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The official channel of V3V Ventures. We share updates on our investments, portfolio companies, and fund activities. Buy Ads: @JamesCookTg (this is our only account).
⚠️ U.S. Tightens Grip on AI Investments in China Amid Security Concerns
The U.S. is finalizing rules that will ban American investments in China's AI, quantum tech, and semiconductor sectors starting January 2, targeting technologies with military and surveillance uses. Investors will be restricted from providing funds or expertise that could enhance China's military and intelligence capabilities, with limited exceptions for publicly traded securities.
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👀 Venture Capital's Political Power Play: Millions at Stake in the 2024 Election
Venture capitalists are predominantly donating to Democratic candidates, with Reid Hoffman leading as the top individual donor at nearly $30 million, while Vinod Khosla contributed over $3 million to Democratic causes. In contrast, Republican donations are significantly lower, with Doug Leone from Sequoia Capital contributing about $3.8 million, and Andreessen Horowitz investing $47 million in blockchain-friendly initiatives that support both parties.
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💵 South Korean Cybersecurity Startup Thero6 Raises $6 Million in Seed Round to Boost Blockchain Security
Thero6, a South Korean cybersecurity startup developing AI-powered blockchain firewalls and algorithms, has secured $6 million in a seed round, including $1.07 million from crowdfunding. The company aims to expand its team and make its product demo available to Asian firms by 2025.
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🔍 Joseph Jacks and OSS Capital: Betting on Open Source Startups
Joseph Jacks, founder of OSS Capital, is making waves in the investment world by focusing on early-stage open source startups like Formbricks, AppFlowy, and Cal.com. He believes that the interplay of philanthropy and capitalism within the open source realm can lead to sustainable business models, despite the inherent challenges of monetizing open source software.
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💵 Waymo Secures $5.6 Billion in Series C Funding from Alphabet, a16z, and More
Waymo has completed a $5.6 billion Series C funding round, with Alphabet leading the way alongside prominent investors like Andreessen Horowitz, Silver Lake, and Fidelity. With this new funding, Waymo plans to expand its robotaxi services, now serving over 100,000 customers weekly in cities like San Francisco and Phoenix.
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👀 General Catalyst Raises $8B for Global Startup Investments
U.S.-based venture capital firm General Catalyst has secured $8 billion in new funds to back early-stage startups across the U.S., Europe, and India. The funds will support sectors such as AI, healthcare, defense, and climate tech, with $4.5 billion allocated for core VC activities, $1.5 billion for building new companies with proven founders, and $2 billion for specialized accounts.
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💵 Andreessen Horowitz Provides Nvidia GPUs to AI Startups via Oxygen Cluster
Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) has launched its Oxygen program, offering portfolio companies access to Nvidia H100 GPUs, enabling them to train AI models without the burden of high market prices. This initiative helps AI startups compete with larger tech firms by offering flexible, low-cost access to high-performance compute resources.
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📌 Interface.ai Raises $30M to Expand AI-Powered Banking Solutions
Customer automation platform Interface.ai raised $30M in a round led by Avataar Venture Partners to expand its AI-based solutions for banks. The platform helps financial institutions automate customer service tasks with voice and text-based AI agents, aiming to democratize AI access for regional and community banks.
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💎 Perplexity Aims for $8B Valuation in New Fundraise
Perplexity, an AI search engine, is reportedly in talks to raise $500 million at an $8 billion valuation, more than doubling its previous $3 billion valuation from a summer raise by SoftBank. The company handles about 15 million queries daily and generates around $50 million in annual revenue, despite facing legal challenges over web scraping.
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💵 Generative AI Startups Secure $3.9B in Q3 2024 Despite Challenges
Investments in generative AI startups reached $3.9 billion across 206 deals in Q3 2024, with U.S.-based companies securing $2.9 billion of that total. Major funding rounds included Magic’s $320 million and Glean’s $260 million. Despite challenges related to high computational demands and legal questions around data use, VCs remain confident in generative AI’s potential to impact industries like scientific research and coding automation.
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🔍 Venture Exit Values from Public Listings Decline Sharply in Q3 2024
The third quarter of 2024 saw a significant reduction in exit values from public listings, as reflected in the latest data from the PitchBook-NVCA Venture Monitor report. Buyouts and acquisitions continued to dominate the exit landscape, while public listings saw a sharp decline, marking one of the lowest points since 2021.
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🟢 Cyera Acquires Trail Security for $162 Million Amid Sluggish Cybersecurity M&A
Cyera, a New York-based data security startup, acquired Trail Security for $162 million despite the generally sluggish M&A market. This deal is seen as a strategic move by Cyera to enhance its platform, which helps companies manage and secure their data.
