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Happy International Women’s Day! Did you know that the holiday was adopted by the UN 46 years ago? We read the Wikipedia article on IWD, and learned things. Try it – you might learn something too!
In our Found podcast this week, Darrell And Bekka are joined by Matt Rogers, the founder and CEO of Mill, a startup that helps its customers turn their food scraps into farm feed. It’s a great episode. Treat your ears to a gift.
Lots of love, Christine And Hey
Table of Contents
The businessroundups.org Top 3
- A mea culpa for all ages: “Say it, forget it; write it, regret it. Never more truthful words were spoken to explain the recent Twitter exchange between Elon Musk and an employee with Musk publicly mocking the employee for his disability. Aisha writes that Musk has apologized.
- Duck, duck, AI goose: Natasha L writes that DuckDuckGo, a privacy search engine, is the latest to dabble in AI. The feature, called DuckAssist, can directly answer simple queries.
- Gather around the VC dining table: Berlin-based venture capital fund La Famiglia closed €250 million in capital commitments for its third seed fund and first growth co-investment fund. Both funds will invest in business-to-business startups. Mike has more.
Startups and VC
Harry writes: “Local governments in the US Southwest are pouring $150,000 to support what they say is a groundbreaking effort to ‘turn air into concrete at scale’.” two start-ups in climate technology and a masonry company in Flagstaff, Arizona.
Founded by an ex-Apple employee, Humane does work shrouded in mystery. The latest round of funding, a $100 million Series C, attracted a laundry list of notable investors. To date, Humane has raised $230 million from existing and previous investors, including Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff. Kyle investigates.
And we have five more for you:
7 investors reveal what’s hot in fintech in Q1 2023
Cash coins in a pile. Image Credits: Getty Images/Alicia Llop
How are fintech investors adapting during this recession and how are they advising the founders in their portfolios?
Mary Ann Azevedo interviewed seven VCs to ask how (and if) some have adapted their thesis to current macroeconomic trends and to learn more about the types of opportunities they are currently looking for:
- Charles Birnbaum, Associate, Bessemer Venture Partners
- Aunkur Arya, Partner, Menlo Ventures
- Ansaf Kareem, venture partner, Lightspeed Venture Partners
- Emmalyn Shaw, Managing Partner, Flourish Ventures
- Michael Sidgmore, partner and co-founder, Broadhaven Ventures
- Ruth Foxe Blader, partner, Anthemis
- Miguel Armaza, co-founder and general partner, Gilgamesh Ventures
Three more from the TC+ team:
businessroundups.org+ is our membership program that helps founders and startup teams lead the way. You can sign up here. Use code “DC” for a 15% discount on an annual subscription!
Big Tech Inc.
Ding dong, Ring now has a higher resolution battery-powered doorbell, Ivan reports. Upgrades include the ability to see a person’s entire body and an easy way to detach the battery for charging.
Meanwhile, Blue Origin is likely in the red after being named in two separate lawsuits over allegations of peer hiring practices. Aria writes that one lawsuit involves asking employees to seek out younger candidates, while the other is brought by a 64-year-old who claims he was repeatedly turned down for jobs even though interviewers said he was qualified.
And we have four more for you:
- More problems at Tesla: The electric vehicle manufacturer is under further investigation, this time after the steering wheels fell off two Model Y vehicles. Kirsten has more.
- Discover these new features: Spotify had a bunch of news today, including Saras, countdown pages, stories and Sara And Aisha‘s TikTok style discovery feeds. Also, Aisha reports that Spotify has new growth and discovery tools for artists.
- Google it: Brian reports that Google’s developer conference, Google I/O, is returning to Mountain View on May 10. Frederick has your look at Google’s developer preview of Android 14, while Aisha reports on the company’s VPN access expansion for all Google One members and other features.
- Quantumania: Frederick is at the American Physical Society March Meeting in Las Vegas and spoke to Krysta Svore, Microsoft’s VP of Advanced Quantum Development, who told him that the company is making it easier to integrate quantum and classical computing.
