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AI Wildfire Detection Startup Raises $44 Million
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By Marc Vartabedian, WSJ Pro
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Good day. Artificial intelligence is coming for wildfires.
Pano AI, a startup that is using AI to detect wildfires before they explode into massive conflagrations, has raised a $44 million funding round. The San Francisco-based startup says the capital will help it deploy more of its technology in wildfire-prone areas including California and Australia.
Pano installs cameras at high vantage points that can offer a panoramic view of surrounding areas that have a history of wildfires. AI software analyzes the camera’s view to detect smoke and can automatically relay information on potential fire starts to authorities. Pano says its current systems cover nearly 30 million acres.
The Series B round was led by Giant Ventures. Investors including Liberty Mutual Strategic Ventures, MassMutual Ventures, Initialized Capital and Salesforce Ventures also participated in the financing.
The round signals investor willingness to back startups that rely in part on government entities for revenue. Venture investors have historically been reluctant to back these startups because of concerns about limited growth opportunities and bureaucratic hurdles.
Read the full article here.
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And now on to the news...
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Dead fish on Clearwater Beach in Pinellas County, Fla., after a flare-up of the toxic red tide algae in 2023. PHOTO: DOUGLAS R. CLIFFORD/ASSOCIATED PRESS
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Climate tech. An Israeli startup is rethinking how to tackle two of the planet’s most stubborn environmental threats—toxic algae that can lead to dead zones in oceans and rising carbon dioxide levels, WSJ Pro reports.
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BlueGreen Water Technologies is developing a novel approach to neutralizing harmful algal blooms, those vivid slicks of toxic plant life that can choke vast areas of sea and fresh water alike. In the process, it is also offering a potentially scalable new tool in the global effort to fight climate change.
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Algal blooms aren’t just a nuisance or a threat to wildlife, said Chief Executive Eyal Harel. They are a space where water pollution, biodiversity collapse and greenhouse gas emissions intersect. “What you’re looking at in a bloom is an ecological coup d’état,” he says. “One toxic species overruns an entire ecosystem, drives out competition and turns the water into a dead zone.”
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These Charts Show Why Wall Street’s Gloom Over Deals Is Overblown
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Wall Street bankers who were bemoaning a slowdown in deals are finding themselves now looking at a reasonably solid year. Maybe. The mood in M&A circles has been lukewarm under President Trump despite a number of megadeals this year, including Google’s $32 billion purchase of cybersecurity startup Wiz and Charter Communications’ $22 billion deal for Cox Communications. The damped enthusiasm is partly the result of dashed hopes: Many bankers had believed the Trump administration would usher in a surge in mergers and acquisitions after a relative lull in the last few years. The reality has been mixed. See the full article and charts here.
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The Army’s Newest Recruits: Tech Execs From Meta, OpenAI and More
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The nerd brigade is reporting for duty. They probably won’t win any push-up contests and might not be sharpshooters. Yet for part of the year, a set of brainy Silicon Valley executives will trade their corporate-branded vests for U.S. Army Reserve uniforms because they know a heckuva lot about artificial intelligence. The chief technology officers from Palantir and Meta Platforms—Shyam Sankar and Andrew “Boz” Bosworth, respectively—will join Kevin Weil and Bob McGrew of OpenAI pedigree to make up the inaugural cohort of a new Army innovation corps. Their mission: swap C-suites for bases and bring some badly needed tech upgrades to the Army.
Read the full article here.
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Funds
Seven Stars launched its inaugural fund with $40 million in commitments to invest in early-stage AI startups.
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PostHog, a developer platform to analyze, test, observe and deploy new features, scored a $70 million Series D investment, giving the company a postmoney valuation of $920 million. Stripe led the funding, which included participation from GV and others.
Muon Space, a Mountain View, Calif.-based developer of low Earth orbit satellite constellations, closed an $89.5 million Series B1 round, bringing total Series B funding to $146 million. The Series B1 portion, which included $44.5 million in equity, was led by Congruent Ventures.
Knowunity, a Berlin-based learning platform built by and for students, raised €27 million in Series B funding led by XAnge.
Conveyor, a San Francisco-based AI agent platform for customer trust automation, landed $20 million in Series B funding. SignalFire led the round, which included participation from Oregon Venture Fund and Cervin Ventures.
Warp, a Los Angeles-based AI-powered freight network startup, secured $10 million in Series A financing led by Up.Partners and Blue Bear Capital.
Sunrise Robotics, a Slovenia-based startup developing AI-trained industrial robots, emerged from stealth with $8.5 million in funding led by Plural.
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Anne Wojcicki arrived for a House committee hearing this week in Washington. PHOTO: ANDREW HARNIK/GETTY IMAGES
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San Francisco VC firm fined $215 million for illegally using Russian oligarch funds (SF Standard)
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11 startups from YC Demo Day that investors are talking about (TechCrunch)
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