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April 02, 2024

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Welcome to another edition of Open Scout, where we showcase the most exciting early-stage startups, job openings, and valuable resources, all in a single newsletter.

Let's dive in...

Startup Spotlight

What? - Para is an AI-powered voice platform that helps companies create immersive brand interactions as personal as a one-on-one conversation. The cornerstone of Para's approach is the Audio Content Engine, a development that revolutionizes audio marketing. It enables brands to generate and deliver dynamic and trigger-based content from real-time data – enhancing customer lifetime value, fostering stronger social bonds, and transforming messages into memorable moments.

Why? - In today's hyper-personalized landscape, neglecting the power of sound in brand-building means missing out on crucial opportunities. "Hearing is just as important for creating memories and experiences." Unlike text-based methods, audio marketing offers unparalleled personalization, tapping directly into emotions and leaving lasting impressions.

Globally recognized brands like McDonald's ("I'm Lovin' It"), Apple (with its iconic startup sound), Amazon (embodied by the voice of Alexa), and Microsoft (known for its distinct Windows startup sound) showcase the effectiveness of audio branding. These 'audio logos' instantly trigger brand recognition and foster emotional connections.

Backed by a 2020 Spotify study, audio ads surpass display ads in memorability and motivation, driving 24% higher recall and doubling purchase intent. Moreover, the rise of voice-assisted solutions like Amazon's Alexa and Apple's Siri presents new avenues for brands to engage with their audience through voice-activated advertising, as consumers increasingly rely on voice commands for daily tasks and interactions.

Founded: 2022 in Colorado, US

By: Eric Johnson (COO) - ex-Sales Development Manager @ Compound, Sales Lead @ Alloy Automation; Patrick Williamson (CEO) - ex-Co-founder & Chief Strategy Officer @ Yaguara (Acquired by Chord Commerce); Chad Nickell (CTO) - ex-CTO @ Yaguara, Head of Solutions Engineering @ Chord Commerce

Industry: Advertising, AI

Funding: N/A

Investors: N/A

What? - Velvet is a database service to unify customer data and ship personalized features. The system ingests real-time events from any source or database. Product teams use it to unify data and write complex queries with AI. Engineers use the API to ship personalized features - like dynamic onboarding, a recommendation feed, or in-app action - unique to each end user.

Why? - Previously, accessing specific data required navigating through business analyst bottlenecks and running SQL queries on disparate databases. In response to this challenge, a robust data infrastructure becomes crucial for digital products, yet often proves cost-prohibitive.

Velvet, addresses this issue by bundling necessary software for startups, enabling them to build products on a foundation of interoperable data infrastructure. With Velvet, teams can efficiently run analytics queries, visualize data, and create API endpoints that seamlessly integrate with their entire tech stack. This streamlines operations, promotes collaboration, and empowers stakeholders across the product development cycle.

Founded: 2023 in NY, US

By: Emma Lawler - ex-Lead Product Manager @ theSkimm, Co-founder @ Moonlight (Acquired by PullRequest); Chris Hendel - ex-Founder @ Prioritized (a product development studio + fractional CTO services), Technical Product Manager @ Athos

Industry: Enterprise Tools, AI

Funding: $1 million (Pre-seed)

Which early-stage startup should we feature next? Send us a reply. (Criteria: Pre-Seed, Seed, and Series A startups)

Venture Deals

  • Hailo: Israel-based AI chipmaker, has raised $120 million in a new funding round, valuing the company at $1.2 billion. The round was led by current and new investors including Gil Agmon, Poalim Equity, and others.

  • Seso: San Francisco, CA-based workforce management platform for agriculture, raised $26 million in Series B funding led by BOND, with participation from Index Ventures, NFX, SV Angel, and others.

  • Celestial AI: Santa Clara, CA-based creator of the Photonic Fabric optical interconnect technology platform, raised $175 million in Series C funding led by U.S. Innovative Technology Fund, with participation from AMD Ventures, Koch Disruptive Technologies, Temasek, and others.

  • Vizcom: San Francisco, CA-based developer of AI tools for designers, raised $20 million in Series A funding led by Index Ventures.

  • TurbineOne: San Francisco, CA-based developer of AI software for military intelligence, raised $15 million in Series A funding led by Bessemer Venture Partners, with participation from The General Partnership, XYZ Ventures, and Pallas Ventures.

