $93 million Series D round led by Bain Capital Ventures, with Salesforce Ventures as well as previous investors Insight, Meritech, and Venrock also investing. More here.

Big-But-Not-Crazy-Big Fundings

Doppel, a three-year-old San Francisco startup that has built an AI-powered platform to detect and dismantle social engineering threats across digital channels, raised a $35 million Series B round at a $205 million valuation. The deal was led by Bessemer Venture Partners, with 9Yards Capital, Sozo Ventures, Andreessen Horowitz, South Park Commons, Strategic Cyber Ventures, and Script Capital also participating.​ The company has raised a total of $54.4 million. More here.

Stately Bio, a three-year-old Palo Alto startup that develops cell therapies using a live-cell imaging platform to better understand and manipulate cellular behavior, raised a $12 million seed round led by AIX Ventures, with Dimension Capital, Foothill Ventures, Village Global, Caffeinated Capital, Mitsui Global Investment, BoxOne Ventures, and Axial VC also taking stakes. More here.

Trek Health, a four-year-old startup based in San Mateo, CA, that uses artificial intelligence to help healthcare providers negotiate contracts and optimize reimbursement terms, raised an $11 million Series A round led by Madrona, with Accrete Health Partners, LifeX Ventures, and Correlation Ventures also taking part. More here.

Smaller Fundings

EDEN, a four-year-old Seattle startup that provides digital sales tools for home services businesses to improve customer engagement and conversion, raised a $3.7 million round led by Climactic, with Better Ventures and C2 Ventures also buying in. The company has raised a total of $4.9 million. GeekWire has more here.

Oscar, a five-year-old Lisbon startup that offers on-demand home services like cleaning and repairs through its mobile app, raised a $6.8 million round co-led by Indico Capital Partners and Lince Capital, with Failup Ventures and Boost Capital Partners also engaging. Silicon Canals has more here.

Pallie AI, a one-year-old San Francisco startup that is building an AI-powered emotional support companion to help users manage stress and anxiety, raised a $2 million pre-seed round led by True Ventures, with Palta also pitching in. More here.

Paramark, a two-year-old San Francisco startup that helps marketing teams analyze and optimize their ad spend using predictive modeling, raised a $6 million seed round led by Greylock. More here.

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New Funds

Symphonic Capital, a three-year-old Oakland VC firm, just closed a $13.5 million debut fund to back overlooked founders in fintech and healthcare. Backers include Bank of America, Illumen Capital, and Y Combinator’s Michael Seibel. AfroTech has more here. 

Layoffs

Spotter, a six-year-old Los Angeles startup that licenses YouTube content from top creators and helps monetize it, laid off staff this week—its second round of cuts in six months—as it scrambles to hit profitability by year’s end. The layoffs highlight growing pressure on creator-economy startups to show real returns after years of splashy deals and SoftBank-sized checks. Business Insider has more here. 

Going Public

EToro, an 18-year-old Israeli company that lets users buy and sell assets like stocks and crypto while also following and copying the trades of top investors, is reportedly eyeing a U.S. IPO launch as early as next week after putting plans on hold last month due to market chaos triggered by Trump’s new tariffs. Bloomberg has more here. 

People

Instagram co-founder Kevin Systrom took a swipe at AI chatbots this week, accusing them of prioritizing user engagement metrics over actual usefulness. TechCrunch has more here. 

Essential Reads

The remedies phase of the United States v. Google LLC trial is turning into a debate about the future of search, as the Justice Department and Google's rivals argue that Google's data and distribution power give it an unfair advantage in determining the future of the technology. The New York Times has more here.

Say goodbye to "Password123." Microsoft is now setting new accounts to skip passwords entirely, nudging users toward device-based sign-ins like biometrics or hardware keys. The Verge has more here. 

Rockstar’s long-awaited Grand Theft Auto VI won’t land until May 2026, slipping from its original fall 2025 target. That's crushing news for die-hard gamers considering the 11-year-old Grand Theft Auto V is still a top title. The Verge has more here. 

Detours

Photos taken by blind people.

The rise and fall of the "Caveman" skin care routine. 

Five discreet signs you’re in a wealthy person’s home.

A Swiss-Italian team has whipped up a robotic wedding cake powered by chocolate-encased edible batteries.

Retail Therapy

A $75 million New York City penthouse with a 61-foot private pool. 

The best beers in the world. 

Cool trail running shoes.