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Table of Contents
The businessroundups.org Top 3
- Ch-ch-ch changes: It’s another shake-up of the C-suite at Salesforce. Ron reports that Slack CEO Stewart Butterfield, who joined Salesforce when the company acquired Slack in 2020, says he will step down in January. This news follows several other recent out-of-the-blue departures over the past week, including that of Salesforce co-CEO Bret Taylor, who announced his resignation.
- Another view of social commerce: Much of the live stream commerce we see today has to do with buying clothes or a nice vintage playing card. However, Kapu puts an interesting spin on it and comes out stealth with $8 million in new funding to create a social commerce site that helps Kenyans find groceries at lower prices. Annie has more.
- AI is now our life: We now use artificial intelligence to create our own avatars and write letters about possible layoffs. Twelve Labs founder Jae Lee thinks this should be extended to searchable video, so that’s what the company wanted to build. Today it announced $12 million in fresh capital to continue developing AI that understands the context of videos, Kyle writes.
Startups and VC
Loft Dynamics, a Swiss start-up developing virtual reality simulation technology for helicopter pilots, has raised $20 million in funding from US venture capital firms including Craft Ventures, Sky Dayton and Up Ventures, Paul reports. In addition to the financing, the company is also formally announcing the name change from VRM Switzerland to Loft Dynamics.
Apropos VR…demand for VR for real estate is on the rise, reports Mikewriting that Founders Fund is leading a $16 million round towards the Giraffe360 platform.
Here are five more news items and an invitation to the consumer electronics startups:
- From non-duality to non-existence: Roman writes that Zenly was the best social app and that he regrets that the app will stop on February 3.
- Plus d’Euros: French VC firm Partech has closed its fourth fund, a seed fund of €120 million ($124 million), Roman reports.
- Row, row, row your code: Hey writes that if Rowy has his way, if you can use Excel, you can build software.
- Premature due date: Devin reports that it looks like sex tech startup Lora DiCarlo is over.
- Today’s specialty is…: Aigens scales digital menus in Asia, reports Ritawith a $14 million round led by Ant.
- Are you coming to CES? Haje, Brian and some of the other TC crew are going, and we want to meet your startup in Vegas in January, writes Brian.
Which side is up? Keeping the end of free money and the importance of cash at hand
Image Credits: PM images (Opens in a new window) /Getty Images
In simpler times, founders could often please investors by showing how quickly their company met growth expectations.
“Well, investors today care about the less distant future,” said Max Schireson, an operating partner at Battery Ventures.
“They care about how much money they have to put into your business to achieve that future and when it will arrive.” In a guest post for TC+, he shares candid advice and multiple scenarios that can help founders meet investor expectations during tough times.
“They say time is the one thing you can’t buy, but in fact time is the easiest thing to buy in a startup.”
Three more from the TC+ team:
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Big Tech Inc.
Facebook wants to know your age, but before you grab your pearls, that’s actually for a reason. Meta brings its age verification technology into its Facebook Dating product, Sarah reports. We already don’t know, or want to know, how 50-year-olds meet 16-year-olds, but Meta definitely doesn’t want to get the reputation of being THAT.
And now we have five more for you:
