Good day. Entrepreneur Dryden Brown said he has secured $525 million in milestone-based financing to develop Praxis, one of a number of tech utopia proposals under way around the world.

Brown, the 28-year-old founder and chief executive of Praxis, said the financing commitments are a step toward making his proposed technologically advanced locale a reality, as they will help persuade governments and development partners to allow the project to go ahead.

“We are trying to create a more heroic, more interesting place than anything we’ve seen,” Brown said.

Crypto investment firm GEM Digital, of the Bahamas, has committed to supply $500 million via a drawdown financing facility, said Jonathan Collins, director at GEM. Praxis would provide GEM with cryptocurrency tokens that represent ownership in the future real-estate development, Brown said. Praxis would be able to start drawing down the capital after it lists crypto tokens on a public crypto exchange, Collins said.

Praxis is in conversations with landowners in Latin America and the Mediterranean regions about the location for the first Praxis community, he said. The initial project would be roughly 1,000 acres and be suitable for about 10,000 people, he said.

About 14,000 people have joined the Praxis online community. To join, people have to exhibit useful skills, such as having a business that would benefit Praxis, as well as a commitment to what Praxis deems as “Western Civilization” values, Brown said.

“There’s a lot to be concerned about,” said David Murakami Wood, professor at the University of Ottawa, where his current project is to survey urban tech utopias.

Read the full story here.

And now on to the news...

NYT sends Perplexity a cease and desist notice. The New York Times is picking another fight in the AI world, The Wall Street Journal reports.

• The publisher has sent generative-AI startup Perplexity a “cease and desist” notice demanding that the firm stop accessing and using its content, according to a copy of the letter reviewed by The Wall Street Journal.
   
• The Times is already taking on another AI firm, ChatGPT creator OpenAI, with a lawsuit that is pending. It joins other publishers, including Forbes and Condé Nast, that have accused Perplexity of using their material without permission to generate AI search results.

U.S. antitrust regulators have dialed back plans to collect a mass of data from companies planning mergers, but even the softened requirements will be a tough adjustment for private-equity firms, WSJ Pro reports.

• On Oct. 10, the Federal Trade Commission voted unanimously to expand the amount of information collected under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Act, which established the federal review process for mergers and acquisitions. The new rules, initially proposed more than a year ago, are slated to take effect next year.
   
• Antitrust lawyers call it the biggest change to the Hart-Scott-Rodino process in decades, one that will saddle private equity with more paperwork, fees and headaches, but might not—the industry hopes—result in more blocked deals. Business lobbyists may yet sue to block the changes, but so far haven’t tipped their hands.

Alibaba and Baidu are investing in a nearly $700 million equity offering by a Chinese smart-driving firm, indicating rising demand for assets in the rapidly growing market for autonomous driving, WSJ reports. Horizon Robotics is planning to raise as much as 5.41 billion Hong Kong dollars through an initial public offering, equivalent to $696.6 million. Alibaba, Baidu and state-owned Beijing Financial Holdings are among the cornerstone investors who have agreed to take over 30% of the company’s shares ahead of the IPO. Horizon Robotics is expected to start trading on the Hong Kong exchange on Oct. 24.

Funds

20VC raised $400 million for its third fund, which will make seed and Series A investments. The London-based firm secured $140 million for its second fund in 2021.

Nordic early-stage firm node.vc closed a €71 million fund from investors including Saminvest.

Decagon, a San Francisco-based developer of AI-powered customer support agents, landed $65 million in Series B funding led by Bain Capital Ventures.

Galileo, a San Francisco-based AI evaluation and observability startup, raised $45 million in Series B funding. Scale Venture Partners led the round, with Partner Andy Vitus joining the company’s board.

Neuron7.ai, a Santa Clara, Calif.-based service resolution intelligence provider, scored $44 million in Series B funding led by Smith Point Capital.

Equilibrium Energy, a Boston-based clean power technology provider, closed a $39 million Series B round led by DCVC.

Everstage, a New York-headquartered provider of sales performance management software for enterprises, raised $30 million in Series B funding led by Eight Roads.

Monogoto, a Palo Alto, Calif.-based startup whose technology simplifies device connectivity for enterprises and developers, secured $27 million in Series A financing led by Toyota Ventures.

Tebi, an Amsterdam-based financial platform for independent hospitality and retail businesses, picked up €20 million in Series A funding led by Index Ventures.

DeNexus, a Boston-based provider of cyber risk management for operational technology, collected $17.5 million in Series A funding. Punja Global Ventures led the investment.

Fin, a London-based sustainable last-mile delivery startup, was seeded with a $7 million investment led by MaC Venture Capital.

• Should you be nice to your chatbot?
   
• ASML expects slower semiconductor recovery, weighing on chip stocks
   
• Why the Oura smart ring has a cult following
   
• Palliser builds stake in AI chip investor SK Square, sources say
   
• Intel, AMD create advisory group to shape future of X86 chip

• The deep-sea 'emergency service' that keeps the internet running (BBC)
   
• Compliance pros in hot demand as crypto and fintech firms staff up (The Information)

This newsletter was compiled by Zachary Cole, Yuliya Chernova and Matthew Strozier.

WSJ Pro Venture Capital is a premium service of The Wall Street Journal. We cover venture capital and the global startup ecosystem. Share your tips, comments and questions: vcnews@wsj.com

The Team: Matthew Strozier, Yuliya Chernova, Brian Gormley, Angus Loten and Marc Vartabedian.

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