|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Generative AI Is Fast-Tracking Unicorns
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Good day. Generative artificial intelligence is making waves across industries for its ability to produce text, images and even computer code from prompts. Something else generative AI is producing: unicorns.
That is not a ChatGPT hallucination. More than a dozen generative AI startups surpassed the billion-dollar private-market valuation mark within just four years of their initial venture-capital funding—some in less than two years, according to market researcher GlobalData. Startups valued at more than $1 billion, known as unicorns, typically take anywhere from seven to nine years to reach that milestone, GlobalData says.
Among the fastest new generative AI unicorns is Anthropic, an AI startup launched in early 2021 that builds ChatGPT-like language models that are used in its own chatbot, named Claude. On Tuesday, the San Francisco-based startup said it raised $450 million in a Series C funding round led by Spark Capital, with participation from Google, Salesforce Ventures, Sound Ventures, Zoom Ventures and other investors. Anthropic didn't disclose its post-money valuation.
Anthropic, along with other generative AI startups Adept and Character.AI, were among the new unicorn births in the first quarter, according to market analytics firm CB Insights.
Shagun Sachdeva, GlobalData’s disruptive tech project manager, in a research note said just two years ago that the generative AI space was seen as relatively immature, with investors still hashing out their strategies around a largely untested technology. That was before AI startup OpenAI released ChatGPT, its online generative AI chatbot, in November. Since then, Sachdeva said, “We are witnessing a clearer sense of direction, with more focused investments, deeper collaboration and partnerships.”
That and investors watching companies race to deploy generative AI technology in business units ranging from call centers to software-developing hubs and fast-food drive-through lanes.
Note to readers: VC Daily won’t be published on Monday in observance of Memorial Day in the U.S. We will be back on Tuesday.
And now on to the news...
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Nvidia Chief Executive Jensen Huang moved to make the company more mainstream after it was an established leader in graphics processors that made videogames look better.
PHOTO: RITCHIE B. TONGO/EPA/SHUTTERSTOCK
|
|
|
|
|
|
How AI is catapulting Nvidia toward the $1 trillion club. The business that started 30 years ago with a meeting at a Denny’s has become the semiconductor company at the heart of the artificial-intelligence revolution, putting it on the cusp of becoming the first $1 trillion chip company, The Wall Street Journal reports.
-
Nvidia’s shares soared more than 24% on Thursday to an all-time high after it said the AI boom is translating into record sales, fueling excitement that the new era in computing is kicking in faster than previously thought.
-
“When generative AI came along, it triggered a killer app for this computing platform that’s been in preparation for some time,” Nvidia Chief Executive Officer Jensen Huang said Wednesday.
More AI-related coverage:
|
|
|
|
SEC Penalizes Private-Fund Manager Sciens for Compliance Failure
|
|
|
The Securities and Exchange Commission penalized Sciens Diversified Managers for not having a proper policy for valuing fund assets, a failure the regulator said can lead firms to overcharge investors for fund management fees, WSJ Pro reports. The SEC announced the settlement with New York-based Sciens Wednesday. The private-fund manager agreed to pay a $275,000 penalty and hire a consultant to review its policies for valuing assets and calculating fees. “We take this SEC matter, like any SEC regulatory concerns, seriously and will always look for opportunities to improve our processes and procedures,” the firm said in a statement. It neither admitted nor denied the allegations.
|
|
Healthcare Provider GenesisCare Preps for Bankruptcy Filing
|
|
|
GenesisCare, a provider of cancer-care services backed by KKR, is preparing to file for bankruptcy within days, according to people familiar with the matter, WSJ Pro reports. The Australia-based company, which also operates in the U.S. and Europe, is in talks to receive roughly $200 million in new financing to see it through bankruptcy, the people said. GenesisCare is advised by lawyers from Kirkland & Ellis. China Resources Group is also an owner of the company.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Inside Wall Street’s Playbook to Prevent Debt-Ceiling Chaos
|
|
|
Wall Street is breaking out its doomsday playbook for how to survive a U.S. default, WSJ reports. The industry’s primary goal: keep the financial markets functioning. Many fear everything from computer glitches to cascading panic if the U.S. misses payments on Treasurys, which are a bedrock of trading and usually considered almost as safe as cash.
-
Under Wall Street’s plan, though, investors would be able to keep trading all U.S. Treasurys, even those with past-due interest or principal payments. Chaos and confusion would be kept at bay through a series of conference calls, each with an agenda already organized by the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association trade group.
|
|
|
|
|
People
Kleiner Perkins said Leigh Marie Braswell joined the firm as a partner. She previously held positions at Jane Street, Google and Scale AI.
1RoundTable Partners, a mid-to-late-stage growth equity firm that invests in the digital asset ecosystem, appointed Randy Little as partner. He was previously a managing director at Financial Technology Partners.
Exits
Applied Intuition, a tooling and software provider for autonomous vehicle development, said it agreed to acquire autonomous trucking software company Embark Technology in an all-cash deal valued at about $71 million.
Snowflake, which sells data analytics and management tools, acquired artificial intelligence startup Neeva for an undisclosed amount.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
BenchSci, a Toronto-based provider of artificial intelligence technology for preclinical life sciences research and development, scored 95 million Canadian dollars (about $70 million) in Series D funding from investors including Inovia Capital.
Zageno, an online marketplace for life science research products, picked up a $33 million investment led by General Catalyst and others. The company has offices in Cambridge, Mass., San Francisco, Berlin and India.
VarmX, a biotech startup based in The Netherlands focusing on the development of new approaches for the reversal of anticoagulation, added €30 million (about $32 million) in Series B2 funding led by Sound Bioventures.
Santa Clara, Calif.-based Ayar Labs, which develops silicon photonics for chip-to-chip connectivity, raised an additional $25 million in Series C1 funding, bringing its total Series C raise to $155 million. The round was led by new investor Capital TEN. VentureTech Alliance is also a new investor.
Datasembly, a Tysons, Va.-based provider of real-time product pricing, promotions and assortment data for retailers and consumer packaged goods brands, secured $16 million in Series B financing led by Noro-Moseley Partners.
Checkmate, a Los Angeles-based automated savings platform for online shopping, landed $15 million in Series A funding led by GV.
Spellbook, a legal assistant company that uses AI technology, raised $10.9 million in funding led by Moxxie Ventures, with participation from Thomson Reuters Ventures and others. The company was previously called Rally.
Faye, a Tel Aviv-based travel insurance startup, raised a $10 million Series A round from investors including Munich Re Ventures.
G.O.A.T. Fuel, an energy drink brand co-founded by NFL Hall of Famer Jerry Rice, was seeded with $5 million in funding co-led by Stage 1 Fund and Morrison Seger Venture Capital Partners.
|
|
|
|
|
Editor’s Note: Each week, we share selections from WSJ Pro that provide insight and analysis we hope are useful to you. The stories are unlocked for Wall Street Journal subscribers.
|
|
|
-
Yield-curve pioneer Campbell Harvey believes an economic contraction could begin this month and last two to three quarters. “The question is how deep the recession will be,” he said.
-
Companies are facing more shareholder proposals from both sides of the political spectrum, dragging them into the increasingly fractious conversations over environmental, social and governance issues.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
PHOTO: DADO RUVIC/REUTERS
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
