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How Can the Startup World Boost Gender Diversity?
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By Marc Vartabedian, WSJ Pro
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Good day. The number of financings for U.S. startups founded only by women as a percentage of overall deal count remained unchanged at 8% last year, the same percentage as the preceding three years, according to a report published Thursday by analytics firm Crunchbase. What steps would help expand gender diversity in the venture and startup ecosystem? Email responses to vcnews@wsj.com.
Last week, we asked if venture investment in artificial intelligence has reached its peak. Here are edited excerpts from the responses:
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Tomasz Tunguz, general partner at Theory Ventures: “I don't think so. I think we'll see one wave crest soon, then the first wave of companies either hit their milestones or not. Then a second wave of companies achieve substantial revenue growth leveraging the learning, the new models and superior architectures gathered from the first wave.”
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Raghu Madabushi, director at National Grid Partners: “We are very much in the early innings of a long cycle of AI investment. We expect the penetration of the next phase to drive more investment in a new cycle targeting enterprise-user-centric, productivity-focused applications. It’s too early to say ‘all software will be AI,’ but that is potentially the view that investors are likely chasing.”
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Oliver Libby, managing partner at H/L Ventures: "VC funding for AI is going to come in waves. The broad fundamental [large language model] category is now dominated by a half dozen players that raised more than $30 billion in the last year, so new entrants in that category are hard to fund. Going forward, however, funding will flow to startups that use AI in specific ways or in very focused areas, and that category is just getting started.”
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And now on to the news...
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Asheem Chandna, right, an investor at Greylock Partners, spoke at The Wall Street Journal‘s Tech Live: Cybersecurity conference in New York on Thursday. PHOTO: ARIA ISADORA FOR THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
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Cybersecurity for the AI age. Venture firm Greylock Partners has led a $36 million financing for a startup that uses artificial intelligence to help enterprises boost their defenses against cyberattacks. Greylock in September provided pre-seed financing for Seven AI, a Boston-based startup that has operated quietly until now. Seven AI co-founders Lior Div and Yonatan Striem Amit previously co-founded high-profile cybersecurity company Cybereason.
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Seven AI was valued at north of $100 million after the round, according to Div, the chief executive. The company didn’t have a product at the time, just an idea for it.
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Historically, cybersecurity has been a battle between humans, but increasingly the fight will be between AI and AI, Greylock investor Asheem Chandna said during The Wall Street Journal’s Tech Live: Cybersecurity conference Thursday. “Humans are not going to stand a chance fighting AI,” Chandna said at the event.
More: CrowdStrike Chief, FBI Agent and Others Discuss Spies, Threats and Deepfakes, at WSJ Tech Live: Cybersecurity
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Will Cloud Software Be Ready for Its AI Moment?
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It is too early to determine winners of the artificial intelligence boom, but so far, those companies haven’t been cloud software vendors like Salesforce and Workday, The Wall Street Journal reports. Salesforce’s recent earnings miss, which disappointed investors looking for software-as-a-service companies to benefit from the generative AI hype, may be tied to the fact that the AI investment cycle is still unfolding. That is why some analysts say the issue for cloud software isn’t a matter of product-market fit, but rather timing.
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Drone Delivery’s Next Challenge Is How to Clear Cost Hurdles
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Drone operators have figured out how to defy gravity to deliver items from diapers to prescription medicines by air. Making a profit is proving more challenging, Companies from Walmart and Amazon to delivery app DoorDash have started aerial deliveries in parts of the U.S., as they look to speed up fulfillment while reducing carbon emissions. But those deliveries cost significantly more than using a car, bike or van to deliver goods, partly because of federal regulations requiring that each drone remain within sight of a human employee, logistics experts say.
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Drone operators say they have a clearer path this year because federal regulators have granted several companies permission to fly more freely.
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Funds
Cisco’s corporate venture investment arm launched a $1 billion artificial intelligence fund and has committed nearly $200 million of the vehicle to date.
WndrCo raised more than $460 million for new seed and venture funds. The Redwood City, Calif.-headquartered firm invests in sectors including future of work, consumer technology, cybersecurity and developer infrastructure.
People
B Capital appointed Brandon Vongsawad as partner and chief legal officer. He was previously at TPG and Kirkland & Ellis.
Growth equity investment firm Edison Partners promoted Michael Dirla to vice president. Prior to joining the firm in 2021, he was an associate at Lightyear Capital.
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Osteal Therapeutics, a developer of therapies for orthopedic infections, completed a $50 million Series D round from Johnson & Johnson Innovation – JJDC and others.
Cube, a San Francisco-based startup helping companies manage and optimize their analytics workflow, closed a $25 million funding round from new investor Databricks Ventures alongside previous backers.
Gireve, a Paris-based electric-vehicle charging platform, picked up €20 million in funding from investors including Partech.
Vantage Discovery, a San Francisco-based search and content discovery platform for e-commerce, raised $16 million in Series A funding. Lobby Capital led the round, with David Hornik joining the company’s board.
Sixfold, a New York-based provider of generative AI technology to insurance underwriters, secured $15 million in Series A financing led by Salesforce Ventures.
Fizz, a New York-based provider of a debit card for young adults, landed $14.4 million in seed funding led by Kleiner Perkins.
Axena Health, a Newton, Mass.-based medical device company focused on female pelvic health, added $9.4 million in Series A funding from investors including Cross-Border Impact Ventures and Avestria Ventures. CBIV’s Donna Parr will join the board.
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Here is our weekly roundup of stories from across WSJ Pro that we think you'll find useful.
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Buyout firms have recently turned away from buying up smaller medical businesses as antitrust authorities have scrutinized such acquistions.
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A law firm’s private-equity work cost it a chapter 11 assignment—and threatens an arrangement that other top firms use to tap into the lucrative business of bankruptcy. (🔒)
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The surge in U.S. government debt isn’t new, but has reached levels threatening to have a big impact on the rest of the world. (🔒)
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Companies can’t seem to quit decades-old spreadsheet tools. Some say that’s making it harder to use AI.
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Apple now finds itself in the unusual position of having to take risks. MICHAEL NAGLE/BLOOMBERG NEWS
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