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📌 Surge in Data Center Investments Fuels Startup Growth
Recent investments in data centers, including Blackstone's $8.2 billion plan in Spain, are boosting funding for database-related startups, which have raised $1.3 billion this year. Notable rounds include Lightmatter's $400 million Series D and Xscape Photonics' $44 million Series A.
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🔍 Market Performance of Top 15 Tech IPOs — Then and Now
➡️ The majority of top tech startups that went public in recent years have maintained or even increased their valuation. This trend could be a positive sign for companies considering IPOs but hesitating due to market uncertainty.
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🌐 Active VCs Buck the Trend: Q3 2024 Dealmaking Heats Up
💎 Despite the global startup funding slowdown, the most active venture investors actually ramped up their dealmaking in Q3 2024. This surprising trend offers a glimmer of hope in an otherwise challenging market.
➡️ Y Combinator, Andreessen Horowitz, and General Catalyst led the charge, significantly increasing their post-seed investments. Y Combinator, traditionally known for seed rounds, has been expanding its later-stage support, particularly for AI-focused startups from recent cohorts.
➡️ Andreessen Horowitz and General Catalyst tied for the top spot in leading post-seed rounds, showcasing their continued bullishness on promising startups. General Catalyst, in particular, flexed its financial muscle by leading or co-leading rounds collectively valued at over $500 million, including substantial investments in AI and defense tech companies.
➡️ The AI boom continues to drive investment, with many top deals going to AI-related startups. This trend is particularly evident in the portfolios of leading VCs, reflecting the ongoing enthusiasm for AI technologies across various sectors.
👀 Interestingly, U.S.-based investors dominated the rankings of most active and highest-value dealmakers. This aligns with the relative resilience of North American venture investment compared to global averages, largely fueled by mega-rounds in AI companies.
🔤At the seed stage, while reported deal counts contracted for top investors like Techstars, Y Combinator, and Antler, their rankings remained stable. This fluctuation is typical due to the nature of seed deal reporting and doesn't necessarily indicate a downward trend.
🟢 As we look ahead, the key question is whether regions that have experienced weaker funding in recent quarters will see a rebound. Such a shift could bring more geographically diverse investors into the top rankings.
For founders and fellow VCs, this data suggests that while overall funding may be tight, active investors are still eagerly seeking promising opportunities, particularly in cutting-edge sectors like AI. It's a reminder that even in challenging times, innovation and strong business models continue to attract capital.
🌐 AI Grabs a Record 33% of U.S. VC Funding in 2024
AI startups are attracting a growing share of U.S. venture capital, with investments jumping from 14% in 2020 to 33% in the first nine months of 2024. Q3 alone saw $38 billion in VC funding, 37% of which went to AI-focused deals, setting the stage for even more funding as the sector matures.
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💎 Read AI Secures $50M to Expand Its AI Summary Bot Capabilities
Read AI has raised $50 million in a Series B funding round, led by Smash Capital, to enhance its AI bot's integration with popular tools like email and Slack. This comes on the heels of strong customer growth, with over 100,000 new accounts created since its last funding round, showcasing the demand for its innovative solutions.
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🌐 Biotech Leads 2024 VC Megadeals, Surpassing AI
Biotech is outpacing AI in 2024’s VC megadeals, with 87 $100M+ rounds compared to AI’s 26. Major deals include Xaira Therapeutics’ $1 billion round and Superluminal Medicines’ $120 million, signaling strong investor confidence in health tech.
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Yes, we all deny that we enjoy this pain 🤗
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📣 Post-Election Years Often Boost U.S. Startup Funding
Crunchbase data shows that U.S. startup funding frequently rises after presidential elections, as seen in 2021 under Biden with a record $345 billion, and in 2017 under Trump, with a 26% funding increase. While economic downturns in 2001 and 2009 caused declines, most post-election years see boosts driven by new policies and shifting market sentiment.
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🌐 Megadeals Surge in 2024 Despite Venture Funding Slowdown
While overall venture funding remains slow, 2024 has already seen nearly 240 megadeals of $100 million or more, surpassing last year's total of 210. Key sectors like biotech, healthcare, and AI have driven this growth, with significant rounds from companies such as OpenAI and Xaira Therapeutics.
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🌐 AI Seed Rounds Decline 43% in Q3, But Valuations Hit New Highs
AI startups raised fewer seed rounds in Q3 2024, with deal volume dropping 43% compared to the previous year. However, total capital raised remained steady, signaling that seed round valuations have reached unprecedented levels.
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🌐 Nine New Unicorns in September, Including a $5B Valuation in Three Months
Nine companies joined the Crunchbase Unicorn Board in September, including Safe Superintelligence, which reached a $5B valuation just three months after its founding. The board now includes nearly 1,550 companies valued at $5.2 trillion.
