SoftBank CEO offers glimpse of deal logic with new AI investmentSoftBank Group CEO Masayoshi Son on Thursday said its near $100 billion technology fund is stepping up its investment in U.S. software unicorn Automation Anywhere, in a bid to dominate the future of artificial intelligence by taking on one of the world's most highly valued AI companies. “We agreed yesterday to increase the amount of investment,” Son said during a conference organized by Automation Anywhere in Tokyo, without specifying a figure. SoftBank’s Vision Fund invested $300 million into the automation software company last November, four months after Goldman Sachs and others injected $250 million. The company, which last year was valued at close to $2 billion, is [ asia.nikkei ] Reporter’s Notebook: Oil & gas venture capital investing autonomous vehicles, machine learningThe self-driving car startup Aurora Innovation made headlines earlier this year when Amazon joined a $530 million funding round to advance its technology that aims in part to revitalize cities by reducing traffic. A less publicized investor in that round was the venture capital arm of the oil major Royal Dutch Shell - even though self-driving cars could mean less traffic and less gasoline consumption one day. [ Houston Chronicle ] Andrew Yang is promising to revitalize America. His nonprofit tried, too, but couldn’t.Andrew Yang spent six years as an evangelist for how startups could transform American cities, collecting accolades from the White House, delivering TED-style talks, and starring in documentaries. All of that made him feel terrible. That’s because, while the award committees might not have known it, Yang, now a Democratic candidate for president, knew that he didn’t really deserve the applause. “It’s a very hard thing to admit to oneself,” Yang told Recode. He had gotten it wrong. [ VOX ] NYU professor and Pivot co-host Scott Galloway | Code 2019Every year, Scott Galloway, an NYU professor and Kara Swisher's Pivot co-host, makes critical predictions for tech. And more often than not, he’s right. Check out his predictions for the rest of 2019. Chengdu Global Venture, Investment and Financing Docking Day is on the StageFrom June 10-12, 2019, the Global Innovation and Entrepreneurship Fair (Chengdu, China) hosted by the Chengdu Municipal People's Government and was officially opened in Chengdu. As an important component of this year's Fair, the Chengdu Global Venture Investment and Financing Docking Day with the theme of Convergence and Transaction also appeared in the New International Convention and Exhibition Center of Chengdu Century City on June 12. [ Yahoo] Top dog: Chewy's path to its $8B+ IPO [datagraphic]Chewy priced its shares at $22 apiece Thursday, above the high end of its upwardly revised range. The price gives Chewy an initial market cap of roughly $8.7 billion—a sizable increase from the $3.35 billion PetSmart paid to acquire the company in 2017, in what was then the biggest ecommerce acquisition ever. Chewy sold 5.6 million shares in the offering, raising $123.2 million; PetSmart planned to sell 36 million shares but increased its offering to 40.9 million. [ Pitchbook ] How Much Equity to Give Your Cofounder - Michael SeibelY Combinator Partner and Pebble Founder Eric Migicovsky answers, should you move your company to Silicon Valley? He Sold His First Startup To Yahoo, His Second One To Google And Now His Third Is Worth $500 MillionCraig Walker has pulled off an incredible string of successful startups. He has achieved multiple exits with the most prized buyers while raising funding from the who’s who of Silicon Valley— all while empowering today’s modern businesses to operate leaner and more efficiently. [ Forbes ] A Queensland startup has built a smartphone video platform it’s hoping will be the next CanvaVideo is the new black, especially when it comes to corporate communications and plenty of startups are looking at how to solve the problem of how to make it easier and cheaper to turn amateurs into Gillian Armstrongs. [ Startup Daily ] Why SoFi would be interested in buying naming rights to the LA football stadiumThe finance startup SoFi still won’t confirm that its name will adorn a new football stadium in Inglewood, California, that will be the home of the Los Angeles Rams and Chargers. But it is beginning to explain why an unusual deal like this would make sense. [ VOX ] When Tech Investors Venture Off Course: Silicon Valley Makes a Mess in the KitchenSilicon Valley’s creed is progress through disruption, famously endorsed by Mark Zuckerberg’s motto “move fast and break things.” But when it comes to consumer products, some tech investors may just make a mess. [ WSJ ] Medium CEO Ev Williams | Full interview | Code 2019Medium CEO Ev Williams sits down with Vox Editor-at-Large Ezra Klein at the 2019 Code Conference. LTSE CEO Eric Ries | Full interview | Code 2019Eric Ries, founder and CEO of Long Term Stock Exchange, sits down with Ezra Klein, co-founder and editor-at-large of Vox, at the 2019 Code Conference. Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon | Full interview | Code 2019Goldman Sachs chairman and CEO David Solomon sits down with Recode Editor-at-Large Kara Swisher and Recode Senior Reporter Theodore Schleifer at the 2019 Code Conference. Rockefeller Foundation’s Rajiv Shah explains how tech can actually help save the world“Five to seven years ago when I was in government and I’d come to the Valley and visit with CEOs and companies, there was this explicitly stated assumption that ‘because we’re at Facebook, we’re saving the world,’” Rockefeller Foundation President Rajiv Shah told the audience at Code Conference on Tuesday. “They don’t say that now.” [ VOX ] Australia’s leading medicinal cannabis startup is on target to raise $2 million from crowdfundingThe problems startup founders set out to solve are often drawn from personal experience and for Dr Ben Jansen, founder of Cannabis Doctors Australia (CDA), it doesn’t get much more personal as the nascent medicinal cannabis industry establishes in Australia. Jansen’s family business started when his mother was diagnosed with terminal cancer. They faced the same hurdle many patients with serious illness report – an inability to access adequate pain relief. [ Startup Daily ] Should tech companies build tools for US immigration enforcement agencies?RAICES, or the Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services, is a Texas-based nonprofit that’s been providing free legal aid to immigrants for decades. But you probably only heard about the organization when last year it made history for being the recipient of the largest-grossing crowdfunding campaign in Facebook’s history. [ VOX ] Reporter’s Notebook: Oil & gas venture capital investing autonomous vehicles, machine learningGlobal business consultancy Capgemini is launching its first-ever investment fund, with plans to invest up to 90 million euros ($102 million) in early-stage technology companies. Capgemini, which advises global companies on their organizational and technology needs, said its consultancy business would help accelerate the growth of the firms backed by the fund, which would be managed by asset manager ISAI Gestion. [ Business Insider ] Curated by Venture Pulse Team. Find us on : [ Venturepulse.org, CrunchBase, AngelList ] |