  • Orchard Robotics: Seattle, WA-based provider of robotic and AI precision crop management technology, raised $3.8 million across pre-seed and seed funds led by General Catalyst, with participation from Humba Ventures, Soma Capital, Correlation Ventures, and others.

  • Robovision: Ghent, Belgium-based AI computer vision startup, raised $42 million in Series A funding from backers including Target Global, Astanor Ventures, and Red River West.

  • Proxima AI: NYC-based data intelligence software company, raised $12 million in Series A funding led by Mucker Capital, with participation from Aglae Ventures, Great Oaks Venture Partners, Broadway Venture Partners, FirstLook Partners, and others.

  • Gather AI: Pittsburgh, PA-based developer of computer vision and AI-powered warehouse inventory technology, raised $17 million in a Series A extension led by Bain Capital Ventures, with participation from Tribeca Venture Partners, Dundee Venture Capital, Expa, and Bling Capital.

  • SydeLabs: Bengaluru, India-based developer of generative AI security software, raised $2.5 million in seed funding led by RTP Global, with participation from Picus Capital and others.

  • Fieldguide: San Francisco, CA-based AI platform for advisory and audit services, raised $30 million in Series B funding led by Bessemer Venture Partners, with participation from 8VC and others.

  • Fireworks AI: Redwood City, CA-based platform to help developers build AI solutions, raised $25 million in Series A funding led by Benchmark, with participation from Sequoia Capital and others.

  • Picogrid: El Segundo, CA-based platform to connect defense systems, raised $12 million in seed funding led by Initialized Capital, with participation from Starburst Ventures, Credo Ventures, Giant Step Capital, Domino Ventures, and Alumni Ventures.

  • The Mobile-First Company: Paris, France-based developer of mobile apps for business processes, raised €3.5 million in pre-seed funding led by Lightspeed Venture Partners and Emblem.

  • Observe: San Mateo, CA-based SaaS observability company, raised $115 million in Series B funding led by Sutter Hill Ventures, with participation from Capital One Ventures, Madrona, and Snowflake Ventures.

  • Pelago: NYC-based virtual clinic for substance use management, raised $58 million in Series C funding led by Atomico, with participation from Kinnevik AB, Octopus Ventures, Y Combinator, Eight Roads, and Grey Matter Capital.

  • Hume AI: NYC-based research lab and technology company, raised $50 million in Series B funding led by EQT Ventures, with participation from Union Square Ventures, Northwell Holdings, LG Technology Ventures, and others.

  • Skyflow: Palo Alto, CA-based provider of data privacy vaults designed to protect sensitive enterprise data and keep it out of LLMs, raised $30 million in Series B funding led by Khosla Ventures, with participation from Foundation Capital, Mouro Capital, and Canvas Ventures.

Elsewhere

  • Paradigm, a crypto fund co-founded by Coinbase's Fred Ehrsam and former Sequoia partner Matt Huang, aims to raise $750 million-$800 million, following a $2.5 billion fund closure in Nov. 2021. Bloomberg has more here.

  • Microsoft and OpenAI are in discussions over "Stargate," a project involving a $100 billion investment by Microsoft to construct a massive supercomputing cluster supporting OpenAI's future advanced AI models. The Information has more here.

  • Tiger Global Management gathered about $2.2 billion for its latest venture-capital fund, well short of a $6 billion target and its smallest fundraising haul in roughly a decade.

  • Opera announced a feature that allows users to download and utilize LLMs locally on their computers. Initially available for Opera One users receiving developer stream updates, the feature offers a selection of over 150 models from more than 50 families, including Llama from Meta, Gemma from Google, and Vicuna. These models are integrated via the Ollama open-source framework, with each occupying more than 2GB of storage space. So make sure you've got enough room on your hard drive!

  • Intel reported a $7 billion loss in its foundry unit in 2023, a significant increase from the $5.2 billion loss the year prior. Revenue for 2023 decreased by 31% to $18.9 billion. The foundry division is expected to break even by 2030. Bloomberg has more here.

  • Yahoo acquires Artifact, an AI-driven news platform co-founded by Instagram's creators, with plans to integrate its technology across Yahoo's news and other services. Artifact previously announced the discontinuation of its app in January, citing insufficient market opportunity.

  • Prompts should be designed — not engineered by Alex Klein

New Job Openings

None of these a fit? Join our professional network — tech-savvy individuals welcome!

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See you next Thursday — Kenneth

P.S. Interested in sponsoring next week's issue? Shoot me an email.