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🔍 4 Hot Areas for Seed Funding: Robotics, AI, Legaltech, and Carbon Capture
Seed funding is strong in areas like AI assistants, robotics, legaltech, and carbon capture. These sectors have seen significant investment in recent months, with numerous startups raising funds to develop technologies in automation, legal AI tools, and carbon storage solutions.
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🌐 Web3 Funding Climbs 43% YoY Despite Declining Deal Flow in Q3
Web3 funding saw a 43% year-over-year increase in Q3 2024, with startups raising $2 billion across 300 deals, according to Crunchbase. However, this represents a 13% decline compared to Q2 2024. Several large funding rounds — such as Infinite Reality’s $350 million and Story Protocol’s $80 million — how that investors are still backing big projects in the space. Despite challenges, investor interest is buoyed by factors like the rise of Bitcoin ETFs and stablecoin growth.
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🌐 X-energy and Lightmatter Lead This Week’s Biggest Funding Rounds
This week, X-energy secured $500 million to advance its small modular nuclear reactor technology, backed by Amazon. Lightmatter followed with $400 million in funding for its photonic computing technology, aiming to tackle energy consumption challenges in AI data centers. These massive deals reflect strong investor confidence in energy innovation and AI infrastructure.
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💎 AI Startups Raise $1B+ in Equity Funding as Generative AI Leads the Way
Over 23 private AI startups have raised over $1 billion in equity funding in recent years, according to Crunchbase data. Generative AI companies like OpenAI and Anthropic lead the pack with massive investments, while autonomous driving giants Waymo and Cruise also dominate the funding landscape.
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🌐 Venture Investments in Fintech Decline in Q3
➡️ CB Insights reports a total of 753 fintech deals in the third quarter, marking a 16% decrease compared to the previous quarter. Notably, half of the largest early-stage funding rounds were secured outside the U.S., in countries such as France, India, Italy, and Kenya.
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🌐 Industrial Robots Leading Key Industries in 2024
➡️ Industrial robots are taking over, with the medical field leading at 27.3%, followed by 19.6% in domestic services — mainly driven by robot vacuums.
❓ Which industry will see the biggest robot adoption by 2025? Share your thoughts in the comments
🔍 Crucial Lessons from a VC Portfolio Failure: A Story of Mistakes and Growth
🖥 In the high-stakes world of venture capital, our failures often teach us more than our successes. Recently, Sammy Abdullah from Blossom Street Ventures shared a candid analysis of their investment in Take The Interview, a portfolio company that ultimately failed. This story offers invaluable insights for all of us in the VC community.
➡️ The tale begins with a critical oversight: cash inefficiency. When Blossom Street invested, the company was burning through $170k monthly while only generating $60k in MRR. That's a staggering burn rate of nearly $3 for every $1 of revenue. Today, Abdullah admits they wouldn't even consider a company burning more than $0.50 for every $1 of MRR. It's a stark reminder that sustainable growth should always trump rapid cash burn.
➡️ As the story unfolded, churn became a significant issue. Net dollar retention fell from a healthy 100%+ to a concerning 85%+. Instead of looking inward and addressing potential problems with their product or processes, the company fell into the trap of blaming external factors. This misstep highlights the crucial need for constant self-assessment and the willingness to pivot when necessary.
👀 Perhaps one of the most painful lessons came from the company's reluctance to make necessary layoffs. In an attempt to preserve culture, they tried to "grow out of the burn" instead of cutting expenses. It's a poignant reminder that there's no culture to preserve if the company doesn't survive. Sometimes, tough decisions need to be made early to ensure long-term viability.
➡️ The departure of a cofounder should have been a wake-up call, but the board didn't dig deep enough into the underlying issues. This oversight underscores the importance of treating major events as opportunities for thorough reevaluation. As VCs, we need to implement regular, honest assessments of our portfolio companies' direction and leadership.
➡️ In a last-ditch effort, the struggling company merged with a similarly weak peer. Predictably, this move failed to solve the underlying issues. It serves as a stark reminder that recognizing when to cut losses is a crucial skill in our industry. Sometimes, the best solution might be an orderly wind-down or sale of assets rather than prolonging the inevitable.
🛡 These experiences underscore the critical importance of rigorous financial discipline, constant self-assessment, swift action in the face of challenges, and thorough board oversight. As we move forward in our investment journeys, let's carry these lessons with us. They serve as a reminder that in the world of startups and VC, complacency is the enemy of success.
Fellow VCs, our role isn't just to provide capital, but to be active partners in building sustainable, successful businesses. Let's use these insights to sharpen our investment theses and guide our portfolio companies towards better outcomes.