Top News

Mark Zuckerberg strikes again. Daniel Gross is leaving Safe Superintelligence, the company he founded with Ilya Sutskever, to join Meta’s new AI lab, while Sutskever takes over as CEO. Sutskever subsequently tweeted, "You might have heard rumors of companies looking to acquire us. We are flattered by their attention but are focused on seeing our work through." TechCrunch has more here. 

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Who is Soham Parekh, the Serial Moonlighter Silicon Valley Startups Can’t Stop Hiring?

By Maxwell Zeff

In the last week, social media users have shared dozens of stories about encounters with Soham Parekh, a software engineer who seems to have been simultaneously working at multiple Silicon Valley startups — unbeknownst to the companies — for the last several years.

But who is Parekh, how did he pull off his career as a serial moonlighter, and why can’t Silicon Valley get enough of him?

The saga all started when Suhail Doshi — CEO of image generation startup Playground AI — shared a post Tuesday on X that began: “PSA: there’s a guy named Soham Parekh (in India) who works at 3-4 startups at the same time. He’s been preying on YC companies and more. Beware.”

Doshi claims that, roughly a year ago, he fired Parekh from Playground AI after he found out he was working at other companies. “[I] told him to stop lying/scamming people. He hasn’t stopped a year later,” Doshi wrote.

That post from Doshi received roughly 20 million views and prompted several other founders to share their run-ins with Parekh as well.

Flo Crivello, the CEO of Lindy, a startup that helps people automate their workflows with AI, said he hired Parekh in recent weeks, but fired him in light of Doshi’s tweet.

Matt Parkhurst, the CEO of Antimetal, a startup that uses AI to cut down on enterprises’ cloud spending, confirmed that Parekh was the company’s first engineering hire in 2022. He said Antimetal quickly let Parekh go after they realized he was moonlighting at other companies.

More here.

Massive Fundings

Bilt, a four-year-old New York startup that allows renters to earn rewards points by paying rent through its platform and offers a credit card to facilitate those payments, is reportedly looking to raise a new round at approximately a $10 billion valuation. Axios has more here.

Impossible Metals, a five-year-old startup based in San Jose, CA, that uses AI-powered underwater robots to collect battery-grade minerals from the seabed, is reportedly in the market to raise a $1+ billion round. Axios has more here.

Big-But-Not-Crazy-Big Fundings

AssetCool, a ten-year-old London company based in Leeds, England, that develops robotic systems that apply special coating directly onto overhead power lines to boost their capacity and resilience for grid operators, raised a $13.6 million Series A round led by Energy Impact Partners, with Extantia Capital and Taronga Group as well as previous investor Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund. EU-Startups has more here.

Hived, a four-year-old London startup that uses a fleet of electric vehicles and bike couriers to offer lower-emission delivery services for retailers, raised a $42 million Series B round led by NordicNinja, with investors including Planet A, Wex Venture Capital, Marunouchi Innovation Partners, Elemental Impact, Yamato Holdings, Future Back Ventures, and Rocketship VC also piling on. Reuters has more here.

Liki24, a nine-year-old Kyiv startup that offers a platform that connects consumers with pharmacies and courier services to streamline the purchase and home delivery of medications and health products, raised a $9 million Series A round. Investors included U Ventures, TA Ventures, iClub, N1 Ventures, SID Venture Partners, MA7 Ventures, and DniproVC. The company has raised a total of $16+ million. Vestbee has more here.

QEDMA, a five-year-old Tel Aviv startup that makes software that helps quantum computers run more accurately by reducing errors during operation, raised a $26 million Series A round led by Glilot Capital Partners, with IBM and Korean Investment Partners as well as previous investor TPY Capital also participating. TechCrunch has more here.

Smaller Fundings

AI Hay, a four-year-old Ho Chi Minh City startup that has built a marketplace-style app that connects Vietnamese users, especially students and professionals, with AI-powered Q&A, homework help, and image recognition tools, raised a $10 million Series A round led by Argor Capital, with previous investors Square Peg, Northstar Ventures, AppWorks, and Phoenix Holding also stepping up. The Business Times has more here.

