Latest from Margaux MacColl
This episode of Equity had so many themes: VC karaoke, the SpaceX economy, no moats for AI, OpenAI versus open source. You know it’s going…
Fintech
Former Brex COO who now heads unicorn fintech Figure says GPT is already upending the mortgage industry
Lending startup Figure will be launching an AI tool powered by GPT-4 to help catch errors in lending documents.
Lux Capital’s Deena Shakir wrote a picture book to explain startups to children.
Biotech & Health
Synex founder, once detained at the border with an 80-pound magnet, is building portable MRIs to test glucose
Synex Medical just raised $21.8 million to build a portable MRI capable of testing glucose and other important molecules without the need to extract blood.
Transportation
No, the FAA isn’t fining SpaceX because of Elon Musk’s politics, former FAA head says
Elon Musk is suing the FAA over fines he claims are “politically-motivated.” The former head of the FAA disagrees.
Ursa Major, a startup that produces rocket motors through 3D printing, received a $12.5 million grant to develop new solid-fuel rocket engines.
Venture
a16z’s Joshua Lu says AI is already radically changing video games and Discord is the future
After joining the firm as an investor in 2022, Lu has seen how AI and new distribution platforms are changing the industry for the better.
Featured Article
Palantir’s CTO, and 13th employee, has become a secret weapon for Valley defense tech startups
Palantir CTO Shyam Sankar is determined to help Palantir become a driving force for defense tech startups.
Pryzm announced its $2 million pre-seed round, led by XYZ Venture Capital and Amplify.LA.
Featured Article
Marc Andreessen’s family plans to build a ‘visionary’ subdivision near the proposed California Forever utopia city
Marc Andreessen’s family is planning to build a large housing development near the proposed California Forever city.
Brazil fintech Magie raised $4 million in a seed round led by Lux Capital, marking the firm’s first investment in Brazil.
Venture
Former a16z VC Balaji Srinivasan obtained a private island for his new longevity ‘technocapitalist’ school
Former a16z-investor Balaji Srinivasan has booked out an island near Singapore to create his own “Network School.”
Hardware
The defense tech acquisition spree has begun: Autonomous factory startup Hadrian acquires Datum Source
Hadrian announced they bought Datum Source, a software company founded by SpaceX alums that uses AI to help hardware companies find manufacturing partners.
Anduril and Palantir delivered the first Tactical Intelligence Targeting Access Node (TITAN) — the first major milestone in its $178 million contract.
Flint Capital just closed its third fund at $160 million. Its has a unique strategy for finding its limited partner investors.
Startups
SEC charges BitClout founder Nader Al-Naji with fraud; says proceeds paid for L.A. mansion, gifts
The founder of once-hyped crypto startup BitClout is facing trouble. On Tuesday, the SEC charged him with fraud and other offenses.
Featured Article
Lavish parties and moral dilemmas: 4 days with Silicon Valley’s MAGA elite at the RNC
All week at the RNC, I saw an event defined by Silicon Valley. But I also saw the tech elite experience flashes of discordance.
On the first night of the RNC, venture capitalist David Sacks took the stage to warn Republicans of “a world on fire.”
As venture capitalists continue to pour money into defense tech startups, they’re turning to a new hiring pool: ex-military officials.
