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Venture Capital Is on the Verge of a New Role: Washington Insider
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By Yuliya Chernova, WSJ Pro
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Good day. Venture investors are stepping out this election cycle, rallying vocally behind candidates and funneling financial support to them, garnering more visibility for the whole industry.
Some investors are hoping this open support will translate to more influence when it comes to policy and rule-making.
Vice President Kamala Harris has closer ties to Silicon Valley than President Biden, and her campaign has raised money from investors including Reid Hoffman, co-founder of LinkedIn and an investor at venture firm Greylock. Former President Donald Trump’s running mate, Ohio Sen. JD Vance, is a former venture investor, and the Republican ticket has received backing from venture investors such as David Sacks, co-founder and partner at Craft Ventures.
“There’s definitely increased visibility of the industry,” said Bradley Tusk, chief executive and co-founder of venture firm Tusk Venture Partners, and a political consultant who has publicly said he supports the Democratic presidential ticket.
Both campaigns have “raised a lot more money from VC and they have closer relationships that lead to influence,” Tusk said.
The tech industry and venture capital have gotten much larger in recent years, leading investors to become more outspoken and prominent.
Read the full article.
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And now on to the news...
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ILLUSTRATION: RACHEL MENDELSON/WSJ, ISTOCK (3)
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Determining who can invest in private markets. Investing in private companies has long been a privilege reserved for the wealthy, those with the financial wherewithal to absorb big losses. There is an effort gaining steam to replace this market regulation with a new test. Literally. A group of lawmakers has proposed legislation that would allow any investor capable of passing an exam to buy private securities—an array of investments like shares in pre-IPO startups or loans to private companies that are considered riskier because they have looser disclosure rules than public securities and can be harder, and sometimes impossible, to sell in a pinch. Read the full Wall Street Journal article.
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WSJ, New York Post Sue Perplexity, Alleging ‘Massive Freeriding’
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Wall Street Journal parent Dow Jones and the New York Post are suing generative AI search engine Perplexity for copyright infringement, the latest battle between news publishers and the new crop of artificial-intelligence firms that use their content. The News Corp-owned publishers are accusing the AI startup of copying copyrighted news content and using it to generate responses to users’ queries, siphoning away traffic that would otherwise go to publishers’ websites.
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Stability in Freight Markets Is Reviving Logistics Dealmaking
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Mergers and acquisitions are making a comeback in the logistics sector as the roller coaster earnings that defined the pandemic era come to an end, WSJ reports. More companies are scouting purchases or considering a sale, according to finance and logistics executives, signaling the end of a two-year period in which the once-bustling corner of the M&A industry slowed. Bankers, private-equity firms and consultants say a return to stability in transportation and logistics markets is key to the renewed activity.
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Utopia Project's Real-World Plans
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A proposed tech utopia called Praxis is looking for like-minded individuals to be part of a new community. It’s turned to crypto to help finance the plans. WSJ Pro reporter Yuliya Chernova speaks to host Zoe Thomas about Praxis and other proposed tech utopias.
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Wall Street’s scrappy underdog has an ambitious plan to make it big. Many investment banks thinned their ranks as dealmaking sputtered in the past few years. Jefferies took the opposite approach, WSJ reports. The bank is spending hundreds of millions of dollars to lure top bankers from competitors. The goal: become the world’s fifth-largest investment bank and maintain the spot year after year.
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Funds
Acrew Capital raised more than $700 million in new capital across its family of funds to continue investing in the data and security, fintech and health sectors.
People
Torch Capital promoted Chris Harper from principal to partner. Prior to joining the firm in 2020, he was at Red Sea Ventures, General Catalyst and Luminary Labs.
Cyber-focused investor Paladin Capital Group said Nazo Moosa was appointed as managing director for the firm’s European operations. She was previously at Energy Impact Partners and Carlyle Group.
Insurtech startup Layr appointed Mark Hara as chief executive officer. He was previously CEO of FloodFlash.
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Zip, a San Francisco-based procurement orchestration platform, scored $190 million in Series D funding led by BOND, bringing the company’s valuation up to $2.2 billion.
Redaptive, a Denver-based company that funds and installs energy-saving and -generating equipment, added a $100 million investment from CPP Investments.
SchooLinks, an Austin, Texas-based provider of college and career readiness resources for K-12 students, landed $80 million in Series B funding led by Susquehanna Growth Equity.
Carbon Robotics, a Seattle-based AI-powered farming startup, raised $70 million in Series D funding. BOND led the round, with General Partner Mood Rowghani joining the company’s board.
Socket, a San Francisco-based security platform that protects apps from software supply chain attacks, snagged $40 million in Series B funding led by Abstract Ventures.
Stream.Security, a provider of real-time cloud threat and exposure management technology, closed a $30 million Series B round led by U.S. Venture Partners and Citi Ventures. The company is based in Tel Aviv and Palo Alto, Calif.
Oriole Networks, a London-based startup using light to train large language models, secured $22 million in Series A financing. Plural led the investment, with Ian Hogarth joining the board.
CrewAI, a São Paulo- and San Francisco-based multi-agent platform, has raised $18 million in funding from investors including Boldstart Ventures and Insight Partners.
Rollstack, a New York-headquartered startup helping to automatically create and update data-driven slide decks and documents, grabbed an $11 million Series A round. Insight Partners led the investment, and Vice President Kamran Pirasteh will join the board.
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Tim Cook, photographed at Apple Park in Cupertino, Calif. PHOTO: CAMPBELL ADDY FOR WSJ. MAGAZINE
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