Cekura, a two-year-old San Francisco startup that tests AI voice and chat agents by simulating thousands of realistic and unpredictable conversations to help companies (particularly in regulated industries like healthcare and finance) catch glitches before users do, raised a $2.4 million seed. Y Combinator, Flex Capital, Hike Ventures, and Pioneer Fund invested in the deal. More here.

Nordic Air Defence, a three-year-old Swedish startup that makes battery-powered drones that can intercept other drones for military and civil uses like protecting airports or industrial sites, raised a $3 million pre-seed round. Inflection was the deal lead. Silicon Canals has more here.

TuringDream, a five-year-old Madrid startup that organizations create and deploy multi-agent AI applications, raised a $7.1 million seed round. co-led by Adara Ventures and HWK and including Next Tier Ventures. Silicon Canals has more here.

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New Funds

TechCrunch talks with two-time YC alum Kulveer Taggar about his solo-GP fund Phosphor Capital, which has $34 million in capital commitments across two funds and is betting exclusively on Y Combinator startups. His pitch? Six percent of them become unicorns, so why not double down?

Ondo, a three-year-old firm in New York, has partnered with blockchain VC giant Pantera Capital to launch a $250 million initiative backing projects that bring traditional financial assets like stocks and bonds onto blockchains. The move cements tokenization as one of crypto’s buzziest bets, with everyone from BlackRock to Robinhood getting in on the action. CoinDesk has more here. 

Going Public

SPACs, which made a mockery of going public just three years ago by taking barely-out-of-the-garage startups straight to the stock market, are apparently making a comeback as mid-sized firms realize even blank-check vehicles beat getting ignored by Wall Street bankers. Bloomberg has more here. 

People

After years of trying to buy a bank, Stripe's very first employee, Darragh Buckley, just acquired a major stake in Washington's Twin City Bank, triggering federal disclosure requirements and marking a milestone in fintech-banking convergence. According to TechCrunch, a "mysterious entity — most likely one of Buckley’s competitors — was so opposed to this deal that it hired an agency to pitch the press on writing negative stories about it and him." More here.

Meta is offering to buy up to 49% of the venture funds run by Nat Friedman and Daniel Gross, giving LPs a chance to cash out at full value as both founders step away to join Meta’s AI team. The funds won’t make new investments, and a high-profile advisory group including John Collison and Matt Huang will help oversee the existing $1.1 billion portfolio. The Wall Street Journal has more here.

Whitney Wolfe Herd had a rough week at Bumble, announcing 240 global job cuts (30% of staff) while telling employees to stop "freaking out" with thumbs-down emojis during a company call. The returning CEO warned that Bumble could collapse by next year without drastic measures. Her frank assessment: "Dating apps are feeling like a thing of the past." The Financial Times has more here.

Data

Jeff Bezos-backed Slate Auto has quietly dropped its "under $20,000" pickup truck promise after Trump's tax bill killed the $7,500 EV credit. The startup heavily promoted that accessibility angle just months ago,claiming it would deliver the "affordable vehicle that "that has long been promised but never been delivered." TechCrunch has more here.

Essential Reads

Meta is testing AI chatbots that can proactively message users on Messenger, WhatsApp, and Instagram if the user previously initiated a conversation and exchanged at least five messages with the bot, echoing moves by Character.AI and others to deepen engagement while stirring new concerns about safety, monetization, and screen-time ethics. TechCrunch has more here. 

EA is throwing more than $400 million at the next Battlefield game, making it the most expensive in the franchise’s history as the publisher bets big on free-to-play features and a massive player base despite internal doubts and major production setbacks. Ars Technica has more here. 

Detours

Lesser-known New York City beaches.

In the latest trend that proves millennials have officially run out of boundaries, newlyweds are now inviting their parents on their honeymoons.

Retail Therapy

The Onion × Kenneth Cole collab nobody saw coming.

Can't afford a $10K wellness toilet from Toto? Here's a $400 alternative.