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How Are Firms Mining Internal Data With AI?
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By Marc Vartabedian, WSJ Pro
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Good day. New Enterprise Associates hired a new partner and head of artificial intelligence strategy in March to make investments and ready the venture firm’s data (some of it in decidedly retro formats) to pair with AI. (Read more below.) How are other firms leveraging their internal data to generate insights? Email responses to vcnews@wsj.com.
Last week, following a Silicon Valley Defense Group report, we asked, “How are investors judging defense tech and what might they do to spur growth in those startups?” Here are responses, edited for length and clarity:
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Jai Das, co-founder and president of Sapphire Ventures: “The metric (business won versus invested capital) being used to judge [venture] investments in defense tech makes no sense. That metric would show an even greater imbalance if it was used to measure Gen AI investments. The fact that defense tech investors have won business that is half of all the defense tech investments is actually a great sign that there is appetite in the military to buy from startups.”
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Dayna Grayson, co-founder and general partner at Construct Capital: “It’s true the DoD is in dire need of innovation. It’s also true that it takes a long time to turn that need into meaningful new defense contracts and projects and thus revenue for new startups. It is incumbent that VCs in this space have a deep understanding of that process to fully support founders and to drive returns in this space.”
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James Cross, founder of the Silicon Valley Defense Group and head of the venture-capital practice at Franklin Templeton, said in an interview: “The thing that investors may not fully understand is even if the DoD and Congress and policymakers have all made their mind up that we do need to build a new defense supplier base, the amount of time it takes…it’s measured in years and almost decades. If I could pick $10 billion more capital for the startups or $10 billion more in revenue, I would pick $10 billion of revenue. They don’t really need a ton more capital today. They’ve got plenty.”
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And now on to the news...
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Lila Tretikov, a partner and head of AI at New Enterprise Associates. PHOTO: NEA
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NEA is organizing decades of internal data for AI effort. New Enterprise Associates is sitting atop a hoard of internal data. Founded in 1977, NEA has held on to information on its many portfolio companies over the years, including old PowerPoint slides and PDF files. Paired with advanced AI, the firm says, that deep well of historical data could spark insights that could deliver a competitive edge over its younger competitors. But the vintage input needs to be made digestible to state-of-the-art AI models.
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Enter Lila Tretikov. Most recently Microsoft’s deputy chief technology officer, Tretikov joined NEA in March as a partner and head of AI strategy. WSJ Pro Venture Capital spoke with Tretikov about her new role and her project to turn NEA’s data trove into a workable asset.
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5%
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The approximate size of a stake Meta Platforms is in talks to acquire in eyewear company EssilorLuxottica, the company it partners with to make its Ray-Ban smart glasses, WSJ reports.
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Blackstone, Bullish on AI, Charges Into Data Centers
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Asset manager Blackstone sees its dealmaking accelerating more in the months and years ahead as it concentrates on artificial intelligence as a centerpiece of its investment strategy, WSJ Pro reports. The New York private-equity firm invested $33.7 billion in the second quarter, roughly 73% more than in the year-earlier period and the most in any quarter over the past two years, Stephen Schwarzman, Blackstone co-founder and chief executive, said Thursday during an earnings call with analysts. Much of the pick up focused on developing the computing infrastructure to support generative AI technology.
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SolarWinds Defeats Part of SEC’s Fraud Case Over Hack
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A federal judge on Thursday dismissed part of a landmark government lawsuit against SolarWinds and its top cybersecurity executive over how the company dealt with a breach disclosed in 2020 that affected customers that included U.S. government agencies and private companies, WSJ reports. The Securities and Exchange Commission last year sued Austin, Texas-based SolarWinds and its chief information security officer, Tim Brown, over how it presented the risk of a cyberattack before the breach and what it told investors after the hack occurred.
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Funds
Fintech-focused 13books Capital closed its newest fund with £121 million (about $157 million) in commitments.
Menlo Ventures and Anthropic, an artificial intelligence safety and research company, have partnered to launch the Anthology Fund, a $100 million initiative to back AI startups.
People
DCVC appointed Milo Werner as a general partner focused on climate. She was previously a general partner at Engine Ventures.
Hari Arul has returned to Khosla Ventures, this time as venture partner. He was most recently co-founder and president of Bold.
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Nearfield Instruments, a developer of metrology and inspection technology for the semiconductor manufacturing industry, closed a €135 million (about $147 million) Series C round from investors including Walden Catalyst. The company is based in The Netherlands.
Aven, a San Francisco-based startup offering consumer credit cards backed by home equity, scored $142 million in Series D funding led by Khosla Ventures and General Catalyst.
Asceneuron, a Switzerland-based developer of orally bioavailable therapeutics for debilitating neurodegenerative disorders, landed $100 million in Series C funding. Novo Holdings led the round, with Naveed Siddiqi joining the company’s board.
Kandji, a San Francisco-based Apple endpoint management and security platform, secured a $100 million investment from General Catalyst, with $50 million allocated to the company’s Series D round. The new funding gives Kandji an $850 million valuation. General Catalyst’s Deep Nishar will join the board.
Again, a startup that captures carbon dioxide and turns it into emission-free chemical products, secured $43 million in Series A financing co-led by GV and HV Capital. The company has offices in Copenhagen and Berlin.
Coast, a New York-based startup helping companies manage fuel and fleet spending, raised $40 million in Series B funding. Iconiq Growth led the investment, with General Partner Yoonkee Sull joining the board.
EneCoat Technologies, a Japan-based developer of perovskite solar cells, grabbed a ¥5.5 billion (about $34.1 million) Series C round. Woven Capital led the investment, with Partner Michiko Kato joining the board.
Arrcus, a San Jose, Calif.-based provider of networking software technology, picked up a $30 million investment from Nvidia, Lightspeed Venture Partners, General Catalyst and others.
Leya, a Stockholm-based legal technology platform powered by artificial intelligence, collected $25 million in Series A funding led by Redpoint Ventures.
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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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AT&T, UnitedHealth Group join a growing list of companies with hacks traced to the absence of one particular security measure: multifactor authentication.
JD Vance used his venture career to promote the heartland as deserving of and needing to be part of the tech entrepreneurial map. But the coasts still rule when it comes to venture funding.
Private-equity fims are preparing for next year’s renegotiation of Trump’s 2017 tax bill, aiming to prevent rate increases.
The Supreme Court’s rulings on how federal agencies regulate business will inspire new legal battles that could have long-term effects on the marketing industry.
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EMIL LENDOF/WSJ, GETTY IMAGES
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Ukraine rushes to create AI-enabled war drones (Reuters)
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Bye-bye bitcoin, hello AI: Texas miners leave crypto for next new wave (CNBC)
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Lab-grown diamonds are everywhere. This company thinks it has the secret to make them high-end (Wired)
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