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Montana’s governor today signed the country’s first bill that outright bans TikTok, paving the way for a legal fight that could determine the fate of a nationwide prohibition that is under consideration in Washington. The Montana ban is set to go into effect on Jan. 1, but any legal challenge could trigger an injunction to delay the ban’s start date. The WSJ has more here.
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Are you an ambitious founder with an early-stage startup eager to secure funding? Founder Shield’s “2023 Playbook to Raising Funding" is your key to success. Gain invaluable insights from industry giants, including top VC firms, seasoned lawyers, and risk management experts. In this step-by-step guide, Founder Shield unravels some of the most common mistakes founders make when securing funding from pitch decks to terms sheets to fundraising strategy — Download your copy today!
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Auradine, a one-year-old crypto startup that is developing energy-efficient silicon, zero-knowledge proofs, and AL models for decentralized applications, raised an $81 million Series A round. Celesta Capital and Mayfield were the co-leads; Marathon Digital Holdings, Cota Capital, DCVC, and Stanford University rounded out the syndicate. CoinDesk has more here.
Bolttech, a three-year-old Singapore startup that embeds insurance offers as consumers buy a product or service, raised a $196 million round at a $1.6 billion valuation. Tokio Marine was the lead investor, while MetLife and Khazanah Nasional also participated. TechCrunch has more here.
Moon Surgical, a five-year-old Paris startup that has built a robotic surgical assistant to aid surgeons in laparoscopic surgery, raised a $55.4 million round co-led by Sofinnova Partners and Nvidia, with previous investors GT Healthcare Capital, Cathay Health, and Johnson & Johnson Innovation also contributing. The Robot Report has more here.
Noveon Magnetics, a startup based in San Marcos, Tex., that provides rare earth magnets to businesses in the automotive, defense, energy production, medical, and consumer goods sectors, raised a $75 million Series B round. NGP and Aventurine Partners were the co-leads. Forbes has more here.
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| Big-But-Not-Crazy-Big Fundings |
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Adonis, a one-year-old New York startup whose software helps healthcare providers and insurance companies maximize revenue, raised a $17.3 million Series A round led by General Catalyst and including previous investors Bling Capital, Max Ventures, and Homebrew. The company has raised a total of $22.9 million. More here.
Aibidia, a nine-year-old Helsinki startup that helps companies manage transfer pricing issues, raised a $14.1 million Series A round. DN Capital and FPV Ventures co-led the transaction, while previous investors Icebreaker.vc and Global Founders Capital also anted up. The company has raised a total of $19.4 million. More here.
Alloy Enterprises, a three-year-old startup based in Burlington, Ma.. that uses a manufacturing method that streamlines the production of aluminum parts at scale without using aluminum powder, raised a $26 million Series A round led by Piva Capital, with additional funds provided by Unless, Flybridge Capital, MassMutual Catalyst Fund, Robert Downey Jr.'s Footprint Coalition, and previous investors Congruent Ventures and Riot Ventures. More here.
Ideal Semiconductor, a six-year-old startup based in Bethlehem, Pa., that makes power chips that manage power consumption in devices ranging from washing machines to internet servers, raised a $40 million Series C round. Applied Materials was one of the investors. The company has raised a total of $77.5 million. Reuters has more here.
Laguna Health, a three-year-old Tel Aviv startup whose AI engine integrates medical plans with social, behavioral, and emotional factors to help patients recover faster, raised a $15 million Series A round. SemperVirens and HC9 Ventures were the co-leads. The company has raised a total of $21.6 million. Calcalist has more here.
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Asymmetry Finance, a crypto startup that offers staking services for Ethereum hodlers, raised a $3 million seed round at a $20 million valuation. Ecco Capital was the deal lead, while Republic Capital, GMJP, and Ankr also participated. Decrypt has more here.
Entro, an Israeli startup that helps companies protect their account credentials, certificates, and API keys, raised a $6 million seed round. StageOne Ventures and Hyperwise Ventures co-led the transaction. TechCrunch has more here.
HealthSnap, an eight-year-old Miami startup that enables the remote management of chronic conditions, raised a $9 million Series A round. Asclepius Growth Capital and Steve Cashman were the co-leads; UnityPoint Health, Tampa General Hospital, Florida Funders, and MacDonald Ventures also invested. The company has raised a total of $21.6 million. More here.
Jia, a one-year-old Los Angeles startup that provides crypto loans to small businesses in emerging markets ranging from $200 up to $5,000, raised a $4.3 million seed round led by TCG Crypto, with BlockTower, Hashed Emergent, Saison Capital, and Global Coin Research also contributing. TechCrunch has more here.
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ESG on the rise! More than 4 out of 10 (43%) emerging managers expect investors will increase their ESG & DEI reporting expectations over the next 12 months. Read the complete findings in the NEW Dynamo Frontline Insight Report: Trends, Challenges, & Insights from Leading Emerging Managers. Dynamo surveyed 100+ Global Emerging Managers. Survey findings are contextualized in this recently released primary research highlighting sentiment around investment strategies, fundraising, fintech budgets, ESG/DEI reporting & more!
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BroadLight Capital, a two-year-old, L.A.-based investment firm founded by entertainment attorney Kevin Yorn, talent manager (and younger brother by three years) Rick Yorn, and investment banker David Dorfman, is taking the wraps off a $225 million debut fund that's being used to fund growth-stage consumer and tech companies. According to Deadline, the team's investments so far include the London-based commerce delivery platform App; a crypto payment infrastructure company called MoonPay; and Merama, a Latin American e-commerce platform. Per a statement, it has 90% of the fund left to deploy. Kevin and Rick Yorn are part of a Hollywood "dynasty" that includes their youngest brother Pete Yorn, the acclaimed singer-songwriter. Meanwhile Dorfman was previously Global Head of Technology, Media & Telecom Investment Banking at Macquarie Capital. More here.
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Database software provider Snowflake has been in advanced talks to acquire Neeva, a search startup founded by former top Google ad tech executive Sridhar Ramaswamy, according to The Information. Buying Neeva could help Snowflake offer artificial intelligence software that helps companies search for information in internal documents and data, according to people who do business with Snowflake. More here.
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Elon Musk used to say he put $100 million in OpenAI; now he says $50 million. TechCrunch explains what happened.
Where’s Shaq? Lawyers for FTX investors struggle to serve him papers. “In 30 years, I’ve never had to deal with this situation,” Adam Moskowitz, one of the lawyers representing the FTX investors, tells the WSJ. “We are not going away.”
U.S. prosecutors have accused former Apple engineer Weibao Wang of taking thousands of documents — including those related to Apple's work on autonomous vehicles — while also working for the U.S.-based subsidiary of a rival headquartered in China. It’s one of the first prosecutions by a task force focused on protecting critical U.S. technologies, notes DealBook. More here.
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Young Americans are dying at alarming rates, reversing years of progress.The U.S. is the only place among peer nations where firearms are the No. 1 cause of death in young people. Transportation-related fatalities have also risen significantly, owing partly to distractions from cellphones. The WSJ takes a look here.
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Relationship intelligence at every venture stage guide.
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