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Founders Fund Makes Its Only Bet in Legal AI. It’s in Brazil.
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By Yuliya Chernova, WSJ Pro
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Good day. Founders Fund went all the way to Brazil to make its only investment in the burgeoning legal AI sector.
The firm co-led a $35 million Series A investment alongside Sequoia Capital in São Paulo-based Enter at a $350 million valuation.
The startup is using artificial intelligence to gather evidence, draft responses to claims and detect fraud, to help corporations reduce the cost of coping with the thousands of cases many of them face every month in Brazil.
Brazil had about 84 million pending cases in its courts last year, roughly eight times the caseload in the U.S., according to Enter’s estimates. There were some 1.37 million lawyers in the country as of 2023, the highest per capita in the world, according to the International Bar Association.
“Our goal is to reduce legal costs in Brazil by half in the next three years,” said Mateus Costa-Ribeiro, Enter’s 25-year-old co-founder and chief executive.
Costa-Ribeiro’s accolades include becoming the youngest lawyer ever to win a case before the Supreme Court of Brazil at the age of 18 and being one of the youngest people to be admitted to the New York bar.
This marks the first time Sequoia and Founders Fund have reunited as investors in Brazil since the two U.S. venture firms backed Nubank, a banking company that is now public. Two Brazilian venture firms, OneVC and Atlantico, participated in Enter’s Series A as return investors.
Enter, founded in 2023, is already working with 15 public companies, including Airbnb, Latam Airlines, Nubank and others. It reached $10 million in contracted annualized revenue as of June, up from $1 million a year prior, Costa-Ribeiro said.
Read the full article.
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And now on to the news...
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Divergent Technologies uses its proprietary 3-D printers at its Los Angeles campus. PHOTO: DIVERGENT TECHNOLOGIES
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3-D printing, soup to nuts. Defense manufacturing startup Divergent Technologies is going beyond selling made-in-the-U.S. products by also making its own machinery. The Torrance, Calif.-based company, which manufactures vehicle frames, suspension systems and missile parts, last week closed a $290 million Series E fundraising round led by Rochefort Asset Management that values the company at $2.3 billion. Divergent, founded in 2014, has raised more than $1 billion to date.
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Chief Executive Lukas Czinger spoke with The Wall Street Journal about why the company builds its own 3-D printers, what the process was like to secure U.S. suppliers for the machinery and what is next for the startup.
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8,030
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The number of single family offices worldwide as of 2024, according to a Deloitte estimate, a 31% increase since 2019. The firm projects the number will grow to 10,720 family offices by 2030.
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Peter Thiel Wants Everyone to Think More About the Antichrist
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Peter Thiel, the billionaire investor in data, AI, defense and weapons development tech firms, wants everyone to think more about the end of the world. For about a year, Thiel has been laying out his understanding of biblical prophecies and the potential for the advance of technology to bring about an apocalyptic future. On Monday, he talked about the Antichrist.
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OpenAI Unveils Plans for Expansion of Computing Power
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OpenAI laid out its vision for a vast, $1 trillion build-out of computing warehouses across the U.S. and abroad Tuesday, showcasing the development of a Central Park-sized complex about 180 miles west of Dallas. A day after the startup announced a $100 billion deal with Nvidia that helped silence naysayers about its finances, OpenAI disclosed that it would ultimately need more than 13 times the computing power of its first nascent site, which is rising out of the Texas brushland.
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Reporting Program Lets Firms Highlight Emissions-Cutting Efforts
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A new independent accounting body is offering companies a way to showcase their work in reducing carbon emissions, after some businesses said their efforts weren’t being recognized. The Task Force for Corporate Action Transparency, or TCAT, launched two greenhouse gas accounting frameworks, allowing companies to go into more detail about the ways in which they are lowering their emissions. TCAT itself began operating Wednesday after being formed by a coalition of environmental groups.
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Tech Live: Where Tech’s Biggest Headlines Are Discussed
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WSJ Tech Live is The Wall Street Journal’s premier technology event series. Over three days, our journalists will sit down with top executives, founders and policymakers to explore the most pressing topics of today. It all takes place across two global destinations for innovation and investment: California and Qatar.
Register your interest to be part of this unique live journalism experience and receive access to exclusive discounted rates on your pass.
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Funds
European early-stage investor Ventech closed its sixth flagship fund at €175 million to focus on sectors including vertical AI, digital health, industrial software, cybersecurity and technological sovereignty. To date, the new vehicle has made 15 investments.
New York-based early-stage crypto investor Archetype closed its third fund with over $100 million in commitments.
People
Evoloh, a manufacturer of electrolyzer stacks for low-cost hydrogen production, said Mike Hill joined the company as chief commercial officer, and Art Shirley has transitioned to chief strategy officer.
Weavix, a workforce communications platform for industrial teams, appointed Brad Bales as chief revenue officer. He previously served as vice president of sales at Redzone.
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Filevine, a Salt Lake City-headquartered operating intelligence system for legal practices, picked up $400 million in funding from investors including Insight Partners and Accel.
Distyl AI, a San Francisco-headquartered startup building AI systems for Fortune 500 companies, scored a $175 million investment at a $1.8 billion valuation. Investors included Lightspeed Venture Partners, Khosla Ventures and Dell Technologies Capital.
Auterion, an Arlington, Va.-headquartered provider of autonomous systems software for defense, raised $130 million in Series B funding. Bessemer Venture Partners led the round, which included contributions from Lakestar, Mosaic Ventures and Costanoa Ventures. Alex Ferrara, partner at Bessemer, will join Auterion’s board.
Zerohash, a Chicago-based crypto and stablecoin infrastructure platform, secured $104 million in Series D-2 financing. Interactive Brokers led the round, which included participation from Nyca Partners, Liberty City Ventures and others.
AmplifAI, a Plano, Texas-based platform for contact center performance analytics, landed $33.7 million in Series B funding, which included $21.7 million in equity. CVS Health Ventures led the round.
Rocket, an India-headquartered app-building platform, grabbed a $15 million seed investment led by Salesforce Ventures and Accel.
Epic Padel, an Arlington, Va.-headquartered padel tennis owner, operator and investor, was seeded with a $10 million investment led by NowaisWorld and Stryde Ventures.
Testkube, a New York-based continuous testing platform, collected $8 million in Series A funding from investors including Insight Partners.
Forgent, a Berlin-based startup helping businesses win public sector contracts with AI, raised €4.3 million in pre-seed funding led by Cherry Ventures.
Ankored, a Boston-based youth sports safety and compliance platform, closed a $4 million seed round. Rally Ventures led the investment, with Managing Director Justin Kaufenberg joining the board.
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Many H-1B workers rushed to make it onto Saturday’s Air India Flight 179 from Mumbai to San Francisco.
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