|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Venture-Backed Virta Sees Promise in Cancer Study; Can Nvidia’s Dominance Survive the AI Computing Sea Change?
|
|
By Brian Gormley, WSJ Pro
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Good day. Venture-backed Virta Health uses personalized nutrition to help patients overcome metabolic diseases. A small study suggests its approach might also help prolong survival in people with one of the deadliest of cancers.
Virta, whose customers include employers and health insurers, uses human coaching, artificial intelligence and other tools to help people with prediabetes, Type 2 diabetes and obesity maintain a low-carbohydrate diet.
While Virta has focused on metabolic diseases, researchers outside the company have seen early evidence that a ketogenic diet—which is higher in fat, lower in carbohydrates and moderate in protein—could benefit cancer patients.
Researchers from institutions including the Mayo Clinic and the USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center recently studied ketogenic diet in combination with chemotherapy in patients with advanced pancreatic cancer.
They evaluated 32 patients and compared those who ate their standard diet with those following a ketogenic diet with support from Virta.
Patients in the Virta group lived an average of 13.7 months, while participants in the control group lived an average of 10.2 months. The research was published on March 12 in the journal Cancer. Larger studies are needed to confirm the study results.
Virta, whose investors include Tiger Global, didn’t fund the study, but supported it by providing free access to its program, said Virta Chief Medical Officer Dr. Adam Wolfberg.
Dr. Joshua Rabinowitz, one of the authors of the paper, said a ketogenic diet lowers circulating glucose, a primary fuel for pancreatic cancer, while triggering an increase in the nutrient 3-hydroxybutyrate, which is a highly effective fuel for immune cells.
The benefit of combining a ketogenic diet with chemotherapy likely arises from some combination of increased stress on cancer cells and enhanced anti-tumor immunity, he said.
Virta doesn’t have plans to conduct its own cancer studies, Wolfberg said. “I think we are much more likely to support other researchers' trials in the same way we supported this trial,” he added.
|
|
|
And now on to the news...
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Regina Lawless Toney signing her book ‘Do You’ in her Oakland, Calif., home. ALEXA TREVIÑO FOR WSJ
|
|
|
|
|
|
Black women are racing to start businesses. Black women today are starting their own businesses at a faster clip than any other demographic in America, according to a recent report—and a less hospitable corporate world has a lot to do with it. The number of Black women-owned businesses rose about 13% last year, more than for any other racial group of men or women, according to a 2026 report by Wells Fargo and research and consulting firm Ventureneer. Yet, the climate for budding entrepreneurs of color is also getting tougher.
|
|
|
|
|
0.3%
|
|
The share of venture-capital funding going to Black-owned businesses in 2025, the lowest share in a decade, Crunchbase data show.
|
|
|
|
|
Can Nvidia’s Dominance Survive the Sea Change Under Way in AI Computing?
|
|
|
Each spring, thousands of software engineers gather in San Jose, Calif., to ogle the latest superfast computer processors and take coding workshops at Nvidia’s annual developers’ confab. The event is known as GTC, which stands for GPU Technology Conference. It might soon need a new name. This year, for the first time, the focus of the event won’t be squarely on GPUs—or graphics processing units—the uniquely fast and powerful chips upon which Nvidia built its massive computing empire and became the world’s largest publicly traded company. Instead, much more of the talk will be about inference, the type of computing required to run models and allow them to respond to user queries.
|
|
Musk Says xAI Must Be Rebuilt as Co-Founders Exit
|
|
|
One by one, the founding team of xAI is leaving the artificial-intelligence company as Elon Musk pushes for a complete reorganization. The departures are part of bigger changes in recent weeks that have shrunk the original team that helped Musk launch the creator of the Grok chatbot. The shakeup comes just over a month after Musk merged xAI into his rocket company SpaceX in a deal that valued xAI at $250 billion. In a recent social-media post, Musk said xAI “was not built right first time around, so is being rebuilt from the foundations up.”
|
|
|
|
|
Correction: KAST said Sandeep Patil from QED Investors will join its board of directors. A New Money item in the March 11 newsletter incorrectly said Nigel Morris was joining the board.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Funds
Singtel Innov8, the corporate venture-capital arm of Singtel, launched a $250 million fund. The new vehicle will focus on growth-stage AI companies in areas critical to the Singapore-based telecommunications operator, such as customer engagement, network operations and cybersecurity.
People
Quantum technology company Photonic named Don Mattrick as chief executive officer. He replaces Paul Terry, who will transition to chief product officer.
Otter.ai, an AI notetaker for the workplace, appointed Kenny Scannell as chief revenue officer. He most recently served as senior vice president of global sales at Rocketlane.
Nuclear fuel startup Standard Nuclear appointed Kevin Harrill as chief financial officer. He most recently served as senior vice president and CFO of Centrus Energy.
|
|
|
|
|
Xscape Photonics, a Santa Clara, Calif.-based semiconductor startup developing photonic solutions for AI data-center fabrics, added $37 million in new funding, bringing the company’s Series A round to $81 million. Addition led the latest tranche, which included participation from IAG Capital Partners, Nvidia and others.
Swarm Aero, an Oxnard, Calif.-headquartered developer of large uncrewed aerial vehicle swarms, picked up $35 million in Series A funding. Two Sigma Ventures and Silent Ventures led the round, which included contributions from Khosla Ventures, Scribble Ventures, MaC Venture Capital and others.
Scanner, a San Francisco-based cybersecurity startup, nabbed $22 million in Series A financing led by Sequoia Capital.
Standard Kernel, a Palo Alto, Calif.-based AI infrastructure startup, was seeded with a $20 million investment. Jump Capital led the round, which saw participation from General Catalyst, Felicis, Cowboy Ventures and others.
AgZen, a Somerville, Mass.-based agricultural spraying technology startup, raised $10 million in Series B funding led by DCVC Bio.
Freestyle, a diaper and wipes brand, closed a $10 million Series A round. Silas Capital led the investment, which included participation from ECP Growth.
Mantis Space, an Albuquerque, N.M.-based startup developing orbital energy infrastructure to support the next phase of commercial space activity, emerged from stealth with $10 million in seed funding from investors including Rule 1 Ventures and Montauk Capital.
Ezra, an AI-powered finance platform helping investors and lenders organize, analyze and deploy capital into real-world assets, was seeded with an $8 million investment led by Congruent Ventures.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
ILLUSTRATION: JEREMY LEUNG/WSJ
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
